BF To Head Both DPWH & MMDA

**schizo** · January 9th, 2003 06:34 AM

Fernando to head
both DPWH and MMDA
Posted: 0:36 AM (Manila Time) | Jan. 09, 2003
INQ7.net

AFTER hemming and hawing for two days, Bayani Fernando, chair of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday accepted the position of secretary of public works and highways.

Fernando will hold the two positions concurrently.

Presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye told MalacaÒang reporters that Fernando would serve as DPWH secretary in "acting capacity" pending the threshing out of legal matters arising from Fernando's holding of two positions.

"I am overwhelmed by the people's acceptance (of my work) and by the President's trust in me," Fernando said on ABS-CBN television. He also said the positions of the MMDA chair and the plum post at the DPWH "are compatible."

Asked earlier on whether he would accept both positions, Fernando had said he was "not greedy."

A former mayor of Marikina City, Fernando will replace Simeon Datumanong who was named to the top post of the justice department last week.

Datumanong will replace Justice Secretary Hernando Perez who resigned amid reports that he accepted two millions dollars from Manila Congressman Mark Jimenez in exchange for a "favorable ruling" over a contested franchise of an Argentine power firm.

Fernando's appointment at the DPWH and the MMDA quashed speculations that Caloocan City Mayor Ray Malonzo would take over at the MMDA in case Fernando accepts the DPWH top post.

A popular mayor credited for changing the image of Marikina from a crime city to a model city of cleanliness and peace, Fernando, however, incurred the ire of street vendors whom he evicted from the streets of Manila.

His campaign against street vendors earned him accolades from the local government and the middle class, but the rebel New People's Army reportedly had him in its "target list for liquidation" for "crimes against the people."

**theveed** · January 9th, 2003 10:30 AM

That's a good move IMO, the two departments' projects and progress relies on each other, this should remove quite a bit of "politiking" between two department heads...