MANILA, Philippines – Transportation chief Jaime “Jimmy” Bautista will once again work with three of his former Philippine Airlines (PAL) executives, this time, as heads of attached agencies in the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Cesar Chiong, former PAL officer-in-charge for domestic operations, as acting general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority. Chiong had also led the operations of Airphil Express, PAL’s budget airline which was later rebranded as PAL Express.

Edgardo Diaz, former PAL Express vice president for operations, has been appointed as deputy director deneral of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

Diaz is joined by former DOTr undersecretary Manuel Antonio Tamayo in CAAP, where he will serve as acting director general. Prior to his post in government, Tamayo was PAL’s vice president for flight operations.

The ties that bind

Bautista was the protege of PAL owner Lucio Tan.

Bautista served as PAL president and chief operating officer from 2004 to 2019. Prior to this, he held various executive positions in the airline and in other Tan companies. In total, he was with Tan for almost two decades.

Meanwhile, Tan has deep ties with the Marcoses.

Tan took full control of PAL in 1995, when he was elected as its chief executive officer and chairman. He replaced Carlos Dominguez III, who then represented the government’s 33% share in the airline.

Tan took majority control of the flag carrier by accumulating shares of Antonio Cojuangco in PR Holdings, the majority shareholder.

Former first lady Imelda Marcos once claimed that Tan was able to do so using money from Fortune Tobacco and Allied Bank, and that the companies “are majority-owned by the Marcoses.”

Other appointments

Meanwhile, the Office for Transportation Security will be under a new administrator, Ma. O Ranada Aplasca, former director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Aviation Security Group and PNP Calabarzon chief.

The Civil Aeronautics Board remains under the leadership of Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla. 

For the Maritime Industry Authority, Marcos appointed lawyer Hernani Nieves Fabia as administrator. –Rappler.com