MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte named lawyer Karen Jimeno as undersecretary for disaster resiliency of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), Malacañang announced on Wednesday, May 16.

Dutert signed Jimeno’s appointment on Tuesday, May 15.

Jimeno was once spokesperson of the Office of the Presidential Assisant for Rehabilitation and Recovery under then secretary Panfilo Lacson. 

Their office was tasked to coordinate rehabilitation efforts after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which killed at least 6,300 people in November 2013.

Jimeno later became voters’ education head of election technology provider Smartmatic ahead of the 2016 presidential elections.

Jimeno shot to fame as one of the lawyers of then chief justice Renato Corona during his impeachment trial. 

Malacañang on Wednesday also released the appointment papers of other officials, such as Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat. – Rappler.com