President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) Undersecretary Jacinto “Jing” Paras as Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs.

Paras, who provided Rappler with a copy of his appointment paper on Thursday, July 8, said his appointment was signed on Wednesday. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque confirmed the appointment on Thursday.

Asked what his new role will entail, Paras said he would be “doing all coordination of the President with political parties, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and social sectors.”

He will also be involved in “political coalition liaising and constituency build efforts” of the Office of the President, he said.

Paras’ appointment comes months before the start of election season for the 2022 national elections.

Before he was named PLLO undersecretary, Paras served as undersecretary at the Department of Labor and Employment.

Attack dog

But Paras is also most known for being behind a string of legal maneuvers against Duterte’s critics.

In 2018, Paras filed three complaints accusing former senator Antonio Trillanes IV of inciting to sedition.

He helped put together the botched impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections chief Andres Bautista and filed a complaint against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang for supposed “unlawful disclosure” of the Duterte family’s bank transactions.

Paras was also the textmate of former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II during a Senate hearing where they were caught in a photograph discussing a possible case against Senator Risa Hontiveros, a vocal Duterte critic.

But Paras himself has been accused of corruption during his time as Negros Oriental 1st District congressman.

A Newsbreak piece published in 2001 named him as a member of the “Gang of Five,” which reportedly received P2 million to delay a congressional inquiry into the collusion of telco networks Globe and Smart over the reduction of free text messages.

True to form, Paras, during a Malacañang press briefing that announced his appointment, spent the first part of the event insulting Trillanes.

– Rappler.com