Duterte appoints staunch supporter as DSWD assistant secretary

One of President Rodrigo Duterte's staunch social media supporters has joined his administration as an assistant secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo has confirmed Lorraine Marie Badoy's appointment on Monday.

"We are happy to confirm news that Dr. Badoy will be joining us in the DSWD. She will be focal person of the Office of the Secretary in implementing the medicine assistance to drug dependents undergoing rehabilitation," she said.

Duterte has allocated P1 billion from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation for the medication of drug dependents.

"Asec Lorraine is a doctor of medicine and has been assisting Yolanda- affected families for several years now in her private capacity. She brings to DSWD not only her medical skills but a spirit of service to the people marked by compassion and free from corruption," Taguiwalo said.

"We look forward to working Dr. Badoy and we are sure that she will perform well in the department given her track record of compassionate service and commitment to help the poor," she added. 

In a Facebook post, Badoy confirmed that she will begin her work with DSWD on Monday.

"Today though, I start a new chapter in my life as public servant at the DSWD and where I have a clear shot at changing some of those lives for better and with resources I've never had at my disposal all those years I did my thing," she wrote.

"And I get to do all these under the leadership of such an inspiring President--someone who has mirrored my rage and grief at the great yawning gap between those of us who have so much and those who have, literally, nothing... And my boss, a woman whose life is an impeccable testament to love for the least. Who, like the President she serves under, has clarified and made us all remember once again what public service is. How it looks and sounds like," she added

Badoy is the daughter of former Associate Justice Anacleto Badoy Jr., who chaired the Sandiganbayan Third Division which heard the plunder case of former President and incumbent Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada over gambling money.

Badoy, along with other social media supporters, met Duterte in Malacañang last Tuesday. —ALG, GMA News