Ex-AFP chief Cimatu to replace Gina Lopez at DENR

President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Roy Cimatu replace advocate Gina Lopez at the helm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Lopez left the post after she was rejected by the Commission on Appointments last week.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed Cimatu's appointment in a text message to reporters on Monday afternoon.

Pres. Duterte signs the appointment papers of Ret. Gen. Roy Cimatu as DENR secretary ????: Palace pic.twitter.com/5zGjObsghR

— Trisha Macas (@trishamacas) May 8, 2017

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella expressed confidence that Cimatu “shall faithfully serve the interest of the country and the Filipino people in his capacity as the new DENR Secretary.”

Agriculture Manny Piñol first made the announcement on Facebook, but he deleted the post a few minutes after.

"'Let us put an end to all speculations,' Pres. Rody Duterte said as he announced the appointment of former Army General and Ambassdor Roy Cimatu as the new Environment Secretary," he wrote.

Cimatu was previously appointed Special Envoy to the Middle East. Abella said that Duterte was yet to designate another person to take over Cimatu’s previous post.

Cimatu was also the special envoy to the Middle East during the administration of former President and incumbent Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo until June 30, 2011.

The retired general, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1970, served as AFP chief from May to September in 2002.

Other former AFP chiefs in Duterte's Cabinet are National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon and National Irrigation Administration head Ricardo Visaya. —JST, GMA News