Ex-NBI chief leads 5 new presidential appointees

Former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief and Cavite governor Epimaco Velasco led four other presidential appointees announced by Malacañang Wednesday. Velasco was named by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as acting member of the board of directors of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA). After a high-profile stint at the NBI, Velasco ran and won as Cavite governor in 1995. Three years later, he was named by former President Joseph Estrada as Interior and Local Government secretary. Velasco was then closely associated with former President Fidel Ramos. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that apart from Velasco, the President also named Manuel Eduardo Zapanta as executive director IV with the rank of assistant secretary of the Office for External Affairs. Also appointed were former Telecommunications Office commissioner and former PRA undersecretary Elberto Emphasis as member of the board of directors of the Poro-point Management Corporation and former Energy Regulatory Commission commissioner Oliver Butalid as president and member board of directors of Natural Resources Mining Development Corporation. The President also named fellow Kapampangan architect and real estate developer Nestor Mangio as member and chairman of the board of directors of the Clark International Airport Corporation. Mangio is the president of N.S. Mangio Construction and Development Corporation and is also the managing director and architect of Nobleman Properties, Inc.; owner of Hotel Gracelane; chairman and president of Central Country Estate, Inc.; president and general manager of A.C. Emerald Realty & Development Corporation; and president of Haulman Trading & Forwarding Corporation. During the Ramos presidency, Mangio was named director of the Bases Conversion Development Authority and later reassigned him to the Clark Development Corporation and the Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation. - GMANews.TV