DTI Usec. Cristobal to take over as interim Trade chief

President Benigno S.C Aquino III has appointed Trade Undersecretary for Industry Development Group Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. to take over as as interim Secretary of Trade and Industry effective December 31, 2015.

Malacañang on Tuesday announced that Cristobal will take over the seat vacated by Gregory Domingo, who tendered his resignation in September, but decided to delay it until after the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting on November 18 and 19.

According to the appointment letter from Malacañang signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. dated December 22, Cristobal was appointed as ad interim Secretary effective December 31, 2015.

Cristobal joined the Aquino administration as Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary for International Trade in August 2010.

With the DTI reorganization in 2012, he was named Undersecretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Group (IDTPG) and served as concurrent Vice Chairman and Managing Head of the Board of Investments (BOI).

"He is responsible for the formulation and implementation of the country's policies on industry development, investment and trade, as well as international trade relations and negotiations," the DTI said on its website.

Cristobal first joined the government as the Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) from 1991 to 1994.

He then established his own law practice and taught politics and governance at the Ateneo School of Government. He also served as adviser to head of different government agencies.

He was appointed in 2001 as DTI Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare and Trade Regulation (CWTRG), and was designated Supervising Undersecretary for the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) and the DTI Secretary's Chief of Staff.

He was then appointed Director General of Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in 2005 until 2009.

Thereafter, he returned to private practice and became a law professor at the De La Salle University.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, USA and his Juris Doctor of Laws at the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.

Cristobal also holds a certificate from the Strategic Business Economic Program of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) and has published papers on Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Governance. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News