Arnell Ignacio was appointed by President Duterte to OWWA

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed TV host and comedian Arnell Ignacio to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), appointment papers released by the Palace on Thursday showed.

Ignacio, whose full name is Arnaldo Arevalo Ignacio, was appointed by Duterte as Deputy Executive Director V at the OWWA, an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Ignacio was one of Duterte’s supporters from the entertainment industry during his presidential bid in 2016. He was previously tapped by Duterte as AVP for community relation and services department at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

Aside from Ignacio, Duterte also appointed lawyer Jacinto Paras as DOLE undersecretary.

Paras, a member of pro-Duterte Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, was one of the lawyers who filed a complaint against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang for supposedly using illegally obtained documents from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in the anti-graft body’s investigation into the wealth of the President.

Also appointed by the President to the DOLE are Bernard Pascual Olalia (Executive Director, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration), Emmanuel Lusterio Regio (Board of Trustees member, OWWA), Ria Corazon Soledad Lano (Director IV, OWWA), Eulogio Rodriguez Magsaysay (Board of Trustees member, OWWA), and Villamor Ventura Soriano Plan (Deputy Executive Director V, POEA).