By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Cebu businessman and former Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Chairman Philip Lo as the new Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, filling a key Cabinet-level post that has remained vacant for more than a year.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro announced the appointment on Wednesday, saying Lo was scheduled to take his oath of office before the President in Malacañang later in the day.
As Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Lo will hold the rank of Cabinet secretary and will serve as the administration’s principal representative in coordinating national government programs and development initiatives across the Visayas region.
Before his latest appointment, Lo chaired the board of the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines after being named to the post in 2024. He replaced former Supreme Court Associate Justice Dante Tinga and had served as a DBP director since 2022.
Lo brings decades of experience from both government and the private sector. He previously served as a director of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) from 2002 to 2010 and also sat on the board of Cocogen Insurance Inc., formerly known as UCPB General Insurance.
In the private sector, he chairs the Coast Pacific Group of Companies and Toyota Mabolo Cebu Inc., two of Cebu’s prominent business enterprises.
A report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) previously identified Lo as among the largest contributors to Marcos’ 2022 presidential campaign, donating P25 million in support of the President’s successful bid for Malacañang.
The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas has been without a permanent head since June 2025 following the resignation of Cebu businessman Terence Calatrava during the Cabinet reorganization ordered by President Marcos after the 2025 midterm elections.
Malacañang earlier said Calatrava failed to meet the administration’s performance standards.
His departure came months before his name surfaced during a Senate inquiry into alleged irregularities in government flood control projects. During the hearing, contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya claimed Calatrava was among those who allegedly received commissions from infrastructure contracts awarded to companies linked to him.
Authorities have since revoked the licenses of several construction firms associated with the Discaya family, effectively disqualifying them from participating in future government infrastructure bidding.
Lo’s appointment comes as the Marcos administration continues to reorganize key government positions while accelerating regional development programs and strengthening coordination between national agencies and local governments in the Visayas.
ia/xf
