President Duterte has named retired Major Gen. Rene Glen Paje as new undersecretary at the Department of Social Welfare and Development, less than a month after his last ex-military appointee to the agency.
Based on official appointment papers, Duterte appointed Paje to the post on Feb. 15, barely a month after he appointed Felicisimo Budiongan as DSWD undersecretary on Jan. 23.
Paje was the commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment during the five-month Marawi City siege that started in May and ended in October 2017. A member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1986, Paje was also the former deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations.
He is now one of the retired military men that the President appointed to government. He will be working under former Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Rolando Bautista who is the DSWD Secretary.
Paje is also the second former military man to join the DSWD in just a month, following Budiongan who was former assistant division commander of the Mechanized Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. Budiongan also served as assistant division commander from November 2016 to August 2018.
Duterte earlier explained his habit of appointing retired military officers to the government, saying they get things done right and quick.
Other military officers that the President appointed are former AFP chiefs Eduardo Año as Interior Secretary, Rey Guerrero as Customs Commissioner, and Roy Cimatu as Environment and Natural Resources Secretary, and retired Gen. Eduardo del Rosario as Housing chief. (Argyll Geducos)
