Cebuano businessman chosen Visayas presidential assistant

DINO

Businessman Michael Dino, a key officer of the company behind the proposed Ciudad project and one of the founders of the Bisaya na Pud Movement, will serve as the Presidential Assistant (PA) for the Visayas under the incoming Duterte administration.

Dino said he has proposed the reopening of the Malacañang sa Sugbo to serve as the PA-Visayas office. Satellite offices with coordinators are being considered in Western Visayas (Region 6), Eastern Visayas (Region 8), and Negros Island Region (Region 18).

As PA-Visayas, Dino said he will focus on addressing concerns on water supply, traffic and mass transport in Cebu.

Dino said presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte made the announcement about his upcoming appointment at past 8 p.m. on Monday in Matina Enclaves, Davao City.

“He (Duterte) wants to make sure that there’s a voice of the Visayan to Malacañang,” Dino said in a phone interview.

Dino and his incoming chief of staff Jonji Gonzales flew to Davao City on Monday at 4 p.m. to personally congratulate Duterte. The announcement caught him by surprise, he said.

Gonzales, in a separate interview, said Duterte called lawyer Salvador Panelo to call the media so he can make a formal announcement.

They were accompanied by Duterte’s executive assistant and incoming chief of staff Christopher Bong Go, Lito Banayo, and Cebuano businessman Miguelito Pato.

Gonzales said Dino and Duterte have known each other for a long time, although Dino could not recall the exact year they met. They again met in 2014 through Banayo and Pantaleon Alvarez.

Dino graduated from the Sacred Heart School for Boys in 1985 and later, from La Salle University in Manila with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Management.