PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed Noel K. Felongco as the new chairman of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP).

Mr. Felongco, a former undersecretary for solid waste management at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is assuming the position of Terry L. Ridon whom Mr. Duterte fired on Dec. 12 last year, after claiming that Mr. Ridon had gone on “excessive foreign trips” as PCUP chair.

Mr. Duterte signed the appointment papers of Mr. Felongco on Feb. 1, according to the documents released by Malacañang on Thursday.

Apart from Mr. Felongco, the President has also appointed Romeo H. Jandugan as commissioner of the PCUP and Ferdinand M. Bacobo as member of the Consultative Committee that is tasked to review the 1987 Constitution. — A.J. Balinbin