Presumptive Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has called on two allies to head the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Finance (DOF).
Former Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and chief executive officer Arthur P. Tugade is being tapped to head the DOTC, while former agriculture secretary Carlos Dominguez III has been invited to assume the title of DOF secretary.
“My classmate in law school—(he) was really our valedictorian—Art Tugade would get the DOTC. He’s good,” Duterte said in a May 16 press conference in Davao.
Tugade will take the place of Joseph Emilio Abaya, whose stint at the DOTC has been attended by problems such as frequent malfunction of the mass railway transit, and lack of vehicle plates.
An old hand in the transport industry, Tugade founded Perry’s Holding Corporation, the management arm of Perry’s Group of Companies. The group includes Transglobal Equipment Leasing, Perry’s Technology, ATP Travel, Perryome, Perry’s Farm, Transglobal Trucking, and Transglobal Consolidators, Inc., according to Bloomberg.
He served as president, chief operating officer, and chief resource officer of Transnational Diversified Group Inc. and Transnational Diversified Corp. His corporate background also includes serving as president of TDG Asia Corp., YAS Brokerage Inc., Phil. Organic Plantation Corporation, Kamraz Agriculture Inc., Pizzavest Transnational Corp., Transnational Food Services Corporation, Transnational Aero Corp., and Emery Transnational Air Cargo Corporation. He was also a partner at Bengzon, Verano, Tugade and Escolin Law Office.
His career history includes the chairmanship and presidency of several firms, notably Yusen Air & Sea Services, Transnational Diversified Group, Inc., TDG Asia Corporation and Harmony Organic Farms Inc., among others. He likewise served as a director of Easycall Communications Philippines Inc.
Tugade graduated cum laude at San Beda College and took further studies at National University of Singapore (Stanford-NUS Executive Program). Last March 31, he resigned as head of CDC, a position he had held since 2012, to support Duterte’s campaign.
On the other hand, Dominguez, who had been a member of the Cabinets of former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, has yet to accept the Davao City mayor’s offer.
Hoping for a reconsideration
“I hope he would reconsider and accept it,” said Duterte of the man who acted as his finance chief in the recent presidential elections.
Dominguez, also known as Sonny, serves as the chief executive officer and president of PTFC Redevelopment Corporation. He also held the position of president of Retail Specialists Inc., Redrying Corporation, Baesa Redevelopment Corporation, Halifax Capital Resources Inc., C.G. Dominguez and Associates Inc., Huntly Corporation, BPI Agricultural Development Bank, and Linden Suites, Inc., among others.
He serves as the president of Sports Specialists Worldwide Inc. and chairman of Lafayette Philippines, Inc.
Dominguez was CEO of Philippine Airlines from 1993 to 1995 and president of Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation from 1999 to 2002.
He obtained his master’s in business administration from Ateneo de Manila Graduate School of Business, and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics at Ateneo de Manila University. Dominguez also attended the executive program at Stanford University in 1982.
