(Eagle News) – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr has appointed actor and television personality Arnell Ignacio as head of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Admnistration (OWWA), Malacanang said on Wednesday, August 10.

Palace press secretary Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles confirmed the appointment of Ignacio as “Executive Director Admin. V of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.”

Ignacio will replace former OWWA chief Hans Leo Cacdac who will serve as one of the four new undersecretaries of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), focusing on the welfare and foreign employment concerns of overseas Filipino workers.

Ignacio previously served as the deputy administrator of OWWA under former President Rodrigo Duterte after being appointed in the post in early 2018.

Before his previous OWWA stint, he had served as Assistant Vice President for Community Relation and Services Department of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) from 2016 to 2018, also during the Duterte administration.

Ignacio thanked President Marcos Jr., for the appointment. In his Facebook post, he said he still could not believe this after reading the news.

“Buffering ako, halos hindi ako makapaniwala. Maraming salamat sa tiwala Mr. PBBM at sa aking mga kasama sa OWWA amd all the stakeholders,” he said.

(Eagle News Service)