• President Aquino appoints new Public-Private Partnership Center head

“According to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr., President Aquino has appointed lawyer Andre ‘Raj’ C. Palacios as Executive Director of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center of the Philippines,” Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Former PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao tendered her resignation in January due to “pressing family concerns”. Her resignation will be effective on March 8.

Palacios has served as a technical adviser to the PPP Center since January 2015.

He also served as general counsel for the Millennium Challenge Account Philippines and as assistant secretary at the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel from March 2003 to May 2004.

He earned his law degree from the University of Philippines College of Law and placed fifth in the 1998 Bar Examinations.

Palacios, who specializes in international law and corporate law, also holds a Master of Laws in International Law degree, with merit, from the University of London. PND (kt)