Garin, Abad have most number of relatives in government

Health Secretary Janette Garin has the most number of relatives in government with 12 family members listed in her 2015 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad was second with nine relatives in government,

Garin, who was appointed secretary of the Department of Health (DOH) in March 2015, declared his brother, Carlo Loreto, the vice governor of Leyte; mother-in-law Ninfa Garin, a member of the Provincial Council in Iloilo; and her sisters-in-law, Sharon Garin, a representative of the Aambis-Owa party-list, and Christine Garin, municipal mayor of Guimbal, Iloilo.

Also listed as Secretary Garin’s relatives are her cousins Jose Carlos Cari, a congressman in Leyte and Leopoldo Petilla, governor of Leyte; aunts Carmen Cari, mayor of Baybay, Leyte and Remedios Petilla, mayor of Palo, Leyte; father-in-law Oscar Garin, a member of the Philippine Coconut Authority governing board, sister-in-law Jeanette Loreto, judge at the Municipal Trial Court in Palo, Leyte; cousin-in-law Marcelo Valentine Serag, vice mayor at San Joaquin, Iloilo; and cousin Michael Cari, vice mayor of Baybay, Leyte.

Garin’s relatives outnumbered those of Abad, who listed nine family members in government service, including her wife, Henedina, congresswoman of Batanes, and daughter, Julia, the secretary of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS).

Also listed as Abad’s relatives are first cousin Ramon Barona, a judge at the Regional Trial Court in Batanes; niece Myla Salvacion Pisig, Director IV of the Office of the Appointments Secretary under the Office of the President; and nephew (in-law) Parrish Pisig, Senior Account Management Specialist at the Philippine National Oil Company.

Completing the list are nephews Arvin Jim Barona, Tribal Affairs Assistant at the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Marc Angelo Abad, PAO 2 at the House of Representatives, and John Dominic Abad, an employee at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), and niece Cristina Abad, a nurse at the VMMC.

Secretary Abad is one of President Benigno Aquino III’s trusted aides in the Cabinet. They both belong to the ruling Liberal Party (LP).

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje listed eight relatives, including his sister Evelyn Sy, the supervisor of the National Food Authority in Occidental Mindoro.

Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, and Executive Secretary Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa, Jr. declared five relatives working in government each in their SALNs.

Ochoa’s relatives in government include Science & Technology Secretary Mario Montejo, his brother-in-law.

Montejo, as well as Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento, both listed four relatives in government service.

Seven Cabinet secretaries have no relatives in government. These include Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr., Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman,  Commission on Filipino Overseas chairperson Imelda Nicholas, Commission on Higher Education chair Patricia Licuanan,  Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Emerson Carlos, and Political Adviser Ronaldo Llamas. —ALG, GMA News