Trixie Cruz-Angeles named as next PCOO chief

Incoming Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez disclosed Wednesday that lawyer and radio commentator Trixie Cruz-Angeles has accepted the nomination to lead the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) under the Marcos administration.

Rodriguez said Cruz-Angeles was nominated to be the press secretary of presumptive President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

A press release from the Marcos camp said Cruz-Angeles' primary task is to oversee the operations of the PCOO, which includes the conduct of regular press briefings to media practitioners covering the activities of the Palace.

“I am grateful for the opportunity I am given to take part in the administration of President Bongbong Marcos as his Press Secretary. It is with humility that I accept the nomination and assume the responsibility of running the affairs of the PCOO,” Cruz-Angeles, as quoted in the press release, said.

GMA News Online has contacted Cruz-Angeles to get more comments.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar, who will turn over the post to Cruz-Angeles, welcomed the development.

"The PCOO welcomes the nomination of Atty. Rose Beatrix 'Trixie' Cruz-Angeles to head the PCOO under the incoming administration. Atty Angeles is no stranger to PCOO having served the office during the early years of the Duterte administration," Andanar said.

"We wish Atty. Angeles all the best in her latest assignment," he added.

In her LinkedIn account, it was stated that Cruz-Angeles serves as vice chairman of the National Committee on Monuments and Sites. She was a former legal counsel for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

In 2016, the Supreme Court suspended Cruz-Angeles and her law partner for three years "for being remiss in their duty as legal counsels in an annulment case."

The SC had found Cruz-Angeles and law partner Wylie Paler guilty of violating Rule 1.01 of the Code of Professional Responsibility in relation to the complaint filed by former military officer Cleo Dongga-as.

In her defense, Cruz-Angeles had denied that she was remiss in her duties.

Cruz-Angeles said there was only a delay in the filing of the annulment petition in court as she accused Dongga-as of failure to give the address of his estranged wife and to provide sufficient evidence.

She said she will not argue the merits of the case, although she "strongly" believes she was not accorded due process.

Cruz-Angeles said she will devote her attention to other things such as writing, teaching, and doing her best for the country.

She rose to prominence when she defended Oakwood mutineer, former Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon.

Other individuals tapped to serve under the Marcos administration are presumptive vice president Sara Duterte as secretary of the Department of Education, Toots Ople as secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers, and Bienvenido Laguesma as secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment. —with Llanesca Panti/KG/VBL, GMA News