CAREER executive Aileen Anunciacion R. Zosa, which has been appointed recently as President and Chief Executive Officer (PCEO) of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), said she will focus on revenue generation particularly for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Zosa, the first woman to be appointed as BCDA’s PCEO, took her oath of office in Malacañan Palace last Thursday.
Aside from the AFP modernization, Zosa said she will also focus on strengthening the BCDA organization to be more responsive and efficient in the delivery of projects and continue the infrastructure thrust of the previous administration.
Further, the newly-appointed BCDA PCEO cited gender diversity and sustainability among the important components that will make the projects of the government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) more globally competitive.
“For the development of our properties, we have introduced three major components that will distinguish our properties from the pack and make our projects more globally competitive. These are sustainability, gender diversity and gender sensitivity, as well as smart components,” Zosa said.
The BCDA chief said she hopes her experiences and perspective as a career executive and as a woman to “continue to bring a different lens on approaching opportunities and challenges for BCDA.”
Rising through the ranks, Zosa started her career in BCDA as manager for Corporate Planning and Project Development before being promoted as Vice President. She was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the GOCC until July, prior to being appointed as BCDA president last Thursday.
In a statement on Sunday, the BCDA said Zosa will be bringing to the table 27 years of institutional knowledge with the BCDA and know-how in the fields of business development and public policy.
This is on top of Zosa’s more than a decade’s worth of experience in various academic and bureaucratic positions in the government including the Senate, the Office of the President and the Commission on Audit.
“Knowing the institution inside out, the executive aims to improve systems and processes in the organization and to ‘do more with less’, noting that the government will have to cope with tightening budgets,” the BCDA’s statement read.
Zosa started her career in government service in COA in 1984 under then-Commission Secretary Leonor M. Briones. Briones was also the Secretary of Education under the Duterte administration.
Zosa also worked in the Office of then-Senate Majority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. where she performed policy and legislative support functions and actively participated in the research, formulation, and deliberations on the Bases Conversion Law and the Special Economic Zones Law.
The BCDA said these laws eventually laid the foundation of the Authority.
Zosa replaced Aristotle B. Batuhan who served as officer-in-charge of the BCDA since October 2021.
Created under Republic Act 7227, the BCDA is a GOCC that transforms former military bases and properties into centers of economic growth in partnership with the private sector.
The BCDA remits the largest portion of its disposition income for the AFP Modernization Program.
Last month, BCDA Chairman Delfin N. Lorenzana said in a televised interview that his objective is to protect the interest of the AFP on the billions of pesos earnings of BCDA and to ensure that 36 percent of the Authority’s earnings would be allotted for the AFP’s modernization program.