Another vocal supporter of President Duterte has landed a senior post in the Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO), this time with an undersecretary rank.
The President has appointed Lorraine Marie T. Badoy as undersecretary of the PCOO. Badoy served as assistant secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Acting Social Welfare Secretary Emmanuel A. Leyco confirmed to the BusinessMirror the transfer of Badoy from the DSWD to the PCOO. “Yes,” Leyco said when asked if Badoy already joined the PCOO as undersecretary.
Badoy is the second Duterte appointee in the PCOO who comes from a circle of vocal administration supporters in the social media.
The President in May appointed entertainer-turned-blogger Margaux J. Uson as assistant secretary of the PCOO.
Badoy is a dermatologist by profession who received her medical degree from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Medical Center. Prior to her appointment in the PCOO, she was an assistant secretary of the DSWD under the leadership of rejected Social Welfare Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo.
Badoy is among a circle of Duterte supporters rabidly defending the President from critics in social media. In one occasion, she slammed the European Union (EU) for consistently calling out Duterte’s war on drugs, advising EU officials to just “engage in child porn.”
Malacañang has yet to issue Badoy’s appointment papers. “This is in response to media queries regarding Assistant Secretary Lorraine Badoy’s move to the PCOO. Assistant Secretary Badoy has informed as officer in charge-secretary at the DSWD of this development and is now in the process of completing and turning over her responsibilities, which is expected to last until the end of the month. I thank assistant secretary Badoy for her contributions to the DSWD, and I am confident that she will be able to bring her effectiveness as a communicator to her new assignment as undersecretary at PCOO,” Leyco said.