(Eagle News) – President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., has chosen a former president and chief operating office of Philippine Airlines Inc., as the next secretary of the Department of Transportation.
Jaime Bautista will be replacing DOTr Secretary Arturo Tugade.
Bautista retired from PAL in 2019 after returning to the company in 2014. He first served as PAL president from 2004 to 2012.
He is currently an Independent Director of Premium Leisure Corp. and Nickel Asia Corp. He is also an independent director of Belle Corporation which according to its website is one of the leading developers of sustainable resort destinations and leisure properties in the Philippines. Belle’s first and foremost development is Tagaytay Highlands where it “introduced mountain resort living at its finest.”
Bautista is also a former Executive and Director in Macroasia Corporation, Macroasia Services Corporation, Macroasia Airport Services Corporation, Macroasia Properties Development Corporation and ETON Properties Philippines, Inc. He is also a former Treasurer of Tan Yan Kee Foundation, Inc. He served in various executive capacities in the the Lucio Tan group for 39 years, the last 24 years for Philippine Airlines and its subsidiaries.
According to a profile of Bautista in the Belle Corporation website, he is currently a Non-Executive director in Cosco Capital, Inc., Philippine Bank of Communications, Alphaland Corporation, Airspeed International Corporation, Gothong Southern Shipping Lines, Inc. He is likewise the Vice Chairman of the Philippine Eagle Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of the East, the UE Ramon Magsaysay Medical Memorial Center, and the International School of Sustainable Tourism.
He graduated in 1977 from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Magna Cum Laude with a decree of Bachelor of Science in Commerce, major in Accounting. He is also a Certified Public Accountant. He received his Doctorate in Humanities (Honoris Causa) from the Central Luzon State University in 2018.
Marcos Jr’s incoming Executive Secretary, Atty. Vic Rodriguez, confirmed to reporters that Bautista had been chosen to head the DOTr.