Danga named head of printing office

President Arroyo’s appointment of retired Rear Admiral Tirso Danga as head of the National Printing Office (NPO) was met with criticism by government officials and the head of a poll watchdog. Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. likened his appointment as chief of the agency that will print the ballots for the 2010 elections to placing a “forger as governor of the Central Bank”? because of his involvement in the “Hello Garci” scandal. Danga, a PMA 1975 graduate, was appointed to replace Enrique Agana, who was accused of raping a girl.

“The swiftness with which the Palace removed Agana from his post and installed Rear Admiral Danga as his replacement clearly show an administration effort to put the NPO under the control of a man who was linked to election anomalies. But this only raises suspicion that this is part of a sinister agenda to manipulate the 2010 elections to keep administration forces in power,” Pimentel said in a statement. Henrietta de Villa, head of the National Movement for Free Election (NAMFREL), said that his appointment would taint the results of the 2010 elections.

Popularity: unranked [?]