OATHTAKING. Irish Calaguas takes her oath as Assistant Secretary for Right of Way Acquisition(ROW) for Rail and Road before Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday. Photo by BERNARD GALANG
Kapampangan appointed to head DOTr ROW acquisition
CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – A female Kapampangan was appointed as Assistant Secretary for Right of Way Acquisition(ROW) for Rail and Road.
Irish “IC” Calaguas, who hails from Angeles City, took her oath of office on Monday before her fellow Kabalen, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon.
Calaguas, who has a strong background in leadership and administration, boasts an impressive resume, having held key positions, recent of which was Vice President for Operations of the Clark International Airport Corp.
She also served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Director General for Administration of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) under Gen. Aaron Aquino from 2017 to 2020; and Chief of Staff of former Cong. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin from 1999 to 2013.
Calaguas was also the Chief Political Strategist of incumbent Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. during the 2019 and 2022 local elections; and headed the COVID-19 Management and Response and Vaccination for Mayor Lazatin from 2020 to 2022.
With a strong educational foundation, Calaguas graduated from the New Era University with a degree in Mass Communication, and has earned several other degrees, including Master in Business Administration also from New Era; Master of Arts in Education from the Philippine Women’s University; and Doctor of Business Administration from the Geneva Business School.
She also completed Executive Education programs, including the Executive Leadership Program at the University of Oxford; Creating Public Value and Delivering Public Services at Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Communications for Public Policy Delivery at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore
Her impressive credentials, including passing the four-stage Career Service Eligibility in 2020 and being a recipient of the Sen. Gerry Roxas Leadership Award, make Calaguas an ideal candidate for the role.
In April 2024, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Administrative Order 19, creating a ROW Committee tasked to study and devise an efficient and collaborative mechanism to streamline the process of land acquisition necessary for the implementation of all railway projects.
The order directs the committee to coordinate the implementation of railway policies and projects, as well as craft and approve project-specific policies and programs; and identify appropriate services or programs concerning land acquisition and other ROW activities such as livelihood, income restoration, and resettlement.
The secretaries of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) lead the committee.
Meanwhile, with Dizon’s leadership and Calaguas’ expertise, the DOTr is poised to tackle the challenges of improving the country’s transportation infrastructure.
