- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Lawyer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr., a graduate of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, was designated as City Legal Officer of Bacolod, by mayor-elect Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez.
In his social media post June 9, Benitez said the Office of the City Legal Officer is the chief legal counsel for the City that is mandated to formulate measures for the consideration of the local legislature.
The CLO is also tasked to provide legal assistance and support to the mayor in carrying out the delivery of basic services to the public, he added.
Ting graduated Doctor of Laws in 2001 from UNO-R, and was admitted to the Philippine Bar on May 3, 2002.
He passed the Registered Electrical Engineer Licensure Examination in 1996, the same year he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineer degree, also from UNO-R.
Ting has been a private legal practitioner with the Ting Law Office since 2002. He finished high school in 1989 from the Iloilo Central Commercial High School, and elementary school from the St. John’s Institute in Bacolod City.
Earlier, Benitez also named Atty. Pacifico “Boyet” Maghari III as city administrator, and Atty. Karol Joseph Chiu as secretary to the mayor.
Maghari graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1999 from the University of St. La Salle, and passed the Bar Exams in 2000. He is also a Certified Public Accountant, and is the president of the Negros Occidental CPAs Foundation Inc.
He is the executive assistant for Finance of the Mayor of the City of Talisay since 2016 and concurrent head of the Talisay City Housing Authority since 2019.
“The roles of a City Ad include, but are not limited to, developing and implementing plans and strategies, upon approval by the city mayor, assist in the coordination of work of all officials of the local government unit, establish and maintain a sound personnel program for the LGU, be in the frontline in the delivery of administrative support services, especially those related to man-made and natural disasters and calamities, and perform other duties and functions as may be prescribed by law or ordinance,” Benitez said.
Chiu, on the other hand, finished his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Bachelor of Laws degrees from UNO-R, his secondary education from La Consolacion College-Bacolod, and primary education from ETCS 1. He is one of the lawyers at Chiu Tafioso Malan Mayo Cua Law Office.
As secretary to Benitez, he will take charge and be the custodian of all records and documents of the city, its offices and departments, shall keep the corporate seal and affix the same with his signature to all ordinances and resolutions signed by the mayor and all other official documents and papers of the government as may be required by law or ordinance, he shall attest to all executive orders, proclamation, ordinances, and resolutions signed by the mayor, and shall perform such other duties as the mayor may require of him, among others.
“The goal is to assist Mayor Albee in bringing meaningful change for a better Bacolod,” Chiu said./CGC
