Damean Atty. Gerard Mosquera named as PCGG Commisioner

Generals and most notably, Dameans should be truly proud these days because another compatriot is on the national spotlight!

Atty. Gerard Mosquera, a member of Batch 82 of the Notre Dame of Dadiangas University HS has just been appointed as one of the three new commissioners of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) by President Noynoy Aquino.

Atty. Mosquera who placed second in the 1992 Bar exams after graduating from Ateneo Law School with honors, will be reporting to PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista.  Their office has been tasked to recover for the government the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos Family and their cronies.

The young lawyer who is married to Dr. Myra Nissa Pahm-Mosquera, a dentist, with whom he has four children, has just been awarded last May 25 the 2010 Lucius N. Littauer Award for Academic Excellence and Leadership from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The award is the highest recognition granted by the Harvard Kennedy School for exemplary academic achievement, public service and leadership.

Gerard recently graduated with a Master’s in Public Administration degree and was among the top five percent of Harvard Kennedy School’s Class of 2010 composed of almost 600 students coming from 80 nations. The Harvard University JFK School of Government is the leading institution for specialized training for leaders in government in advancing public interests and welfare. [quote1]

Before this, in 2002, as a recipient of the Chevening scholarship, he got his Master in Laws degree from Kings College, University of London.

All his life, Atty. Mosquera has been active in anti-corruption work.  Before his appointment to the PCGG, he has been holding the position as chief of party of the USAID’s anti-corruption programs in Timor-Leste since 2005.

Prior to that, he was also the technical adviser for anti-corruption to the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor.  Here in the Philippines, he had a short stint as a director in the Office of the Ombudsman. Really, really impressive huh?

Born and raised in General Santos City by his doctor parents in their Kadulasan Street Residence, Atty. Gerard Mosquera, who graduated at the NDDU was also a former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Soccsksargen Chapter which, I must say reveals a lot on how much his local peers also look up to him even during the earlier days of his stellar career.

Take a bow, Atty. Gerard Mosquera and continue to make us proud!