Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr.’s name may ring a bell anytime to any Filipino here or abroad.

Unknown to many, however, Evasco is not the lone Boholano to be President Rodrigo Duterte’s appointee.

Not only did the President not accept this other Boholano’s courtesy resignation, but he requested the latter to extend his services.

Fr. Joel Otarra who was born in Banacon Island in Getafe was first appointed as postmaster and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) by them President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.

Otarra is the lone re-appointee of President Duterte. His appointment came out only last week.

From Banacon, Otarra already showed an inkling of what he would like to become. He spent his high school years at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City.

He was well into his way to priesthood when Fr. Sofronio Sorondo of the Diocese of Marbel in South Cotabato invited him and other Filipino priests to transfer there. They were to replace the missionaries who were foreigners. He finished his priesthood there and was assigned to Marbel.

And, just like Evasco, Otarra also went underground at the height of martial law in the country.

When he eventually surfaced, he was assigned to the Social Action Center of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in Manila.

Being among the Top 5 of his class in the seminary, crafting project proposals came easy for him. He developed linkages, including that with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), headed by then Secretary Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to forward his proposals to.

Otarra lied low for a while until he was offered a seat in Board of Directors of Philpost. His further studies in economics, experience and managerial expertise soon propelled him to his current position.