Leoncio Evasco, Jr. is back in President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet, over two years after resigning as Cabinet secretary to pursue Bohol’s gubernatorial seat.

Evasco was appointed as presidential adviser on streamlining of government processes, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon.

The former Maribojoc mayor will be holding his new post as a Secretary in Duterte’s Cabinet.

“The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has signed the appointment of Mr. Leoncio Badilla Evasco Jr. as Presidential Adviser on Streamlining of Government Processes, with the rank of Secretary, on November 24, 2020,” Roque said.

Evasco was the President’s first Cabinet Secretary.

He took over the post after serving as Duterte’s campaign manager in the 2016 Presidential Elections.

He also served as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

“PA Evasco is not new in the Duterte Administration having served as Cabinet Secretary in the early years of the current administration. His familiarity with the present bureaucracy would contribute greatly in his new task of streamlining government processes in the Executive,” Roque said.

Evasco resigned as Cabinet Secretary in October, 2018 as he set his sights on the governorship of Bohol.

He however lost by a slim margin to Gov. Art Yap in the 2019 midterm polls.