(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Environment Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna as acting secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Malacañang announced Friday. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Cuna replaces Raphael Lotilla, who was appointed as Philippine ambassador to the Holy See. Asked for the reason behind the leadership change in the DENR, Castro said Lotilla chose to handle a lighter assignment. She made it clear that Lotilla “did not resign and he was not asked to resign.” Cuna began serving in the DENR in 2008 as Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer until 2010. He was appointed as a DENR director from 2010 to 2015. In 2017, Cuna became assistant secretary and was promoted to undersecretary in the same year. Cuna will have supervision over the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the Environmental Management Bureau. These agencies serve as the primary regulators of the country’s extractive industries, placing Cuna at the “nerve center” of some of the government’s most sensitive and economically significant policy decisions. Cuna, who is a cousin of former Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, is a lawyer and former Manila city councilor. He taught law at the Arellano Law Foundation and was Director IV and Legal Officer of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office under the Office of the President from 1998 to 2001. Cuna holds master’s degrees from two of the world’s most prominent institutions for public policy education: Harvard University and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. In a related development, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Malacañang is preparing to submit the names of eight Cabinet members who have yet to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA). Some of the nominees may receive ad interim appointments if the submissions are made during the congressional break. In an interview on Thursday, Sotto, concurrent chairman of the bicameral appointment body, said he recently spoke with Executive Secretary Ralph Recto regarding the pending appointments. “He said they are preparing (the appointments). But I will not be surprised if they appoint and submit during the break, so it becomes an ad interim appointment for those not appointed yet,” Sotto said.