President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Environment Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna as Acting Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), replacing Raphael Lotilla.
The leadership change was confirmed on Friday in Malacañang by Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro.
Lotilla, who previously served as head of the Department of Energy prior to his DENR appointment, has been designated as the Philippines’ Ambassador to the Holy See in Rome.
The diplomatic post is considered significant, reflecting the country’s deep Catholic roots and longstanding relations with the Vatican.
Cuna, a career official within the DENR, now assumes leadership of an agency at the center of key national issues, including mining regulation, climate resilience, and environmental protection.
Lotilla’s reassignment signals a transition from overseeing natural resource governance to representing the Philippines in one of its most symbolic foreign missions.