The Aquino government finally resolved the controversy over who should sit as chief of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department early this month when it confirmed the nomination of Dr. Flor J. Lacanilao for a two-year term effective April 8, 1986. In a letter to the SEAFDEC secretary-general, the government issued the confirmation "to settle doubts that may have been provoked by recent events" apparently referring to the takeover attempt late last year by Navy Captain Juan de Leon.

Lacanilao's appointment as SEAFDEC chief upheld. (1987, February 2). Malaya, p. 3.