Davaoeño lawyer, Atty. Melzar P.Galicia, was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as the Executive Commissioner of the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) and took his oath of office in Davao City before Hon. Marie Estrellita Tolentino-Rojas on December 26, 2019.

Coming from humble beginnings, Atty. Galicia was an avid chess player whose skills got recognized and landed him a sports scholarship all throughout his college years and partly during his graduate studies. He started his career in Davao City Municipal and Regional Trial Courts moving from staff assistant, interpreter to legal researcher, while taking up a law degree in the University of Mindanao.

Atty. Galicia was admitted to the bar in 1990, and just shortly after became a practicing lawyer for LG law office for 27 years.  He was also a member of People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB), of the Davao City’s Local Government Unit from 2005 to 2017. As a member of PLEB, he heard and decided on complaints against policemen.

It was in 2017 that Atty. Galicia was appointed by President Duterte as Commissioner for the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB). Following HLURB’s reconstitution as HSAC in 2019, Atty. Galicia became the first appointed Executive Commissioner for the latter.

As the Executive Commissioner, Atty. Galicia heads the agency and responsible for the administration and operation of the Commission, including supervision of personnel, in the Central Office and the Regional Adjudication Branches.