By Mario Casayuran Teodoro ‘’Teddy Boy’’ Lopez Locsin Jr. yesterday breezed through the confirmation process at the15-member Commission on Appointments (CA) when the constitutional body confirmed his appointment as Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) secretary with nary an objection. Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin Jr. attends his confirmation hearing as Foreign Affairs Secretary at the Senate on Wednesday. (Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN) Locsin, a lawyer, former journalist and congressman, thus became the third DFA secretary in the Duterte government. The first two were Perfecto Yasay and former Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano. The CA also confirmed the appointments of 42 DFA officials led by Ambassadors Celia Anna Mallari Feria and Maria Fe Tanabe Pangilinan. Six CA members, particularly Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson, delivered speeches why they were voting ‘’yes’’ for Locsin’s confirmation. Lacson, chairman of the CA foreign affairs committee, said Locsin would bring his own brand of diplomacy, ‘’one that is the true value of an independent foreign policy enshrined in our Constitution.’’ ‘’I dare say this without mental reservation. If he pulls off and succeeds in the present endeavors which he is currently occupied with, with nary a constitutional challenge but would catapult the Philippines into the league of rich, influential and economically powerful nations, we may now be confirming a future president of the Republic of the Philippines,’’ Lacson said. He was referring to the controversial territorial incursions by China on the country’s extended economic zones (EEC), withdrawal by the Philippines from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and problems that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) experience while in foreign lands. Lacson described Locsin, a lawyer educated in Ateneo de Manila University and Harvard University, as a ‘’maverick, quick-witted and ascerbic- never dull and never ordinary.’’ San Juan Rep. Ronaldo B. Zamora, CA vice chairman, said Locsin, a former Philippine permanent representative to the United Nations, ‘’has made diplomacy an art…and will never surrender the dignity of the nation.’’ ‘’He (Locsin) has faith in the country’s future. He is a very good friend,’’ he added. Sen. Grace Poe said President Duterte made the ‘’right choice’’ in selecting Locsin to the DFA post because Locsin ‘’will not allow our country to be bullied …I am confident our sovereignty will be respected.’’ ‘’Highly intelligent’’ was how Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri described Lacson who was speech writer to three former Philippine Presidents- Corazon C. Aquino, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. ‘’Bright…articulate,’’ was how Senator Juan Edgardo ‘’Sonny’’ Angara described Locsin in his co-sponsorship speech seconding the motion to confirm Locsin’s appointment. During the CA committee hearing, Locsin said he would push for tighter coordination between the coast guards of the Philippines and China. He made the remark when Senator Risa Hontiveros pressed him for comment on the incident between the Reporter’s Notebook documentary team and China Coast Guard personnel in the Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal. Scaroborough Shoal is located more than 200 nautical miles west of Zambales province in Luzon or about 800 nautical miles east of Hainan, the easternmost land mass of China. Locsin said he believes that tighter coordination between the two coastguards is needed to prevent conflict in the West Philippine Sea. “There was a proposal for an even tighter coordination between China and Philippines, I rejected that but now it seems necessary for a tighter coordination,” Locsin stressed. ‘’We do not waive a single right given to the Philippines as a result of the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration,’’ he added. Hontiveros welcomed Locsin’s answer saying it was the most concrete reply she heard from an official of the Duterte administration.