President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has appointed new Philippine ambassadors to Turkiye and Oman, the Palace announced.
(From left) Career diplomats Henry Bensurto Jr. and Raul Hernandez (RTVM screenshots)
In a social media post on Tuesday night, May 16, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) bared the appointment of Henry Bensurto Jr. as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Turkiye.
As ambassador to Turkiye, he has also jurisdiction over Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The same PCO post said Marcos also picked Raul Hernandez as the ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman Chief of Mission I.
Hernandez previously served as Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman under former president Benigno Aquino III, while Bensurto was one of the Philippines’ leading experts on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and maritime security whose contributions became the blueprint of the country’s arbitration case against China.
The appointment papers of the country’s new envoys to Turkiye and Oman were both signed on May 12, according to Malacañang.
Bensurto and Hernandez were appointed to their posts a day after Marcos named five Philippine ambassadors to the United Nations (UN), India, Malaysia, Portugal, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
All of their appointments, however, would still have to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA), which is composed of the members of the House of Representatives and Senate.