CA confirms new DFA, DHSUD chiefs; promotes 118 senior military officials
At A Glance
- The CA also bypassed the ad interim appointment of Jay Ruiz as secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and Henry Aguda as secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), due to lack of time.
On the last session day of the 19th Congress, the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed the ad interim appointment of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Ramon Pangilinan Aliling.
The CA, however, bypassed the ad interim appointment of Jay Ruiz as secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and Henry Aguda as secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), due to lack of time.
The 19th Congress adjourns sine die on June 13 and ends at noon of June 30.
In sponsoring the approval of Lazaro’s appointment, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada described her as a “paragon of excellence in the Philippine Foreign Service.”
Among her notable contributions, Estrada said, was her pivotal role in managing tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS0, including facilitating arrangements to ensure the continued resupply of Philippine personnel stationed at Ayungin Shoal.
“She has also worked tirelessly to build regional consensus on the long-standing efforts toward a rules-based Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, demonstrating her capacity for balancing assertive diplomacy with constructive engagement,” Estrada said in his sponsorship speech.
The CA also confirmed the appointments of seven ambassadors, as well as 52 junior foreign service officers.
Likewise, the powerful appointments body also approved the promotions of 118 senior officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).