[ad_1]
(UPDATE) THE Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday, has confirmed the ad interim appointments of Enrique Manalo as Foreign Affairs secretary and Amenah Pangandaman as Budget secretary.
The CA also confirmed the appointment and promotion of 23 senior officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) including 14 ambassadors.
DFA CHIEF CONFIRMED. Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri (2nd row, 3rd from left) congratulates Secretary Enrique Manalo of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) while posing for a souvenir photo with the members of the Commission of Appointments (CA) at the Senate plenary hall in Pasay City on Wednesday (Sept. 28, 2022). Around 23 DFA officials were also confirmed by the CA. (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)
It also approved the appointment of lawyer Nesauro Firme as a member of the Judicial and Bar Council, representing the academy.
But due to time constraints, the CA was not able to deliberate on the ad interim appointments of Erwin Tulfo as Bonoan as Public Works secretary.
To continue their mandate, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will have to reappoint Tulfo and Bonoan.
Sen. Mary Grace Poe who sponsored Pangandaman’s appointment said the Budget secretary “was trained by heavyweights” having once worked with the late former Senate president Edgardo Angara and Sen. Lorna Regina “Loren” Legarda.
CONFIRMED. Secretary Amenah Pangandaman (4th from left) of the Department of Budget and Management poses for a souvenir photo with members of the Commission on Appointments (CA) after her confirmation at the Senate plenary Hall in Pasay City on Wednesday (Sept. 28, 2022) . The CA also confirmed the ad interim appointments of several national government officials that day. (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)
Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada who sponsored Manalo’s appointment, noted that the DFA chief was a foreign service career officer who has worked “his way up the organizational hierarchy to assume significant posts at home [office] and overseas.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Tolentino has proposed that the DFA form a group that will handle international and commercial arbitrations on the Philippines’ claim to Sabah.
The senator made the suggestion after citing the victory of the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu in their Sabah claim dispute against the Malaysian government.
“The DFA should now seize the opportunity — we won — whether that was initiated by a private group is irrelevant, the implication is, we own Sabah,” he said.
“Around 750,000 Filipinos live there, stateless, without social security and health benefits, and not allowed to vote,” Tolentino said.
Manalo said he will convene the DFA’s sub-committee group under the cabinet cluster, which is composed of the DFA, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense, and others to study the legal implication of the country’s sovereignty claim over Sabah.
Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros asked Manalo’s view on territorial disputes in light of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s statement that the Philippines would “not give up even an inch of its territory.”
Manalo said the DFA “will challenge any claim by any foreign power claiming Philippine territory.”
Sen. Cynthia Villar told Philippine Ambassador to Israel Pedro Laylo Jr. to look into the possibility of using Israeli technology to develop the country’s agriculture.
Villar noted that Israel is known for its agricultural technology which the Philippines needs.
.
[ad_2]
Source link