DFA confirms PHL envoy to China hospitalized

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday confirmed that Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio has been hospitalized.
GMA News Online was the first to report that Basilio, 71, underwent tracheostomy - a surgical procedure where a pipe is inserted into the trachea to provide an airway and to remove secretions from the lungs.
"We confirm that Philippine Ambassador has been hospitalized," DFA spokesman Charles Jose said in a text message. "She is under the care of a team of good doctors."
Basilio's medical confinement came at a crucial time when relations between Manila and Beijing may be further strained by an upcoming decision by an international tribunal in The Hague on the South China Sea disputes.
Philippine officials said the tribunal’s ruling is expected sometime in May. The case was filed by the Philippines in January 2013, a move that has angered China, but earned praises from the international community, including the United States.
"She is currently in a hospital in Beijing. She can not travel. She will be out of circulation for a month or more," a Filipino diplomat earlier told GMA News Online.
"The concern is that there is no functioning ambassador to Beijing when the tribunal rules on our case," the source said.
Basilio, a retired career diplomat turned political ambassador, was appointed as Manila’s top envoy to Beijing 2012. She steps down when President Benigno Aquino III ends his term on June 30.
In the absence of Basilio, Jose said her deputy, Minister Elizabeth Te, will be the embassy's charge d'affaires.
Te is no stranger to China since she was first assigned there as a junior officer, the source said.
"The personnel at the embassy are competent to temporarily handle the affairs until a new ambassador is appointed," the source said.
"Alternately, the DFA can send a senior chief of mission as Charge d’Affaires until Ambassador Basilio recovers or until the arrival of the new ambassador under a new administration," the source added.
The Philippines will not have a new ambassador until the new president appoints one and goes through the bicameral Commission on Appointments and receives approval from the host country, which is China.
"That takes three months minimum," the source said. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more

In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief ---By TOI STAFF, AGENCIES and LAZAR BERMAN

Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source. The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, a
Read more