PHL envoy to Iraq, 15 others get CA nod

The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday confirmed the appointments of 16 ambassadors to various diplomatic posts, including one in war-torn Iraq.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the CA confirmed the appointment of Edsel P. Barba as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (AEP) to the Republic of Iraq.

Aside from Barba, other ambassadors whose appointments got the CA's nod were:

  • Rowena Sanchez (Turkey);
  • Ma. Theresa Lazaro (France and Monaco),
  • Victoriano Lecaros (Czech Republic),
  • Cecilia Rebong (Switzerland),
  • Jaime Victor Ledda, (Netherlands),
  • Narciso Castaneda (Oman),
  • Eduardo Martin Menez (Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan),
  • Vicente Vivencio Bandillo (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives); and
  • Catalino Dilem (Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Cuba);

The ad interim appointments of Ambassador Ma. Cleofe R. Natividad and Consul Cynthia P. Pelayo were approved in absentia as they are already posted in Berlin and The Hague, respectively.

Meanwhile, the CA also approved the expanded jurisdictions of six ambassadors in connection with last year's closure of 10 foreign service posts:

  • Enrique A. Manalo as Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to include the Republic of Ireland;
  • George B. Reyes as Ambassador to the United Mexican States with concurrent jurisdiction over Belize, the Republic of Costa Rica, the Republic of El Salvador, the Republic of Guatemala, the Republic of Honduras, the Republic Nicaragua, the Republic of Panama, and to include the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Cuba;
  • Bayani S. Mercado as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Denmark and to include the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden;
  • Eleanor L. Jaucian as Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary with concurrent jurisdiction over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia and to include Romania, the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova;
  • Patricia Ann V. Paez as Ambassador to the Republic of Poland and to include the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania; and
  • Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. as Ambassador to the United States of America with concurrent jurisdiction over the U.S. Virgin Islands, Grenada and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and to include the Republic of Trinidad and Tabago, the Commonwealth of Jamaica and the Republic of Haiti.

The six have already confirmed by the appointments body but their additional jurisdictions necessitated another round of confirmation proceedings. — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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