PNoy nominates new PHL envoy to Pakistan

President Benigno Aquino III has nominated a replacement for the late Philippine ambassador to Pakistan Domingo Lucenario Jr., who was killed in a helicopter crash last Friday.

Aquino has picked Daniel Espiritu to replace Lucenario. Espiritu’s appointment papers were signed last May 4, days before the accident that killed Lucenario.

The new envoy needs to secure the nod of the bicameral Commission on Appointments.

Lucenario was killed last Friday when the helicopter he was riding en route to an inspection of development projects crashed in north Pakistan.

Also killed in the incident, which was reportedly caused by technical fault, were Norwegian Ambassador Leif Larsen, the wives of the ambassadors of Malaysia and Indonesia, the two pilots and a crew member.

Lucenario, a career diplomat who served the Philippine government for 35 years, was supposed to end his tour of duty in Pakistan this August.

More appointments

President Aquino also nominated Constancio Vingno Jr. as the Philippines’ new ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

He likewise appointed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) head Kenneth Hartigan-Go as Department of Health undersecretary.

Assistant Secretary Mildred Yovela Umali-Hermogenes of the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel was meanwhile promoted to undersecretary.

Two new assistant secretaries were also named: Bienadel Elizabeth Yap of the Department of Public Works and Highways, and Katherine Brimon of the Department of Labor and Employment, who was appointed in an acting capacity. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News

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