PNoy names Del Rosario as acting DFA secretary

(Updated 11:55 p.m.) President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday afternoon announced the appointment of businessman and veteran diplomat Albert del Rosario as acting secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The 71-year-old Del Rosario took his oath before the President after the latter’s briefing with Malacañang reporters on the government’s efforts to repatriate Filipinos in Libya. In an interview, Del Rosario said he was honored by the appointment and Aquino’s confidence “so I will try my best to live up to it." The new DFA secretary said his first task is to ensure the safety of Filipinos in the Middle East and North Africa, which are threatened by continuing mass unrest and violence. “We have to address the current challenges in terms of protecting our overseas workers. There are many challenges in the Middle East and in North Africa as well," he said.
Acting capacity Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Del Rosario will serve in an acting capacity until the Palace submits his appointment to the Commission on Appointments. When Congress is in session, appointed officials are not allowed to take their posts until they are confirmed by the CA. In a press statement, Lacierda said Del Rosario comes with “a sterling track record in foreign service to show that he will serve the President and the Republic with integrity and the highest devotion to the democratic principles that underscore all official actions, domestic and foreign." Del Rosario replaced outgoing DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo, who took an indefinite leave of absence from his position last Friday. Romulo is bowing out at a time of tumultuous unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, a number of irritants in Philippine ties with China and Taiwan, and disasters such as the recent earthquake in New Zealand – all of which have immediate and long-term effects on the situation of overseas Filipino workers in these countries. “The President believes that he [Del Rosario] must be brought to harness at the soonest possible time to be fully briefed and engaged," said Lacierda. He added Del Rosario is a choice that can harmonize the professional foreign service, with the President as architect of the administration’s foreign policy, so that all are working together to pursue the national interest. “The Chief Executive has every expectation that theirs will be a productive and energetic working relationship," Lacierda said. Businessman-diplomat Del Rosario, a businessman who is counted among the close advisers of President Aquino, served as Philippine ambassador to Washington from Oct. 13, 2001 to July 8, 2006, under then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He resigned in 2006, reportedly due to policy differences with Arroyo, exactly a year after 10 officials quit their Cabinet posts and called on Mrs. Arroyo to resign in the aftermath of the “Hello Garci" scandal. According to an article posted Thursday on the Newsbreak website, Del Rosario “is a close business associate of tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan," and prior to his accepting the DFA post was a director of several corporations, including the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co., First Pacific Corp., and BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. Del Rosario figured in a minor controversy in 2009 when he denied the claim of Alfonso Yuchengco — another diplomat and business tycoon like him — that Del Rosario was among the group that intimidated Yuchengco into selling his PLDT Co. shares in 1998. Career diplomats welcome new DFA chief Foreign service officers welcomed Del Rosario’s assumption to the DFA post. “We assure Secretary Del Rosario of our full support and cooperation as he pursues the country’s foreign policy objectives," said Jaime Victor Ledda, president of the Union of Foreign Service Officers (UNIFORS). UNIFORS represents the DFA’s career diplomats, numbering at about 300. Meanwhile, sources said Romulo, one of the country’s longest-serving Foreign Affairs secretaries, will be appointed as chief of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. (See: Romulo to pass DFA baton to Del Rosario)—JV, GMA News