Ex-DFA acting chief Manalo named ambassador to Germany

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed former Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) acting secretary Enrique Manalo as ambassador to Germany, a document released by Malacañang on Friday showed.

Duterte signed the appointment paper of Manalo on August 7. The President also named Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Leo Herrera-Lim ambassador to Denmark.

Manalo, a son of two former ambassadors, is the acting chief of the DFA from March to May 2017 after the powerful Commission on Appointments rejected the appointment of Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. due to citizenship issues.

Duterte’s running-mate in the 2016 elections, former Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, succeeded Manalo in May 2017.

Manalo returned to his old post as DFA undersecretary for policy.

A seasoned diplomat, Manalo also served as ambassador to Belgium and the United Kingdom as well as head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union, which had issued statements critical of Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Apart from Manalo and Lim, the President also made appointments to several agencies including the Department of Finance, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Agriculture, and the National Youth Commission. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News