Marciano Paynor is next ambassador to US —Duterte

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday announced that he appointed his chief protocol officer Marciano Paynor to be the Philippines' new ambassador to the United States.

"He has a seasoned foreign career," Duterte said in ambush interview with reporters in Malacañang before dining with wounded soldiers in Malacañang.

Duterte said that Paynor has already accepted the offer.

"I have to nominate him," the President said when asked about when Paynor will start his tenure as ambassador to Washington.

Meanwhile, Paynor's post will be taken by Robert Borje, who was the Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the united Nations.

Borje was a former TV anchorman in Davao City. He is also the son of retired Commodore Adolf P. Borje of the Philippine Navy. —NB, GMA News