Cayetano, three ambassadors get CA nod

The Commission on Appointments (CA) has approved on Wednesday the nomination of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as the secretary of the Foreign Affairs department.

Cayetano’s approval came just a week after his nomination to the post was announced. He is deemed resigned from the Senate after the CA approved his appointment.

Present during his confirmation was Cayetano’s wife, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo.

Earlier in the day, Cayetano breezed through the CA foreign affairs committee after his nomination was approved by the members in less than five minutes.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the CA committee, noted that it was the “shortest confirmation hearing of a Cabinet secretary.”

CA vice chairman and San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora praised Cayetano, saying he will be a “respected an responsible ambassador.”

“In his new post, trust me he will know when to press our country’s position loudly and when to present it in a low-key manner…He will be steadfast in defending what’s ours,” Zamora said.

Zamora said he is confident that under Cayetano’s leadership in the DFA, “no OFW in distress will be left behind.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto also endorsed the confirmation of Cayetano, saying it will be wrong to portray the new Cabinet official only as a “partisan.”

“If Bong Go is the body man who waits on the President hand and foot, he is the body vest that cushions the blows, which is not an easy job in a land where the president is the national punching bag,” Recto said.

“But it will be wrong to portray him simply as a partisan. What should not be forgotten is that he is foremost a patriot and a professional,” he added.

Ambassadors confirmed

Along with Cayetano, the bicameral body also approved the appointment of three ambassadors:

• Wilfredo Cunanan Santos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Islamic Republic of Iran, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Tukmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan;
• Bernardita Leonida Catalla, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Lebanon; and
• Adnan Villaluna Alonto, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Saudi Arabia, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Yemen.

Two foreign services officers, Jim Gabrillo Minglana and Robert Eric Alabado Borje, were also approved by the CA. —KG, GMA News