Manalo, 23 DFA officials' appointments now up for CA plenary confirmation

The appointments of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and 23 envoys and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are now up for plenary confirmation.

This, after the Commission on Appointments committee on foreign affairs endorsed their appointments to the plenary on Tuesday afternoon.

During the hearing, Senator Risa Hontiveros raised the statements made by China's envoy regarding the treaties signed by the Philippines with other countries like the United States.

"As a sovereign nation, we would not be overly concerned about statements for example by a former, I’ll say it already… Chinese ambassador coming to our former Defense secretary and telling him 'Please do not touch the Mutual Defense Treaty,' 'leave it as it is.' Because we will have to act according to our own best interests," the senator said.

In response, Manalo said they just "note whatever statements that they may make."

"Ang sarap, ano po, sabihin sa Tsina 'noted'," Hontiveros said.

Apart from Manalo, the following ambassadors and DFA officers will face the CA plenary this afternoon:

• Joseph Gerard Bacani Angeles, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federative Republic of Brazil with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Columbia, the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Suriname, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
• Nathaniel Garcia Imperial, Chief of Mission Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Italian Republic, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Malta, and the Republic of San Marino
• Gina Alagon Jamoralin, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Indonesia
• Jaime Victor Badillo Ledda, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Belgium, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
• Medardo Antonio Gonzales Macaraig, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Singapore
• Eduardo Ramos Menez, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Czech Republic
• Hjayceelyn Mancenido Quintana, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Philippines to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Wilfredo Cunanan Santos, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, with concurrent jurisdiction over the State of Palestine.
• Alfonso Ferdinand Agbayani Ver, Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Arab Emirates
• Grace T. Cruz-Fabella, Chief of Mission, Class II, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the Republic of Paraguay and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
• Lilybeth Rodriguez Deapera, Chief of Mission, Class II, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Mexican States, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Costa Rica, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of El Salvador, the Republic of Guatemala, the Republic of Honduras, the Republic of Nicaragua, the Republic of Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Belize
• Lilibeth Velasco Pono, Chief of Mission, Class II, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the State of Qatar
• Pedro Ramirez Laylo Jr., Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the State of Israel with the salary emoluments of a Chief of Mission, Class I
• Philippe Jones Lhuillier, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Spain, including the Canary Islands, with the salary emoluments of a Chief of Mission, Class I
• Adelio Angelito Soriano Cruz, Chief of Mission Class I
• Daniel Ramos Espiritu, Chief of Mission Class I
• Christopher Baltazar Montero, Chief of Mission Class I
• Gines Jaime Ricardo Dacanay Gallaga, Chief of Mission Class II
• Mersole Jala Mellejor, Chief of Mission Class II
• Jasone Jovencio Aljibe Anasarias, Career Minister
• Maria Cynthia Paras Pelayo, Career Minister
• Geronimo Capiendo Suliguin Jr., Foreign Service Officer, Class I
• LV Ignacio de Guzman, Foreign Service Officer, Class II

—AOL, GMA News