Pangandaman, Manalo, 23 DFA officials, JBC member Firme secure CA nod

The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday confirmed the appointments of Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, 23 other Foreign Affairs officials, and Judicial and Bar Council member Nesauro Firme.

This after the CA committees on budget and management, foreign affairs, justice and judicial and bar council made their respective endorsements to their appointments.

The CA was supposed to tackle the ad interim appointments of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo and Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan but it was deferred due to time constraints.

The CA panel was also supposed to defer the hearing on Pangandaman's appointment but Senator Grace Poe, panel chairperson, appealed to her colleagues, pointing out that the Budget secretary has been "diligently complying" with the requirements on time.

"It is actually with a heavy heart that I feel we are now delaying her hearing because of some other complications. If there are no questions that are too lengthy, I think we can appeal to the Senate president, tackle her appointment now," Poe said in a hearing of another CA panel.

"Imagine if we have somebody, a weak Budget secretary during the time of budget season with something hanging over her head. I think for impartiality and fairness, we should be able to approve her appointment if she is able to satisfy the questions that we have for her today," she added.

Apart from Manalo, the following ambassadors and DFA officers secured the approval of the bicameral commission:

• 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.

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• 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