(THE MANILA TIMES) THE Commission on Appointments (CA) has confirmed the nomination and ad interim appointments of 15 senior officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), including the country’s ambassador to New Zealand.
The CA on Wednesday confirmed Kira Azucena as Philippine ambassador to New Zealand with concurrent jurisdiction over Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands.
Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, chairman of the CA’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, sponsored Azucena’s confirmation and 14 other senior DFA officials.
They were: Chiefs of Missions Ariel Peñaranda, Lilybeth Deapera, Edna May Lazaro, and Edgar Tomas Auxilian; Career Ministers Winston Dean Almeda, Shiela Marie Tario, Raymund Toledo, and Randy Arquiza; and Foreign Service Officers Jan Kenneth Bolante, Glenn Joseph Obach, Ira Micheline Valdez, Jan Sherwin Wenceslao, Francis Maynard Maleon, and Jeffrey Valdez.
“They are the men and women of the foreign service who have been instrumental in the advancement of the interests of the nation before the international community,” Estrada said.
“They have been at the frontlines of diplomacy – from securing the much needed Covid-19 vaccines, facilitating the immediate repatriation and extension of legal assistance for our distressed migrant workers, and the promotion of our proud heritage and rich culture before the world,” he added.