SPONSORSHIP SPEECH
SENATOR JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA
Chairperson, Committee on Foreign Affairs
Commission on Appointments
August 7, 2024
Mr. Chairman, honorable members of the Commission on Appointments, this representation as Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs is privileged to sponsor the nominations and ad interim appointments of fifteen (15)officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Following a public hearing this morning which deliberated on their nominations and appointments, your Committee found them to be fit and qualified and ruled to endorse them to the plenary for the approval of this august body.
Distinguished colleagues, I am honored to recommend that this body give its consent to the nominations of:
- ANTONIO ALBERO MORALES – Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Commonwealth of Australia, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Nauru, Tuvalu, and the Republic of Vanuatu
Mr. Morales, a career Philippine foreign service officer with over three decades of experience, is presently the DFA Undersecretary for Administration. Before his appointment to this post, he served as our Ambassador to Singapore from 2014 to 2017, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Philippine Embassy in Beijing, and headed the Philippine Consulate General in Milan, Italy and Hong Kong.
- DOMINGO PRADIEZ NOLASCO – Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Finland
Since March 2023, he is designated as DFA Assistant Secretary of the Office of Financial Management Services. Our Camalig, Albay-born nominee held significant positions in the home office and was deployed in foreign posts, most notably as our Ambassador to Italy and concurrently as Permanent Representative to the agencies of the United Nations based in Rome from 2015 to 2022.
- NOEL EUGENE EUSEBIO MEJICA SERVIGON – Chief of Mission, Class I as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Romania
Our veteran envoy from Iloilo City boasts of 36 years of service as a foreign service officer. He is assigned as Assistant Secretary and Head of the Internal Audit Service of the DFA. Among his previous diplomatic postings in various capacities were at the Philippine Embassies in Austria, Türkiye; The Hague, and Abu Dhabi. He was our Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia from 2019 to 2022.
- RAYMOND REYES BALATBAT – Chief of Mission, Class II, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Yemen
Presently, he is our Ambassador to the Lebanese Republic in Beirut. He is a Presidential Awardee of Gawad Mabini, Rank of Commander (Dakilang Kasugo). This is an award conferred upon DFA personnel and upon Filipinos in recognition of their distinguished service or their promotion of the Republic’s interest, in the country and abroad. Interestingly, he was once part of the Congress as legislative researcher and writer in the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) and Budget Analyst from the Senate Legislative Budget, Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO).
- NINA PADILLA CAINGLET – Chief of Mission, Class II, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives
Born in Iloilo City, Ms. Cainglet is currently the Deputy Chief of Mission and Deputy Permanent Representative in Philippine Embassy in Rome, Italy. Since her entry in Philippine foreign service in August 1998, she assumed important positions in foreign posts and in the home office such as Office of the United Nations and International Organizations (UNIO), Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs (ASPAC) and Office of ASEAN Affairs.
- ADRIAN BERNIE CABARDO CANDOLADA – Chief of Mission, Class II, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Colombia, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Ecuador and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Mr. Candolada is from Tulunan, Cotabato province, and is currently serving as Assistant Secretary of the Legislative Liaison Unit of the DFA. He joined the foreign service in 1996 and was previously assigned as Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General of the Philippine Embassy in Singapore; Consul General in Philippine Embassy in Rome, Italy; Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN in Jakarta, among others.
- GIOVANNI ENDENCIA PALEC – Chief of Mission, Class II as Non-Resident Ambassador to North Macedonia, in addition to being Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Hellenic Republic, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Cyprus
He is currently serving as our Ambassador to Athens, Greece. The Commission on Appointments previously gave its consent to his nomination to the said position last 16 September 2020. Prior to this current assignment, he was deployed in Philippine Consulate General in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Philippine Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand; Philippine Embassy in Muscat, Oman, among others.
Likewise, dear colleagues, I respectfully recommend that this body confirm the ad interim appointments of:
- JABBAR MARASIGAN ADIONG – to the rank of Career Minister;
- JED MARTIN ASUNCION LLONA – to the rank of Career Minister;
- EDWIN GIL QUIJANO MENDOZA – to the rank of Career Minister;
- JEFFREY PEÑAMANTE SALIK – to the rank of Career Minister;
- ZOILO ATENCIO VELASCO – to the rank of Career Minister;
- JUAN CARLOS CAYOSA BORROMEO – to the rank of Foreign Service Officer, Class I;
- DYAN KRISTINE BUGALON MIRANDA-PASTRANA – to the rank of Foreign Service Officer, Class I; and
- ELLA KARINA RIVERA MITRA – to the rank of Foreign Service Officer, Class I.
I so move, Mr. Chairman.