CA Confirms Appointment of 5 Ambassadors

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. administers the oath of office of five Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippines, who were just confirmed earlier in the day by the Commission on Appointments, at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City. (DFA OSCR photos)

30 January 2019 – The Commission of Appointments (CA) has confirmed the nomination of five Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (AEP), the confirmation of the ad interim appointment of one Chief of Mission and the inclusion of jurisdiction of one AEP in its session held today.

Confirmed as AEPs were the following:

• Leah Basinag-Ruiz as AEP to the Republic of Poland, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Ukraine, Republic of Estonia, Republic of Latvia and Republic of Lithuania. She is currently the head of the DFA Legislative Liaision Unit
• Alex Garcia Chua as AEP to the Republic of Kenya, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Burundi, Union of the Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Rwanda, Republic of Seychelles, Federal Republic of Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Uganda, and Republic of South Sudan, and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme and United Nations Human Settlements Programme. He is currently Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Financial Management Services
• Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega as AEP to the Federal Republic of Germany. She is currently Officer-in-Charge of the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Administration.
• Raul Salavaria Hernandez as AEP to the Republic of Turkey with concurrent jurisdiction over Georgia and the Republic of Azebaijan. He is currently the country’s envoy to South Korea. 
• Leo M. Herrera-Lim as AEP to the Kingdom of Denmark. He is currently Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for International Economic Relations.

Also confirmed is the inclusion of Cook Islands in the jurisdiction of Jesus Santos Domingo, who is currently AEP to New Zealand. He also holds concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga and the Independent State of Samoa.

The ad interim appointment of Henry Sicad Bensurto Jr. to Chief of Mission, Class I, was also confirmed during the session. He is currently Consul General to San Francisco. END

(DFA OSCR photos)