President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Department Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Eduardo Malaya and 16 other career diplomats to different ambassadorial positions abroad, deputy president spokesperson Abigail Valte announced on Sunday.
Valte, in an interview on state-run dzRB radio, said President Aquino has named Malaya, also DFA assistant secretary, as Philippine ambassador to Malaysia.
The other appointees were:
Belen Anota to Australia, Nauru, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu;
Victoria Bataclan to Belgium, Luxembourg, European communities and the European Union;
Leslie Gatan to Canada;
Wilfredo Maximo to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica;
Cristina Ortega to France and Monaco;
Ma. Cleofe Natividad to Germany;
Meynardo Montealegre to the Hellenic Republic and Cyprus;
Eleanor Jaucian to Hungary, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the Republic of Serbia;
Generoso Calonge to Israel;
George Reyes to the United Mexican States, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama;
Lourdes Morales to the Netherlands;
Virginia Benavidez to New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa;
Bayani Mercado to Norway, Iceland, and Denmark;
Edgardo Manuel to Poland;
Leslie Baja to Switzerland and Liechtenstein;
Enrique Manalo to United Kingdom and Northern Ireland
President Aquino appointed the new ambassadors last April 12 in keeping with his administration's resolve to appoint more career officials than political ones in the DFA. - KBK
