Locsin replaces Cayetano; Faeldon moves to BuCor
The country’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr., on Friday said he had accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s offer to become his next foreign secretary.
“I was asked, I said yes,” Locsin said on Twitter in response to queries about his appointment.
Locsin will replace Alan Peter Cayetano, who has announced plans to run for the Taguig City-Pateros congressional seat that would be vacated by his sister Pia Cayetano, who is running for senator.
The President also appointed former Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon as the next director general of the Bureau of Corrections, replacing Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who is seeking a Senate seat, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Friday.
CSC endorsement
In a statement, Guevarra said the Department of Justice “has interposed no objections” to Faeldon’s appointment and was “now seeking the favorable endorsement” of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) as part of the requirements under the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013.
Locsin recalled that he did not also say no when Mr. Duterte appointed him ambassador to the United Nations.
“I will be secretary of foreign affairs, which includes the UN; I will have a direct hand until the architecture of sovereign independence in all matters of state that my team started to erect is remitted. Talent that doesn’t exist outside DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) will complete it,” Locsin said in another tweet.
Locsin, 69, served as press secretary under President Corazon Aquino and Makati City congressman during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
A lawyer by profession, he was also a radio-television anchor, as well as a newspaper publisher like his late father.
Cayetano on Friday thanked employees of the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs for their support during his 17-month tenure.
‘Cannot be bullied’
Cayetano, who is expected to meet with Locsin on Monday, said he thought his replacement “could do a better job than what I did, but he needs your support.”
With Locsin at the helm of DFA, the Philippines “cannot be bullied,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Friday.
“Teddy Boy Locsin, although a fighter, I know, will always square his actions and circumscribe his passions within due bounds,” Sotto said.
Sen. Sonny Angara praised Locsin’s “brilliance and erudition” in a Twitter post.
Locsin’s stint as ambassador seemed to have foreshadowed his appointment as foreign secretary, Sen. Loren Legarda said.
Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario also welcomed Locsin’s appointment, describing him as “highly intelligent, articulate and independent-minded.”
Locsin, he said, “will be able to more effectively move forward” the country’s foreign policy pillars, including enhancing its national security, economic diplomacy and the welfare of Filipinos overseas. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
