MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III has appointed 17 new ambassadors—all of them career diplomats.
The appointments showed Mr. Aquino wanted less political ambassadors in the foreign service, his deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, said Sunday.
Choice positions were filled earlier by political appointments, including former Manila Electric Co. president Manolo Lopez who was named ambassador to Japan, and former Central Bank Gov. Jose L. Cuisia Jr. as ambassador to the United States.
The latest appointees included Jose Eduardo Malaya III, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs who was designated ambassador to Malaysia.
The other nominated ambassadors included Belen Anota (Australia), Victoria Bataclan (Belgium), Leslie Gatan (Canada), Wilfredo Maximo (Cuba), Cristina Ortega (France), Ma. Cleofe Natividad (Germany), Menardo Montealegre (Greece), Eleanor Jaucian (Hungary), Generoso Calonge (Israel), George Reyes (Mexico), Lourdes Morales (Netherlands), Virginia Benavidez (New Zealand), Bayani Mercado (Norway), Eduardo Manuel (Poland), Leslie Baja (Switzerland) and Enrique Manalo (United Kingdom).
Jaime Victor Ledda, president of the Union of Foreign Service Officers of the Philippines, welcomed the nominations, saying they were an affirmation of Mr. Aquino’s “support, trust and confidence in the career foreign service corps.”
Acting Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario earlier said he planned to recommend the least number of political appointees to head diplomatic missions.
The Palace also announced the appointments of three political affairs undersecretaries—Vivencio Dizon, Ibarra Gutierrez III and Jose Luis Gascon, a Liberal Party stalwart and former education official in the Arroyo administration.
Rafael Albert and Jose Emmanuel Escaro were named assistant secretaries in the political affairs office, while Reynaldo Flores and Anna Marie Mae de la Vega were both designated director III.
Democrito Barcena was named member of the board of directors of Philippine National Oil Co.-Shipping and Transport Corp., Antonieta Ibe as member of board of trustees and administrator of the Local Water Utilities Administration, and Danilo Augusto Francia as assistant secretary of the Department of National Defense. With a report from Jerry E. Esplanada