Bongbong Marcos appoints career diplomat Enrique Manalo as DFA secretary

President Bongbong Marcos administers the oath to incoming DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo. Image from the Facebook post of Amb. Gary Domingo.

MANILA, Philippines — Permanent Representative to the United Nations Enrique Manalo on Friday was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

A career diplomat, Manalo took his oath before Marcos in Malacañang on Friday, replacing former Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.

“Yes it is confirmed. But he asked for a few days to wind up affairs in his previous post,” Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles told INQUIRER.net in a text message when asked about the appointment.

Being top diplomat is nothing new to Manalo, having served briefly as acting secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs when the ad-interim appointment of the late Perfecto Yasay Jr. was rejected by the Commission on Appointments in 2017.

In 2020, he was appointed by former president Rodrigo Duterte as Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations.

Manalo also previously served as undersecretary for policy of the Department of Foreign Affairs under Duterte and briefly under late president Benigno Aquino III.

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EDV