Jose Manuel Romualdez 蜜桃工作室 FILE PHOTO / LEO M. SABANGAN II.
(Updated 2:20 p.m., Aug. 23)听 The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday unanimously confirmed in a breeze the ad interim appointment of Jose Manuel 鈥淏abe鈥� Romualdez as the new Philippine ambassador to the United States.
Sen. Panfilo 鈥淧ing鈥� Lacson, chair of the CA鈥檚 committee on foreign affairs, moved to confirm at the CA plenary Romualdez鈥檚 appointment.
Lacson said that Romualdez鈥檚 solid background in public relations makes him an effective person for the position.
鈥淏abe fancies the crowd with his candid and affable self. His refined demeanor makes for a good company for Manila鈥檚 elite and foreign dignitaries,鈥� Lacson said in his speech endorsing Romualdez鈥檚 confirmation.
Sen. Loren Legarda expressed support to Romualdez, who was her former boss at RPN-9.
鈥淎nd so it is my honor, dear Babe, a good friend for 35 years, to see you bridge that relationship between our dear beloved country, the Philippines, at this precarious times, with the United States of America,鈥� Legarda said.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, for his part, said Romualdez is in 鈥渂est position鈥� to strengthen the Philippine-U.S. relationship.
鈥淲e need a person like him who could diffuse an intense situation with his eloquence and diplomatic skills,鈥� Zubiri said.
READ: Columnist Babe Romualdez nominated as ambassador to US
Romualdez鈥檚 jurisdiction includes the Commonwealth of Jamaica, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and Grenadines and Saint Lucia.
Romualdez represents the Philippines at a time of tension between the country and United States as several American lawmakers and leaders have expressed concern on the Duterte administration鈥檚 violent crackdown against illegal drugs.
Asked about his views about such criticism, Romualdez said that the Senate investigation on the recent spate of killings is 鈥渁 very good indication鈥� that the Philippines is a 鈥渃ountry of laws.鈥�
鈥淚 think this type of hearings and also investigations are very important, and these are the things that people, especially in the international community, would like to hear that we are a country of laws and we follow a system here,鈥� Romualdez said.
鈥淲e do not need other countries to tell us what to do, we will do it on our own,鈥� he added.
While assuring the relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. has remained 鈥渟teadfast鈥� and 鈥渟trong,鈥� Romualdez emphasized that the Philippines is geared toward pursuing an independent foreign policy that is 鈥渕utually beneficial鈥� to both parties.
鈥淲e are now in a situation that we are telling our friends in the United States that we would like to have a relationship that is mutually beneficial for both of our countries, at the same time, we have our own interest to protect,鈥� Romualdez told the panel.
鈥淲e will agree to disagree on other points that we feel that is not to our own interest,鈥� he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has criticized American leaders, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, who have raised concern over the increasing death toll and reported human-rights violations brought about by Duterte鈥檚 bloody war on drugs.
Romualdez, a long-time columnist, is a member of the powerful Romualdez clan of Leyte. JPV