PHL to send new ambassador to strife-torn Syria

The Philippine government will be sending a new ambassador to Syria amid efforts to repatriate Filipinos out of the troubled country.                                President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Ambassador Nestor Padalhin to take over the Philippine Embassy in Damascus.   Padalhin, chief of mission class I, was the country’s ambassador to Nigeria before his transfer to Syria.   In August last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs pulled out Ambassador Wilfredo Cuyugan from Syria and replaced him with charge d’affaires Ricardo Andaya who is well-versed on repatriation.                                                       During that time, the Philippines declared crisis alert level 3 over Syria which means the government encourages voluntary repatriation.   When the situation worsened this year, the administration raised the alert level to 4, which entails the mandatory repatriation of all Filipinos from the country.            According to its guide on the Syrian crisis, the news site BBC said: "The Syrian authorities have responded to anti-government protests with overwhelming military force since they erupted in March 2011. The protests pose the greatest challenge to four decades of Assad family rule in the country."

Citing figures from the United Nations, the report said "more than 5,000 civilians have been killed by security forces and 14,000 others detained. The (Syrian) government says 2,000 members of the security forces have died." Other appointments    Meanwhile, Aquino also appointed Jocelyn Batoon-Garcia as ambassador to Thailand to replace Ambassador Linglingay Lacanlale whose tour of duty will expire on May 7, 2012.   In a memorandum sent to the President, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr, said the DFA foresees that by the time the Commission on Appointments acts on the nomination of Batoon-Garcia, Lacanlale would have already ended her tour of duty and have returned to the country.   The others appointed as ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary were:

• Benito Valeriano, chief of mission class I, to India,
• Alex Lamadrid, chief of mission class II, to Nigeria
• Olivia Palala, chief of mission class I, to Jordan
• Oscar Orcine, chief of mission class II, to Libya, and
• Alejandro Mosquera, chief of mission class I, to Russia.

  All of the appointees are career officials.   Ochoa said in his memorandum that the President is guided by the principle that, as much as possible, a majority of diplomatic and permanent missions are headed by career ambassadors. This move aims to strengthen the career foreign service corps and enable it to respond to challenges of international relations.   The appointees need to defend their nomination before the CA for the confirmation of their appointment. - VVP, GMA News