Filipino envoy, 4 lawmakers invited to Trump’s inauguration

A Filipino diplomat and four lawmakers were invited to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States in Washington, D.C. on Monday (US time).

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez told Unang Balita in an interview that he was invited as part of the diplomatic corps in the US.

“Actually, sa totoo lang, ako lang ang imbitado dahil ang United States Department officially ang representative lang ng each country, the diplomatic corps, ang imbitado. So sa loob ng Capitol 'yun,” he said.

(Actually, I was the only one invited because the United States Department officially invited only a representative of each country, the diplomatic corps. So that's inside the Capitol.)

Romualdez said Representative Joe Wilson of the US House committee on foreign affairs invited four Filipino lawmakers including Deputy Speaker Antonio Albano and Deputy Raymond Democrito Mendoza.

“Merong ibang mga congressman na nandito ngayon. Inimbita sila ng mga kasama nilang mga congressman ng US kagaya ni Deputy Speaker Tonipet Albano at saka si Deputy Speaker Mendoza…We have about four congressmen who have been invited by Congressman Joe Wilson,” he added.

(There are other congressmen here today. They were invited by their counterparts in the US such as Deputy Speaker Tonipet Albano and then Deputy Speaker Mendoza...We have about four congressmen who have been invited by Congressman Joe Wilson.)

Earlier this month, Romualdez said President Ferdinand Marcos was not invited to Trump's inauguration because "as a matter of policy, no head of state is invited" and "only ambassadors represented in Washington are invited."

Trump served as the 45th President of the United States from 2016 to 2020, but lost his run for a back-to-back term in November 2020 to US President Joe Biden.

He initially refused to accept poll results and urged his supporters to storm the US Capitol to stop the certification of the poll results, resulting in the infamous January 6 insurrection.

The January 6 incident subjected over 100 US Capitol and Metropolitan police officers under assault by the rioters.

In November 2024, Trump beat US Vice President Kamala Harris for the US presidency.—Joviland Rita/AOL, GMA Integrated News