Marcos Jr appoints Philippine UN envoy as new foreign minister

• Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. nominates Enrique Manalo as the new foreign affairs secretary.
• Manalo is a career diplomat who has served twice as the department’s undersecretary.
• He will need a few days to wind up affairs in his previous post, Manila’s UN Ambassador.

The Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. nominated Manila’s UN Ambassador Enrique Manalo as the country’s new foreign affairs secretary.

Marcos Jr., the son of the late dictator of the Philippines, won the election for president in May and was sworn in as president on Thursday.

He promised a new chapter in the country’s history and an autonomous foreign policy.

Manalo is a career diplomat who has served twice as the department’s undersecretary.

“President Marcos appointed Secretary Manalo in view of his long and distinguished career in the Philippine Foreign Service and his vast experience in diplomacy,” the DFA added.

Marcos wanted an experienced diplomat to run the agency so that the Philippines could “effectively advance its interests on the international stage in the face of great challenges.”

His press secretary said Manalo took his oath at the presidential palace in Manila on Friday but will need a few days “to wind up affairs in his previous post.”

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Marcos chose him because he “truly understands the external challenges and opportunities” facing the Philippines, said Victor Andres Manhit, president of the Stratbase ADR Institute in Manila.

“A senior career foreign service officer brings that to the office,” he remarked.

“I hope Secretary Manalo focuses on broadening our engagements and partnerships with countries that believe in a multipolar world and a rules-based international order.”

Manalo’s foreign service career began in 1979. In 2017, he was the acting secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine ambassador to the UK and Belgium.

His appointment and those of other Marcos cabinet members would need House approval.

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