Marcos reshuffles his foreign service envoys in Asia and the Middle East; names new executive officials
President Marcos has appointed three diplomats to new foreign posts in Israel, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced on Friday.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs Aileen Mendiola-Rau is now the new Philippine ambassador to Israel, replacing Pedro Laylo Jr.
Mendiola-Rau previously served as consul general and deputy chief of mission at the Philippine Embassy in Paris, and as the deputy permanent delegate of the Philippines to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Emmanuel Fernandez is now the country’s ambassador to Pakistan with jurisdiction over Afghanistan, replacing Maria Agnes Cervantes. He previously served as the deputy head of mission and consul general of the Philippine Embassy in Singapore.
Fernandez’s previous assignments included deputy assistant secretary and executive of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office; acting assistant secretary and executive director of the DFA’s Office of Strategic Communication and Research; and director for Southern Europe at the DFA’s Office of European Affairs.
He also held the position of deputy chief of mission and consul general of the Philippine Embassy in Spain; first secretary and consul general of the Philippine Embassy in Jordan; and second secretary and consul of the Philippine Embassy in Italy.
The President named Ezzedin Tago, the former Philippine ambassador to Egypt, as his special envoy to Saudi Arabia for migrant workers’ concerns.
Tago was previously assigned as a junior diplomat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Jakarta, Indonesia. He later served as the consul-general and eventually the ambassador of the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia. He also served as the consul general of the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney, Australia.
Other appointments
Broadcast journalists Alexius Calda, previously with ABS-CBN, and Nicole Poyaoan, previously with DZRH, were appointed as Director III of the PCO.
Jose Policarpio Jr. was reappointed as the president and chief executive officer of Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, a state-run firm under the PCO.
Malacañang also announced the formal appointment of lawyer Adrian Ferdinand Sugay as the president and CEO of the Philippine National Oil Company – Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC).
On November 5, Sugay took over from Franc Joseph Alvarez, who resigned to run for congressman in Palawan’s first district.
Ma. Angela Ignacio, who was named by Mr. Marcos last year as a member of the board of directors of PNOC-EC, is now the undersecretary of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs. She will be working under Frederick Go, the special assistant for investment and economic affairs.
