(Eagle News) — Alan Peter Cayetano is officially the new Foreign Affairs secretary.
This after the powerful Commission on Appointments approved his appointment in a plenary hearing on Wednesday, with not one CA member opposing his confirmation.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, who endorsed Cayetano’s nomination to the plenary, said the committee hearing on the country’s new top diplomat hours earlier was “probably the shortest public hearing” on an approved nomination.
“(Cayetano) has shown his versatility in the floors of (the House of Representatives) and the Senate where he has served…with efficiency..,” San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, CA vice chair, said.
Senator Ralph Recto noted that Cayetano had already “learnt diplomacy” in the two chambers of Congress.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, for his part, noted Cayetano’s “academic record, extensive knowledge in legislation, and unequivocal dedication.”
“(They) make him more than qualified to the position of secretary of foreign affairs,” he said.
In a farewell speech in the Senate, Cayetano, who was also a member of the CA, thanked all those who stood by him when he first started out.
Earlier, Lacson said that if Cayetano’s appointment was approved by the plenary, he was deemed resigned as senator and could begin his work at the helm of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
Cayetano was appointed to head the department by President Rodrigo Duterte after the powerful CA rejected Perfecto Yasay’s appointment as the country’s top diplomat.
The CA had ruled Yasay had lied about his citizenship.
Cayetano is Duterte’s running mate in the previous presidential elections.