CA expected to confirm Romualdez tomorrow

Ambassador-designate to the US Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez is expected to be confirmed tomorrow by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

Romualdez, appointed by President Duterte last July 27, is scheduled to face the CA’s committee on foreign affairs tomorrow before being formally confirmed in plenary in the afternoon.

“I don’t see him encountering any problem with his confirmation on Wednesday,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the committee, said in a text message.

Prior to his appointment, Romualdez, who writes a column for The STAR, served as a special envoy to Washington. Duterte first appointed him ambassador to the US last December but he asked to be given at least six months to assume the post as he had to recuperate from an eye operation.

In accepting his nomination, Romualdez said he was “happy and honored to serve the country.”

“I am humbled by President Duterte’s trust and confidence,” he said last month.

Romualdez will also have jurisdiction over Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and Grenadines and Saint Lucia.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Romualdez said he would work for improving relations with members of the US Congress, some of whom are critical of the Duterte administration.

He is also expected to work for the return of the Balangiga Bells from the US, a wish Duterte had declared in his State of the Nation Address last July 24 as well as arrange a visit by President Donald Trump to Manila in November.