Ex-broadcast journalist, DFA spokesman nominated as envoys to China, Malaysia

EMMY award-winning journalist Jose “Chito” Sta. Romana led the first live telecast from Llasa, Tibet, for ABC’s “Good Morning America” in 2006. The famed Potala Palace, one of the “new seven wonders of the world,” is atop the hill behind him.

MANILA — A former broadcast journalist and the current spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) have been nominated to diplomatic posts in China and in Malaysia.

President Duterte named on September 28 Jose Santiago Sta. Romana, former American Broadcasting Company (ABC) News Beijing bureau chief, and DFA assistant secretary Charles Jose as the new ambassadors to China and Malaysia, respectively.

He also submitted to the Commission on Appointments on Wednesday the names of eight other diplomats as ambassadors to countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East and the United Nations.

But according to Jose, while their designations to the diplomatic posts are up for approval  by the Commission on Appointments, the “receiving States” will still have to give their nod.

In a text message, Jose explained that they were nominated to the posts as the first step “because there needs to be an agrément or acceptance from the receiving state.”

An agrément is basically the approval of a diplomatic representative by a State to which he or she is assigned.

Sta. Romana is a member of the board of trustee of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement and is president of the Philippine Association of China Studies.

He was Beijing bureau chief for ABC News, starting out as a  producer and reporter in 1989 and retiring in 2010.  He is considered an expert on China’s foreign relations.

Jose is a seasoned diplomat who was Philippine consul general in Shanghai and held key posts in the diplomatic offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Bangkok and in Singapore.

Based on documents submitted by the Commission on Appointments to the House of Representatives, Sta. Romana was nominated as Philippine ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, South Korea and Mongolia.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose. AP FILE PHOTO

He and Charles Jose were among 10 diplomats whose appointments were forwarded to the Commission on Appointments on Wednesday.  The others were:

1) Uriel Norman Garibay to Burundi, Comoros, Congo, Malawi, Rwandam Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania

2) Antonio Manuel Lagdameo to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Isle of Man

3) James Lao to Brunei

4) Jose V. Laurel to Japan

5) ‎Philippe J. Lhuiler to Spain and Andorra

6) Teodoro Locsin Jr. to the United Nations

7) Alan Timbayan to Qatar

8) Shirley Vicario to Nigeria, Beninn Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Central Africa, and Equatorial Guinea.  SFM