MALACANANG announced yesterday the appointments of five new diplomats, including the permanent envoy to the United Nations and a former ambassador to Kuwait who was sent back to the country after being declared persona non grata for leading the rescue of a distressed overseas Filipino worker (OFW).
President Marcos Jr. on May 11 appointed diplomat Carlos Sorreta, who had been serving as Philippine ambassador to Russia and non-resident ambassador to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, as the country’s new permanent representative to the UN who will be based in Geneva, Switzerland.
He was also a former undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, former Director-General of Foreign Service Institute, and has served as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN.
The President also appointed Department of Foreign Affairs assistant secretary for Mindanao Affairs Renato Pedro Villa as ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with concurrent jurisdiction over Yemen in the Middle East.
He was the Philippines’ former ambassador to Kuwait who was declared persona non grata by the Kuwaiti government in 2018 for “undiplomatic acts” after allegedly encouraging a Filipino domestic worker — who sought help following abuse from their employers — to flee her employer’s household.
Marcos also appointed former Philippine consul to Shanghai Josel Ignacio as ambassador to India and Nepal, and DFA assistant secretaries Maria Angela Ponce as ambassador to Malaysia and Paul Raymund Cortes as ambassador to Portugal with jurisdiction over the Republic of Angola, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe, and Republic of Caba Verde.
