President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed his top peace adviser Jesus Dureza and journalist Ramon Tulfo Jr. as special envoys to promote the country’s foreign relations.
Duterte designated Dureza as his special envoy to the European Union while Tulfo was appointed as his special envoy to China.
Dureza and Tulfo will serve as envoys for six months, according to the appointment papers signed by the President on October 23, but were released to the media only on Thursday.
Tulfo, in a newspaper column published on October 6, said instead of running for senator in the 2019 elections, he proposed to the President the idea of making him a special envoy to China, “which he approved.”
Apart from Dureza and Tulfo, Duterte has also appointed Raquel Tobias, PTV-4 news operations head, as undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office.
Nenita Failon and Thea Marie Corine Palarca were appointed as directors of the Department of Budget and Management, while Noel Flores and Henry Conel Jr. were designated as provincial trade and industry officers.