Estrada asks CA to confirm Puno as ambassador to UN

President Estrada is seeking from the Commission on Appointments the early confirmation of former Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno as ad interim ambassador to the United Nations.

With this ad interim appointment, Puno can take over the UN post in mid-March even without passing the CA as outgoing Ambassador Felipe Mabilangan Jr. winds down his unfinished business at the end of a 60-day period.

Puno, who served as minister-counselor at the Philippine Embassy in Washington from 1982 to 1986 and later became a registered political lobbyist there, thanked Mr. Estrada for the "support and confidence to serve the country."

According to diplomats, Puno can start moving to his UN post as early as March because of the ad interim nature of his appointment and since Mabilangan is only an officer-in-charge.

As one of his personal missions, Puno said he would "represent the President's intensity and sincerity in finding solutions to our nation's problem of poverty."

While at the UN, he said he would see to it that the country would benefit from all the programs that the world body offers for poverty alleviation.

In 1976, Puno was a member of the Philippine panel that crafted and negotiated the Tripoli Agreement in Libya with the Moro National Liberation Front. The accord signaled the beginning of a peaceful solution to the Mindanao problem.

Puno then sharpened his political skills as a political lobbyist in Washington, specializing with Republican Party legislators.