New ambassador to Vatican, others sworn in

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino swore in yesterday Merceditas Tuason as the new ambassador to the Holy See, along with Manuel Lopez as ambassador to Japan and singer-actor Ogie Alcasid’s father, Herminio Sr. as member and chairman of the board of directors of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Development and Management Corp.

Tuason said she will work on a possible visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Philippines, as well as Aquino’s meeting with the Holy Father.

In an interview, Tuason said “I am pro-life,” but she refused to discuss her stand on the reproductive health bill and related issues.

Lopez is former chairman of the Manila Electric Co. and member of the family that has long been supportive of the Aquinos.

The Lopezes control ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. and other businesses.

Alcasid, president of the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mangaawit, was one of the celebrities who supported Aquino during the presidential elections last May.

Aquino will be one of the secondary sponsors during Alcasid’s wedding to singer-actress, Regine Velasquez later this month.

Alcasid’s father, a lawyer, was into banking and shipping businesses.

Aquino also swore in Wilfredo Villacorta as Philippine permanent representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The other officials who took their oaths were: Imelda Nicolas, chairman of the Commission on Filipino Overseas; Edgar Galvante, acting executive director of the Dangerous Drugs Board; Felix William Fuentebella as commissioner of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board; and Nairman Ambolodto, acting assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Commissioners of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Zenaida Brigida Hamada-Pawid and Dionesia Banua, along with National Commission on Muslim Filipinos executive director Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman were also sworn in.