Palace still hopeful on Lee's confirmation

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is not giving up on President Aquino’s nominee to the country’s ambassadorship to China, hoping that he would still be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

According to sources, businessman Domingo Lee is the President’s personal choice for the post but his ally in the Senate, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, has been opposing his confirmation due to alleged lack of competency to represent the country in Beijing. Lee is a close friend and ally of the President’s family.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB that the way they understood it, Osmeña had more questions but no longer had the time to ask Lee.

“And we remain hopeful that Ambassador Domingo Lee can answer all issues being thrown at him,” Valte said.

China is awaiting the Philippines’ next ambassador to Beijing to facilitate communication between the two countries.

Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing said on Thursday that it was inconvenient to convey a message to the Philippines, as it had not been represented by an ambassador since last year.

China is aware that the CA again deferred Lee’s confirmation as the country’s ambassador because of his failure to answer questions of senators.

The CA has deferred Lee’s confirmation four times.

“We sincerely hope there is an ambassador to Beijing,” Ma told reporters in her first press conference at the Chinese embassy.

On Wednesday, the President’s choice failed to cite an article in United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea that China opposes and the last meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where the Philippines moved to get the regional bloc’s consensus on the Spratlys issue.