Roman Diary of A Christian Diplomat
only then that my nomination papers arrived in the Commission on Appointments. Subsequently the Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs were able to settle their differences regarding the matter of confirmation of chief of mission and designation by both parties agreeing to leave it to the DFA to choose the posting of the confirmed chief of mission. Commission on Appointments/Disappointments Armed to the teeth with facts about Italy I was ready to face the august body—the dreaded Commission on Appointments. The bicameral body was the upper chamber led by Senator Leticia Shahani, the sister of future President Fidel V. Ramos, while the lower house was led by my cousin Miguel “Mike” Romero. Given that Senator Shahani was the daughter of Ambassador Narciso Ramos (who was a bosom buddy of my father—a classmate in U.P. and roommate in YMCA) and Congressman Mike Romero was my first cousin, I did not really expect much shellacking from the committee. As I mentioned earlier, my confirmation was delayed because of policy differences between the Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs about the committee’s insistence it has the right to determine the posting of heads of mission. The committee’s position clearly violated diplomatic protocol, which allowed the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, acting on behalf of the President, to designate the mission of the ambassador. As a result my appointment was caught in the crossfire; nominees’ appointments were delayed for months while the policy difference was being sorted out. There must have been at least three postponements of the hearings, which were announced on the same day in an empty committee room. 20
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