BUSINESSMIRROR columnist and lawyer Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr. has been appointed as the Philippines’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), replacing Ambassador Lourdes O. Yparraguirre.
President Duterte appointed Locsin on Thursday, a source privy to the appointment said.
However, Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar said Locsin will issue a statement on his appointment on Tuesday.
Locsin’s appointment comes at a time when Malacañang officials are trying to mend relations with the UN, after Mr. Duterte’s run-ins with the international body.
Recently, Duterte had threatened to leave the UN for its alleged interference in domestic affairs, particularly with the government’s war against illegal drugs, although Malacañang officials denied that Duterte indeed intended to withdraw from the UN.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had earlier expressed his concern over alleged violations of human rights in the police operations against suspected drug pushers.
Last week UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein issued a strong statement urging the Philippines to extend an invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings to look into the allegations.
But Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador B. Panelo said the UN does not need an invitation to come to the Philippines and verify whether the allegations are correct.
“They don’t need an invitation. They should have come here in the first place before they opened their mouths. They spin a lot of things,” Panelo said.
During the recent visit of Duterte to Lao PDR for the Leaders’ Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Panelo approached the UN secretary-general to explain to him that the alleged extrajudicial killings were perpetrated by crime syndicates killing each other to cover up their tracks.
Locsin was the representative of the First District of Makati City from 2001 to 2010. He was the presidential spokesman, legal counsel and speechwriter of the late President Corazon C. Aquino.
As a journalist, he was the publisher and editor in chief of Today newspaper, and continues to host television and radio programs.