PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. has designated former CNN Beijing bureau chief Jaime Florcruz as the new Philippine Ambassador to China.
In a document published last Thursday, the Commission on Appointments said Florcruz was given his new appointment last October 19.
He replaced former Philippine Ambassador to China, Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana, who died in a hotel room in China in April while undergoing routine quarantine after coming from a regional visit.
Florcruz and Sta. Romana were known to be good friends for decades.
Aside from CNN, Florcruz also served as a reporter for Newsweek Magazine and was the Beijing bureau chief of TIME Magazine.
Among his notable coverages in China are the crackdown on Tiananmen protests in 1989, the death of Deng Xiaoping, and the 1997 Hong Kong handover.
He also became a two-term president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China.
As of press time, Malacañang has yet to confirm Florcruz’s new appointment.