Manila, June 11 -- The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday confirmed the ad interim appointments of incoming Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Parreno-Lazaro and Human Settlements Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling, along with more than 150 other officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The appointments were ratified during a plenary session presided over by Senate President Francis Escudero, who also chairs the commission.

The confirmations followed back-to-back hearings by the CA's Foreign Affairs and National Defense panels.

Lazaro, a career diplomat with more than four decades of experience, pledge...