Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff leads US delegation at Marcos’ inauguration

MANILA, Philippines – US President Joe Biden announced Sunday, June 26, that Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff would head the American presidential delegation attending the inauguration of president-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. 

Marcos will take his oath as the 17th president of the Philippines at the National Museum on June 30.

Emhoff is the husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris and first Second Gentleman in US history.

In his first year in the position, Ermhoff has made two diplomatic visits to France and South Korea. He also led the presidential delegation at the inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. 

Aside from Ermhoff, the seven-member US delegation to attend the June 30 event are: 

• Heather Variava, Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, US Embassy Manila
• Bobby Scott, chairman of the committee on education and labor, US Representative of Virginia 
• Nani A. Coloretti, deputy director, US Office of Management and Budget
• Admiral James “Sandy” A. Winnefeld, Jr., former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Retired) 
• Edgard D. Kagan, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania, National Security Council 
• Chantale Y. Wong, US director of the Asian Development Bank

Congressman Scott is Filipino-American, making him the first American with Filipino ancestry to serve as a voting member of the US Congress. 

During President Duterte’s inauguration in 2016, former President Donald Trump sent a delegation of congressmen and senators, headed by then Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.  

Members of the delegation then included: Senator Brian Schatz, Senator Christopher Murphy, Congressman Ted Deutch, Congresswoman Donna Edwards, and Congressman John Garamendi. – Rappler.com