Pumanaw na si Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana, ayon sa ulat na kinumpirma ng Department of Foreign Affairs kahapon.
Hindi binanggit ng DFA ang dahilan ng pagkamatay ng envoy.
Si Sta. Si Romana ay hinirang bilang ambassador sa China noong Disyembre 2016 dahil sa kanyang “malalim na kaalaman sa kasaysayan at mga tao ng China.”
“Under his distinguished tenure, Philippine-China relations flourished despite differences; indeed they flowered all the more in maturity and were deeply strengthened,” dagdag pa ng DFA.
Sa isang bukod na balita ng The Strait Times Asia na isinulat ni Global Affairs Correspondent Benjamin Kang Lim, iniulat niya na si Sta. Romana ang namatay sa kanyang quarantine hotel sa isang sikat na scenic spot sa Huangshan kung saan ay nakipag pulong sila ni Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. kay Foreign Minister Wang Yi noong April 3.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.