From Argentina - H.E. Ambassador Joaquin Daniel Otero

As regular viewers of the TV show Business & Leisure may know by now, we have started a segment called Embassy Row where we have in-depth interviews with the sitting ambassadors of countries which have friendly ties or diplomatic relations with the Philippines. Corollary to this, we also share with our readers the salient parts of these interviews, with the end in view of “introducing” the gentlemen or ladies representing their countries here to our countrymen.

The latest diplomat that we had the pleasure of an interview is the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to the Republic of the Philippines, His Excellency Joaquin Daniel Otero.

Ambassador Otero is certainly no stranger to foreign service. He has served all of 41 years in this field. He graduated with a Degree in Law at the University of Seville, Spain in 1970, and is recognized both as a Spanish and Argentinian lawyer, having finished his Doctorate of Law at the National University of Buenos Aires with a specialization in Foreign Affairs in 1973. Then, he spent some time as a professor, teaching International Public Law and International Private Law. All these time, he was an elusive bachelor, a well-studied and accomplished one.

Early on, a career in diplomacy already seemed to interest him. He became an attache and vice consul in the National Institute of Foreign Service from 1971 to 1972, just barely out of law school. The single ladies in the countries where he was eventually posted must certainly have considered him a priceless catch, because unmarried senior diplomats are a rarity.

He became ambassador of the Argentine Republic to Honduras in 1973 up to1976 and yes, he was still a bachelor then. Immediately after, in 1976, he was sent to represent his country to Haiti, and this was under the Chevalier administration. Two years later, in 1978, he was posted to Belguim and Luxembourg up to 1980. Up to this time, the Ambassador kept a dizzying pace, moving to another country every two years.

After staying put in his country for some three years serving as Director General of Antarctica and Malvinas, he was again posted overseas, this time to Chile in 1984 where he stayed as ambassador for four years until 1988.

It was in the early ‘90’s when he headed the Chancery of the Argentine Embassy in the Soviet Union, transformed after its fall into the Russian Federation and all other countries of the ex-USSR. This period, he recalls, was very crucial to the histories of both countries but, alas, were difficult years for the family. You see, in 1992, he met his future wife in Argentina and promptly got married. Immediately after the honeymoon, he and his new wife were posted overseas to Chile.

Then, it was to Peru, back to Argentina, then Paraguay, Bolivia (less than three years) and now he is enjoying the diplomatic circuit in Manila.

The charming ambassador has four children, the first three of whom were born in Chile. Much later, in Peru, his wife bore him a fourth child. The eldest one finished Archaelogy in Sorbonne University in Paris where the family stayed for some 10 years. Yes, he speaks fluent French, among others, and so do his wife and children. All his other children are into international studies of trade relations, etc.

He probably realizes by now that the Philippines is basically a basketball and golf-loving country. No, he doesn’t play basketball, and his golf stints are occasional. He used to ride horses a lot in his younger years. In fact he was very much into jumping competitions back then, but he has completely dropped the sport, though he would love to go back to horse-riding, being the only sport he seriously got into. But then, he got immersed into the diplomatic world much too soon, when young men his age had more worldly pursuits, and being a senior diplomat all too soon, life held other challenges for him.

What is a typical day for the Argentinian ambassador? “I don’t like to wake up very early,” he says. He’s up at around 8:45am, has a very light breakfast, and is at the office just past 9 a.m. Lunch break for him is 2 p.m., typically Latin American. Then it’s back at the office until about 6 p.m., after which he makes the rounds of all the official functions that have lined up for him by his staff.

Our own Filipino businessmen have been busy presenting projects, investment opportunities, etc. to the kind ambassador, and he has made himself available to hear out these opportunities. Meanwhile, he has also gone around the country, particularly in the south, visiting Cebu and Davao, and here in Luzon, he has been to Corregidor, Bataan, Aurora, etc. Palawan is next on the agenda, but so are other places. He vows to visit as many places as he can, “but it is very difficult to reach 7,100 islands”, he says with a smile.

The Philippines is his first Asian posting, and the history-loving ambassador is very much intrigued. In his own words, he finds the country both interesting and complex, having Spanish roots like his own country but very Asian in many ways. Also in his own words, he finds that the Philippines is the best gateway to Asia.

Next week, more on our interview with the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic, H.E. Joaquin Daniel Otero, as we touch on our business and trade relations with his country.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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