DFA’s Del Rosario stepping down

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has resigned for health reasons effective March 7, and President Aquino has accepted it.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. confirmed yesterday Del Rosario’s resignation. Malacañang has yet to announce a replacement.

“Having served our country for over 10 years, I have respectfully asked the President if I could be allowed to step down earlier than midyear due to health issues,” Del Rosario told The STAR yesterday.

Del Rosario took a month-long leave last year to undergo back surgery in the United States, but he returned to work immediately.

Malacañang did not cite a reason for Del Rosario’s resignation, but two senior diplomats said the secretary has been suffering from a heart ailment.

Reports said doctors recently implanted a pacemaker on Del Rosario to regulate his heartbeat.

Earlier, in a text message to CNN Philippines, DFA spokesman Charles Jose said it is “better for SFA to announce it himself. He’ll meet the media on Wednesday.”

Del Rosario has been the DFA chief since 2011.

He was part of the Philippine delegation that presented the Philippine case on a sea dispute against China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Del Rosario also personally led the evacuation of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from strife-torn countries in the Middle East. A hands-on diplomat, he even visited war-torn Libya to ensure the safety of Filipinos there.

He was a successful businessman before becoming the country’s top diplomat.

Before heading the DFA, he was Philippine ambassador to the US from 2001 to 2006.

Del Rosario holds an economics degree from New York University.

The 76-year-old diplomat and his wife Gretchen have five children and six grandchildren. – With Aurea Calica