MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez received the “Ambassador of the Year” award from the Rotary Club of Manila (RCM) during a virtual ceremony last Thursday.
In granting the award, RCM cited the Philippine envoy’s “exemplary strides in fostering bilateral relations” between the United States and the Philippines, resulting in the return of the Balangiga Bells to the country where it rightfully belongs, the vastly improved relations between the two countries, the successful negotiation of COVID-19 vaccines for the Philippines and the “extraordinary improvement in trade relations between the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce.”
In his acceptance speech, Romualdez admitted that the last four years in his tenure had been challenging but at the same time, rewarding and fulfilling because of the unique opportunity given him “to serve in a government position during challenging and critical times in our country’s history, as we saw and experienced in the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended the lives of many people all over the world, and have brought down the economy of so many nations.”
In sharing the award with Filipinos, Romualdez said, “To be able to contribute in saving lives during the pandemic is something that words will never be able to describe,” at the same time giving credit to the IATF and the economic development teams of the government for their “tremendous efforts” in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy.