The diplomat’s diplomat

He undertook 53 foreign missions in 2013, and the tally by the end of this year will most likely be as many, if not more, trips as he fulfills our international obligations and attends to the concerns of Filipinos overseas, especially those in the ten identified hotspots around the globe.

At 75 – he turned diamond a couple of weeks ago when he was with the President in Myanmar for the ASEAN summit – Albert del Rosario stands ramrod straight, although his gait has slowed because of multiple knee surgeries (he says he has “dreadful knees”). He has in the last three weeks lost six pounds by eliminating desserts and rice from his diet and not snacking between meals, at the suggestion of his doctor when his blood sugar was found to be in the high normal range. “This is my suit from Washington,” he tells us, referring to when he was our ambassador to the US in the early 2000s, showing how loose the suit has become.

But bad knees and a loose suit notwithstanding, Del Rosario was every inch the diplomat’s diplomat when he received last Monday the MAP Management Man of the Year award from the Management Association of the Philippines.

If you’re wondering why a diplomat, even the country’s top diplomat, should be honored by a management group with a management award, three of the seven items in his citation point to his able management of the Department of Foreign Affairs: For transforming the DFA into a strong, professional and highly competent organization...; for rationalizing Philippine presence overseas and reallocating resources to where these are most needed; for his contribution to re-shaping national values by setting an example that Filipino professional managers can emulate through his track record of integrity, professional competence and strong leadership in his management career in both public and private sectors...

An indication of the esteem in which he is held by those in the diplomatic, business and government circles was the attendance at the conferment luncheon. There were ambassadors galore, as well as CEOs, presidents, managing directors and chairmen of major conglomerates, corporations and financial institutions. Many of the past Management Man of the Year awardees were present too (I counted 14 of them), led by the first MMY, the venerable Wash SyCip, and the only woman to be so honored, PEZA’s Lilia de Lima.

In his acceptance speech Del Rosario paid tribute to the men and women of the DFA who collectively carry out the mandate of the President to leave no one behind. He told of some harrowing experiences he and the DFA teams had extracting Filipino workers from war zones, telling the stories with generous doses of humor that only hindsight and having gotten everyone safely out would allow.

International relations in this day and age is a complex and convoluted matter; crafting and then articulating foreign policy is certainly no simple or easy task, requiring the best of management minds and the skills of seasoned diplomacy. As he leaves in a couple of days on yet another diplomatic mission to Europe, we wish Albert del Rosario Godspeed, confident that he carries our nation and flag with the greatest pride.