What you need to know about the new acting DFA chief Manalo

MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique Manalo was appointed as the acting Foreign Affairs Secretary by President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday.

The seasoned career diplomat is replacing Perfecto Yasay whose ad interim appointment was rejected by the Commission on Appointments via unanimous decision after he issued misleading statements on his US citizenship.

Manalo has been at the forefront of addressing certain critical foreign policy issues for four decades after he joined the foreign service in 1979.

Here are a few things about the top Filipino diplomat.

Credentials

Manalo served the DFA in various capacities. Here’s a long list of his responsibilities, as seen in his curriculum vitae.

• Undersecretary (Deputy Minister) for Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila  from April 2016 to present

•  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Philippines to the Court of St. James’s, and Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization  from October 2011 to March 2016

• Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (NonResident) to Ireland  from  February 2013 to March 2016

•  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Philippines to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and Head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union  from February 2010 to October 2011

• Undersecretary (Deputy Minister) for Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila from Aug 2007 to February 2010

•  Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Philippine Mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations, Geneva Oct 2003 –to Jul 2007

• Deputy Permanent Representative,   Philippine Mission to the United Nations, New York from May 2003 to Oct 2003; from November 2001 to December 2002                                                                                    

• Charge d’Affaires, Philippine Mission to the United Nations, New York from December 2002 to May 2003; December 2000 to October 2001

•  Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila from 1998 to 2000   Minister Counsellor, Philippine Mission to the United Nations, New York from 1992 to 1998 

• Special Assistant to the First Undersecretary, Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila from 1989 to 1992   First Secretary and Consul, Philippine Embassy, Washington DC from 1986 to 1989

• Second Secretary and Consul, Philippine Mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations, Geneva from 1984 to 1986 

•  Third Secretary and Vice Consul, Philippine Mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations, Geneva from 1981 to 1984 

•  Special Assistant, Office of the Deputy Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila from 1979 to 1981  

• Officer, National Economic and Development Authority, Manila from 1976 to 1979

• Research Assistant, National Economic and Development Authority, Manila from 1973 to 1974  

Manalo also represented the country in various international meetings and conferences including the United Nations, International Mobile Satellite Organization, and World Intellectual Property Organization, among several others.

Latest post

Prior to his appointment as acting Foreign Affairs secretary, Manalo was serving the DFA as an undersecretary for policy, his second stint in the same position. Prior to the post, he was Foreign Affairs undersecretary for policy from 2007 to 2010. He has represented the Philippines and has served as the chairman of various international meetings and conferences, the latest of which is the senior officials meeting at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat (AMM Retreat) in Boracay, Malay, Aklan, in February 2017.

Education

• Manalo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics degree from the University of the Philippines in 1973

• He graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Economics also at the same university in 1976

Family background

Manalo is a son of two respected diplomats.

•  His father was late Ambassador Armando Manalo, a journalist who served as Philippine Ambassador to Belgium and political adviser of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations.

• His mother is Ambassador Rosario Manalo, the first female career diplomat of the Department of Foreign Affairs who was recently elected by acclamation as the rapporteur of the 23-member Committee of Experts of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

• Manalo is married to Pamela Louise Hunt with two sons.

Hobbies and interests

Manalo is into reading, listening to classical music and walking.