MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said he was “humbled” and “inspired” to do better in his job because of the commendation made by President Benigno Aquino III in his State of the Nation Address Monday.
“Im very humbled by it,” Del Rosario told reporters in an ambush interview after the President’s fourth SONA.
“I’ve always been inspired by the President,” he said, adding that he did not expect Aquino’s expression of approval.
Aquino praised Del Rosario for his work in helping overseas Filipino workers all over the world especially in the Middle East.
“There are those like Secretary Albert Del Rosario. Going by tradition, a Secretary’s first official travel outside the Philippines would be to a country with whom we enjoy strong and peaceful relations,” Aquino said in his speech.
“But only a few hours after taking his oath, Del Rosario only took the time to possibly pack a change of clothes before immediately flying to Libya. He went through more than twenty checkpoints in the middle of crossfire and led the evacuation of more than 20,000 Filipinos who were caught in the conflict in Libya,” he said.
Del Rosario, when asked about Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing’s statement that she was impressed with this government, said “I think the whole international community is impressed with the performance of this government.”
“I think its the fact that [Aquino] has focused on transparency, accountability and good governance,” Del Rosario said.
Originally posted: 6:47 pm | Monday, July 22nd, 2013