Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
LOS ANGELES—Before naming a successor to outgoing Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, President Aquino paid tribute to him and recognized his dedication to a job that had him rushing to dangerous places to help Filipinos overseas.
In an interview with reporters in Los Angeles and in his speech before the Filipino community in the area earlier this week, Mr. Aquino gave effusive praise to his longest serving Foreign Affairs Secretary, calling him one of the “blessings” to his administration.
Del Rosario’s replacement would have “tough shoes to fill,” said Mr. Aquino.
The President recalled that shortly after taking his oath as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the then 71-year-old Del Rosario was already in Libya to oversee the evacuation of Filipinos who needed to flee because of the strife.
If he and Del Rosario ever argued about anything, it was the latter’s propensity to have to be in the worst and most chaotic places, he said.
President’s permission
“In the beginning, I teased him and said: Albert, I don’t relish negotiating for the safe release of my Secretary of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
He had to keep on issuing the same reminder to Del Rosario, and even had to order him not to leave without the President’s permission.
“Up to the end, I had to give him an order, where I told him: If you want to go to an area that is in conflict or a conflicted area, you have to get direct permission from me starting from now. You do not have that authority anymore,” he said.
Mr. Aquino also said he feels for Del Rosario, who decided to resign because of problems with his back.
But Del Rosario was not one to shed his duties lightly, and would stay on until March to finish everything in the pipeline, he said.
“So I really have to say he is also one of the blessings bestowed upon me. In the area where I don’t really have that much expertise, he took in quite a lot of the burden and really performed his role as adviser,” he said.
He said the DFA was so different before Del Rosario came in. He recalled that around the time when he had just appointed Del Rosario, DFA officials told him about a problem they had getting in touch with the country’s ambassador to one of the countries affected by the Arab Spring because phone and Internet lines were cut.