MARCH 5, 2016

NR # 4130

Speaker Belmonte commends outgoing DFA Secretary Del Rosario

for numerous achievements & sterling performance
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. commended outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary
Albert del Rosario for his sterling performance and numerous achievements during his
five-year stint at the DFA.
The Speaker personally praised Del Rosario during the DFA chiefs recent farewell
courtesy visit on Belmonte at the House of Representatives.
Secretary Del Rosario is a person who came out to be the right guy at the right
time. He has described some of the biggest problems that he faced while at the helm of the
DFA, the Speaker said.
One of the major accomplishments of Del Rosario is the service accorded by the
DFA to Filipinos abroad according to Belmonte.
The DFA under Secretary Del Rosario has directly helped as many as 80,000
Filipinos abroad. This includes directly protecting them while they are overseas, giving
them succor or paying for their fare to get back to the Philippines. That is one of the great
things that they have been doing and continue to do, the Speaker noted.
The Speaker said proof of Del Rosarios professionalism and deep concern for
Filipinos abroad is that, within hours after President Aquino, swore him into office on
February 25, 2011, the DFA chief went off to Libya to rescue Filipinos.
Del Rosario reportedly flew to Tripoli, Libya, to rescue some 400 overseas Filipinos
out of the war-torn city, into the Libyan-Tunisian border.
He has been to all the tension places like Syria and Iraq, among others, and as he
pointed out, he had actually made 151 trips in his five and a half years of tenure, said
Belmonte.
Del Rosario said during the courtesy visit that in a span of five years, the DFA
repatriated more than 25,000 Filipinos. Weve done a lot of work in terms of repatriation.
There are so many stories to be told for each of these missions. Theres a lot of people to
people interaction on a daily basis. Before and after my oath, the President wanted me to
promise to take care of our Filipinos abroad, and it stuck in my mind, said Del Rosario.
Belmonte said another accomplishment of Del Rosario pertains to the countrys
contentions with China over the West Philippine Sea.

The Bajo de Masinloc which exists in all our maps from the Spanish time, is now a
military area of China. And the course of action is to continue with the arbitration in The
Hague, to do our best there, and I believe we will win it. Having that is in effect a
recognition from the world of our right to make certain claims, the Speaker said.
The Philippines firm position on the West Philippine Sea bore positive effect on the
country. The foreign community, the international community looks at us a little
differently now. You can sense this in international conferences. You can also measure this
in terms of the support and also in terms of the Official Development Assistance for our
people. This is a recognition of the appreciation of the international community for the
government, Del Rosario said.
Del Rosario explained that he came to the House of Representatives to personally
thank House members for all their help and assistance to him and to the DFA.
Mr. Speaker, I came here to express my deepest gratitude for the assistance and the
support given by the House of Representatives. I want to thank you also because I
received a commendation from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, so thank you
very much for that. Working with the members of the House of Representatives has been
a matter of great satisfaction. Its been a great experience, said Del Rosario.
Belmonte said the House had the same pleasant working relationship with Del
Rosario.
Del Rosario tendered his resignation effective March 7, 2016 due to health reasons.
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