MANILA, Philippines — After five years in service, Secretary Albert Del Rosario formally stepped down as the country’s top diplomat yesterday, March 7, after helping save thousands of overseas Filipino workers and even bringing China to court.
Unknown to many, Del Rosario flew to Tripoli, Libya, to help bring 400 Filipinos out of the danger zone, only 36 hours after taking his oath as the Philippines’ top diplomat in February 2011.
Del Rosario also went to Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, and Yemen to oversee the government’s repatriation efforts or to personally look into the condition of the OFWs there.
In one of his previous interviews, Del Rosario said he wanted to lead by example that is why despite his body had been frail for the past few years; it didn’t stop him from personally helping repatriate thousands of Filipinos from strife-torn countries.
Also more recently, Del Rosario helped delay the execution of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina drug convict who was set to be executed by firing squad in Indonesia in April 2015.
While working to secure a reprieve for her, Del Rosario even secretly visited Veloso to check her condition in her detention cell where Veloso requested him scholarships for her children.
A well-known businessman before entering the government, Del Rosario donated his own money. Also, Del Rosario has reportedly waived his government salary for the past 5 years.
On top of these, Del Rosario is also known as the diplomat under whose watch the Philippines filed a historic case against china over the South China Sea, locally referred to as the West Philippine Sea.
According to a July 2013 Reuters report, Del Rosario even departed “from the usual diplomatic niceties” after Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi reeled off “a list of complaints against manila for stirring tensions over the south china sea”, during a closed-door meeting in Brunei.
Same report said Del Rosario was not scheduled to speak, but after hearing Wang’s speech, he raised his hand and proceeded to rebut china’s allegations one by one.
The Philippines is now waiting for the ruling of the international tribunal in The Hague on South China Sea issue. Del Rosario, the Philippines’ 24th secretary of Foreign Affairs, resigned from his post due to health reasons.