Duterte appoints Enrique Manalo as acting DFA secretary

Malacañang on Thursday announced that President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Enrique Manalo as the agency's acting secretary.

"Undersecretary Enrique Manalo has been designated and appointed as Acting Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte," presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said.

"He will hold the position until the President appoints a new Secretary. Usec. Manalo is an excellent transition man, and has been on top of many crucial issues together with Atty. Perfecto Yasay," he added.

Yasay, who was nominated by Duterte, failed to get the nod of the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday over issues on his citizenship. 

Manalo, 64, is currently the Undersecretary for Policy at the Department of Foreign Affairs 

DFA welcomes appointment

“The DFA welcomes the appointment of Undersecretary Enrique Manalo as the acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs,” spokesman Charles Jose said in a text message.

Abella said Manalo “has been on top of many crucial issues”’ together with Yasay and has represented the country as senior official in Association of South East Asian Nations meetings, currently being hosted by the Philippines as this year’s chairman.

Born on July 21, 1952, Manalo was the country’s top diplomat to the United Kingdom from Oct. 2011 to March 2016 before he was recalled to the Home Office in Manila to resume his former post as Undersecretary for Policy in April 2016. He held the same position from Aug. 2007 to Feb. 2010.

He also served as non-resident envoy to Ireland, and ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union in Feb. 2010 to Oct. 2011. Manalo was also ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva from Oct. 2003 to July 2007.

His other postings include Philippine Permanent Mission to New York, where he became Deputy Permanent Representative twice, and Philippine Embassy in Washington DC as First Secretary and Consul.

In Manila, Manalo served as Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, and Special Assistant at the DFA Office of Deputy Foreign Minister from 1979 to 1981.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Manalo was a research assistant and later on officer at the National Economic and Development Authority.

An expert on multilateral relations, Manalo, represented the country to various international meetings and conferences, which include the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Nuclear Security Summit, Asia Europe Meeting, ASEAN, the United Nations, and Non-Aligned Movement.  

He also helped negotiate the trade deal between Manila and Europe, called Philippines-European Union Partnership Cooperation Agreement, from Jan. 2009  to June 2010.

Manalo obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Economics at the University of the Philippines. He is married to Pamela Louise Hunt and has two sons. — Trisha Macas and Michaela del Callar/RSJ, GMA News