Colleagues laud Lucenario: Cool dude, envoy with a heart

To his family and colleagues at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Domingo Lucenario, Jr. was more than just a diplomat, he was an “ambassador with a heart.”

Lucenario, Manila’s envoy to Islamabad, died in a tragic helicopter crash in the Naltar Valley area off Northern Pakistan last May 8, along with five others, including the Norwegian ambassador, while on their way to visit two government projects.

The Philippine flag flew at half-mast at the DFA in honor of Lucenario, whose Foreign Service career spanned more than 25 years.  

At an emotional and song-filled memorial service Friday, DFA employees, friends and fellow diplomats - wearing black armbands - paid tribute to the man, praised for paving the way for the modernization of the Philippine passport, his close affinity with Filipino workers abroad and dedication to his job.

It began as his bronze and silver casket, carried by a group of pallbearers from the Philippine military, was brought into the DFA auditorium for a mass and necrological service.

“My heart sank,” Philippine Consul General to San Francisco Henry Bensurto said in his eulogy upon learning the death of his close friend, fondly called Doy by many. “How I wish I told Doy how happy I was for his friendship, his confidence, his trust.”

“His death reminded us of the many risks of our job. Doy died in the line of duty. Doy loved his work and perhaps this is the way he would have wanted his career in diplomacy to end: To die while doing the work that he always want,” Bensurto said.

'Always there for us'

Shiela Gustavo, Lucenario’s former secretary when he headed the DFA Office of Consular Affairs prior to his first ambassadorial posting in Kenya, tearfully recalled how her boss treated the department’s rank and file employees with concern, even proposing for health care benefits, only enjoyed by regular employees, for the contractual staff.

“He was always there for us,” she said.

Holding back her tears, Chief Presidential Protocol Celia Feria, Lucenario’s batchmate at the DFA, described the 54-year-old as a “big man with a big heart” and “a man with a big smile with big ideas.”

“He was a great guy, a cool dude. He managed to make light of every difficult situation,” Feria said.

Another batchmate of Lucenario, Foreign Assistant Secretary Jesus Domingo said Lucenario was considered as the group’s “big brother,” saying many of them seek his guidance, counsel and wisdom.

“He would always tell me that the DFA is a career like no other,” Domingo said. “He had proved that the Foreign Service can indeed forge positive and constructive relationships even with the most challenging stakeholders.”

A lawyer by profession, Lucenario served the DFA in various capacities. He was posted in Germany, Hong Kong, Australia and was Philippine Ambassador to Kenya with concurrent jurisdiction over 12 African nations.

Lucenario’s mentor Marciano Paynor, former ambassador and now head of National Organizing Committee for the Philippine hosting of the 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, said Doy was a person who “would always find solutions to problems.”

“We never talk about problems, we always talk about solutions,” he said. “He had always been doing things for others and not for himself.”

'Well-done'

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, the last official who gave a eulogy, spoke highly of Lucenario, calling him “the diplomat’s diplomat,” an “outstanding member of the DFA family” and  an “inspiration” to the men and women of the Philippine Foreign Service.

“When he presents his credentials to our Creator he will no doubt be received warmly and with open arms to hear the words: ‘Well done, my son, well done. You did good!’”

Doy’s brother Danton Lucenario, for his part, thanked the DFA for their heartwarming tribute.

“How he died is not as much important as how he lived,” he said. “Doy, you set the bar for your own colleagues in the DFA to follow and emulate. You are a people’s diplomat.”

The service culminated with Lucenario’s wife, Nida, tenderly recalling how Filipinos in countries where his husband had been assigned was called by them as an “ambassador with a heart.”

“According to them, he is the only ambassador, regardless of your station in life, who they can call anytime and he will go to the Filipino who needs his help,” she said.

“In this time of pain and sorrow, which is the most difficult time in our family, I still feel blessed that our family is still blessed when I have seen the tremendous outpouring of sympathy and love for Doy. We have nothing but grateful hearts to those who gave kind words, shard a memory, laughed and cried with us, and shared this moment with us.”

 At past 2 p.m., Lucenario’s flag-draped casket was carried out of the DFA – the last time the fallen diplomat would ever set foot on the institution he has served almost half of his life – while more than a hundred DFA officers and staff lined up at the building’s main lobby broke into applause as they bid farewell to their comrade. -NB, GMA News