Ambassadors’ stories in book launched today

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is set to launch today (Thursday) “Frontlines of Diplomacy: Conversations with Philippine Ambassadors,” a book on contemporary Philippine foreign policy and diplomacy.

Edited by Foreign Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs J. Eduardo Malaya, the Anvil publication features interviews with 37 retired and current Philippine ambassadors and three diplomatic spouses.

The 300-page book chronicles the “experiences, triumphs and occasional frustrations of Philippine diplomats through the years.”

It also “covers the depth and breadth of the Philippine diplomatic experience,” revealing in the process “a number of incidents on crucial moments in contemporary Philippine history, some of which are discussed in public for the first time,” noted Malaya, also the country’s new ambassador to Malaysia.

“Issues which remain controversial to this day are discussed with candor, notably globalization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations regionalism, security and antiterrorism, the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US, and safeguarding the welfare of overseas Filipino workers,” Malaya said.

According to Malaya, also the DFA spokesperson, “these first-person accounts of participants and eyewitnesses in the making of the nation’s political and diplomatic history shed needed light on the formal, often opaque world of diplomacy, and offer valuable lessons and insights for today’s diplomats and leaders and all concerned Filipinos.”

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the book “provides readers a peek into the world of presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, ambassadors, consuls, and even diplomatic spouses.”