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Emmanuel: Filipinos there are in every job category. Even top executives of corporations are Filipinos. You find lawyers, you find doctors, architects, engineers.
When you ask the nationals of the country how they assess Filipinos, they always have good words about us. Whatever job category you talk about, all over the world, Filipinos literally excel.
Emmanuel: My name is Emmanuel Fernandez. I am a career diplomat. I joined the foreign service in the year 2000, January 2000, after obtaining my doctorate in sociology from the University of the Philippines. And during those years, I’ve had the chance to serve our country abroad, in Italy, in Jordan, in Spain, in Singapore, and now in Pakistan, where I currently serve as the Philippine ambassador.
Philippe: Can you explain briefly, generally, what foreign policy is?
Emmanuel: The foreign policy is like our roadmap. It tells us what direction we want to pursue in terms of improving our relations with the international community itself.
Philippe: How do you deal with troublesome Filipinos? It’s sad to say, there are several Filipinos, all of them specifically, who are quite troublesome.
Can you briefly describe your role as a Philippine ambassador and what your day-to-day responsibilities look like?
Emmanuel: Basically, as an ambassador, you represent the Philippines, particularly the president, in your country of assignment. So, by representing the Philippines, you actually do things that will promote our interests in that particular country.
So, you’re talking about our economic interests, for example, our political and security interests, the interests of our nationals who work and live in that place. Your job as an ambassador is to do everything you can to help advance those three interests in the Philippines.
Emmanuel: Specifically, and in practical terms, you try to promote trade between the two countries. So, you look for investors, you look for businessmen who would be willing to partner with their Filipino counterparts. That way, by increasing our trade, you actually help both your country of assignment and your sending state grow and develop economically.
In the area of political and security cooperation, that’s also important, Philip, because we live in a world that has become so interconnected that no country can ever live alone and live in an indifferent manner. You have neighbors, the world is literally a village, and so you have to have good relations with everyone.
Emmanuel: Your job as an ambassador is to develop your relations, particularly with the country of your assignment, in the area of security and political cooperation. And finally, we’re unique in the sense that the Philippines is one of those countries which has millions of nationals spread all over the world.
Practically every nook and corner of the globe, you find a Filipino, including in those areas which you don’t normally hear about. You will find a Filipino there. So as an ambassador, your role is to make sure that Filipinos who live in your country of assignment are given the protection that they deserve, that their welfare is promoted.
Emmanuel: If they work in certain job categories, your job is to make sure that they receive their rightful salary, for example, and that they are given all the protection in terms of the legal and cultural mechanisms that are in place.
Your job as an ambassador is to make sure that all of those are in place, and that your nationals are living and working in an environment that they deserve to have as nationals of your country.
Philippe: So you’ve served in multiple countries, like Italy, Spain, Jordan.
Emmanuel: Yes, yes, yes. I’ve had a diverse assignment so far. I was in Italy for six and a half years. That was my longest assignment. My first and longest. And then I was in Jordan for, unfortunately, only for two years, because normally, at some point, they decide to put you elsewhere.
So I was sent to Spain instead, and I ended up in Spain for four and a half years also. Four and a half years. So basically, my assignments are mostly in Europe. And then I was in Singapore for three years, and finally in Pakistan. And in all those places, Philip, I feel proud to represent our country, because as I said, when you ask the nationals of the country how they assess Filipinos, they always have good words about us.
Emmanuel: The industry, the intelligence particularly, they admire the way we adapt to their culture, to their language even. When I go to Jordan, they speak Arabic better than I do. In Spain, they speak Spanish. Our people are so smart that they easily adapt to the culture and to the language. And as a representative, I feel really proud of that.
Philippe: How was each, in every country, how was each posting, how did it shape your perspective on diplomacy?
Emmanuel: A lot, a lot actually. Each country, of course, has a different landscape. And every Filipino community in each place is different. In Singapore, for example, which was my last posting before Pakistan, Filipinos there are in every job category.
Even top executives of corporations are Filipinos. You find lawyers, you find doctors, architects, engineers. So the service that you are supposed to render as a diplomat is different. In a place like Italy, for example, where predominantly our nationals are in the services sector, so the approach should be different too.
Emmanuel: So your approach as a diplomat varies from one location to the other depending on the job category of our people there, depending on the level of relations with that country. Going back to Spain, for example, where we have a very long history, you remember we were under Spain for more than 300 years.
So the connection with Spain dates back a long, long way. And so they look at the Philippines in a very different way. If you meet a Spaniard and he learns that you’re Filipino, he’ll call you my long lost cousin. That’s how they term us there.
Emmanuel: Because they remember that years back we were actually part of Spain. The only unfortunate thing is we are the only former colony of Spain that doesn’t speak fluent Spanish. All the rest speak Spanish. And here we are. We’ve lost our facility in Spanish when the Americans came.
Although we’re gaining it back. So that’s the answer to your question, Philip. Every assignment shapes you differently because it requires you to adapt a different strategy as a diplomat.
Emmanuel: Depending, as I said, on the nature of your relations with the country and on the nature of the job categories, the dominant job categories where you can find your nationals there.
Philippe: What made you decide that yes, I want to represent the Philippines and go through all the journey of getting into government and representing the Philippines as you are now? What was that moment, that light bulb moment that said, yes, I want to be out there?
Emmanuel:It’s a long story, Philip, but I’ll cut it short for you. When I was a young man, I loved reading. I’m actually a bookworm. After reading, I started writing. I’ve written four books so far. But when I was a young man, I stumbled upon a book entitled Markings.
It is the journal of a former UN Secretary General, Doug Hammershaw. He kept the journal while he was still alive. He died in a plane crash while serving as the Secretary General of the UN. The book captivated me so much because it captures his daily insights, his reflections, mostly about his inner life as a diplomat.
Emmanuel: He was in public, an international public servant. But the journal entitled Markings captured his inner dynamics. It made me think, what a nice life that would be. To be in a work, in a kind of job where you literally contribute to the welfare of the international community.
But it was something very vague to me. I just liked the idea of being in a work like that. I totally lost it. After that, I pursued a different path. But in 1998, shortly before I finished my doctorate, I was in the corridor of the UP Faculty Center, where the Department of Astrology was situated. I saw an advertisement on the bulletin board.
Emmanuel: It was a very catchy advertisement. It said, From Diploma to Diplomat.
Philippe: Wow!
Emmanuel: And then it said that there was going to be an exam on this date. And that if you’re interested, you can file your application, et cetera, et cetera.So I was interested. I applied without any desire of, you know, I just tried it.
Philippe: You tried your luck.
Emmanuel: I tried my luck. And when the results came out, I almost stopped the exam. I missed the first place. Because there’s a ranking. By a few points, I think by 0.3. So I said, maybe I belong to this place. So I entered, without any plan of staying on.
But after some months, I began to like it very much. And I said, maybe this is where I belong. But if you ask me why I stayed, I think the bigger question is, why did you stay? Because I could have left after a year if I didn’t like it. I stayed because I realized that the foreign service literally gives you countless opportunities to make a difference.
Emmanuel: Not only for your country, but for the international community. That’s the beauty of the foreign service. You serve your country, but by serving your country, you actually contribute to the international community itself.
In terms of keeping the peace, in terms of promoting harmony between nations, in terms of promoting cooperation between nations. So that is what actually kept me in the service all these many years. It is not an easy career.
Emmanuel: One difficulty of being in the foreign service is the rootlessness. By that I mean, you have to move from one country to the other. And just when you have gained friends, you suddenly have to move out again and be uprooted. And you have to find roots in another country. It’s difficult.
But at the same time, it’s challenging. Because of course, you meet new people every time. You get to the challenge of learning a new language, a new culture.
Emmanuel: So many pros and cons. But basically, what really kept me here all these years is the idea that this is a career that offers countless opportunities to make a genuine and concrete difference.
Philippe: Since you’ve mentioned earlier about the challenges, what was the most challenging moment that you had all throughout your career as being a public servant as an international body?
Emmanuel: Okay. There are many challenges. But for me, the biggest challenge really was when you’re in public service, in the foreign service, when you’re in government service, there is a limitation as to your capacity for self-expression.
That’s actually my biggest challenge. Because I’m basically a… I like writing essays. I like to express my ideas, my insights. But when you’re in government, you’ve got to just state what you think. You have to be mindful of the consequences, the restrictions as to what latitude of self-expression you can exercise.
Emmanuel: So although I’ve had the opportunity to continue writing while in government, while in the foreign service, there are lots of restrictions. And when I retire, all those restrictions will finally be over and I can write as freely as I want. It’s…
Maybe some people say, that’s it, it’s not a challenge. But for me, it’s my biggest challenge. Because I’m basically a… I basically want to express myself, my thoughts, my ideas. And that’s my biggest challenge in the foreign service.
Emmanuel: The others are okay, the constant moving around, the having to learn a new language every time. They’re challenges, but they’re exciting challenges. It makes life enjoyable for me.
Philippe: Can you explain briefly, generally, what foreign policy is? And what is our foreign policy towards the world?
Emmanuel: That’s a very good question. Because when most people hear about the Department of Foreign Affairs, they think mostly of passports, you know, visas, assistance to nationals, etc. But the real job of the foreign service is the formulation and the implementation of foreign policy.
That’s our real job. That’s the core. That’s the essence of the foreign service. You advise the president what policy to adopt. And once he adopts that policy, he gives it back to you and you’re supposed to implement it. Our policy is like our roadmap.
Emmanuel: The foreign policy is like our roadmap. It tells us what direction we want to pursue in terms of improving our relations with the international community itself. I said earlier, Philip, that we live in a world that has become so interconnected. And foreign policy is like your navigator.
It tells you where to go, how to navigate your relations with other countries. In essence, our foreign policy as a country is grounded in three pillars. The first pillar is what you call the economic pillar. Basically, it means that we want to develop our economic relations with as many nations as possible.
Emmanuel: Because by doing so, we not only develop our economic situation, but we also contribute to the economic upliftment of many other countries. Trade promotion, investment promotion, that’s part of our foreign policy. We should do everything that we can to promote our economic relations with all countries. And then we have also what you call the political security pillar.
That pillar is about developing good relations with most countries. Basically, in order to make sure that you don’t go to war with any country and that you live in a peaceful way with as many nations as possible. Of course, that’s a challenge. Just like in any community, conflict is inevitable.
Emmanuel: We live in an imperfect world. Every so often, there are conflict areas between countries. Our job in the foreign service is to make sure that these conflicts are resolved as peacefully as possible and that they don’t erupt into a war that will eventually be disadvantageous to both the countries involved.
And then finally, the third pillar, Philippe, is what you call the assistance to nationals pillar. And that’s unique to the Philippines because unlike most other countries, we have a huge diaspora. As of the latest count, we have more than 10, maybe 11 million Filipinos all over the world in every possible nook and corner that you can think of.
Emmanuel: And so the foreign policy of the Philippines is to make sure that we safeguard the welfare, we protect the rights, we promote the development of our nationals wherever they are in the world. So that’s basically our role. The three pillars are like our, they’re like the major landmarks that we are supposed to be mindful of as we navigate our relations with the international community.
Philippe: So when it comes to OFWs, because I know my family, I mean a big majority of my families were OFWs. And we know that the majority of OFWs who are out and about globally are domestic helpers.
We have a few that are in the executive levels just like you mentioned earlier. There are a lot of cases like, I believe it happened in Qatar or in Kuwait where we have an OFW who was in a slight altercation and resulted in her death. I think several cases.
Philippe: There are a few in Jordan. I’m sure there’s a few in Spain, Italy where you were posted. How do you deal with such scenarios? Because I know there is, specifically in the country that happens, there are implications. How do you go about that? How do you deal with that? And how does the investigation occur during those times?
Emmanuel: Yes, okay. Let me backtrack a little, Philippe. When you asked me about foreign policy, I said that we have three pillars, one of which is the assistance to nationals pillar. And that is unique to the Philippines.
We are mandated in the foreign service to answer the call for help of any Filipino, guilty or not guilty, whatever is the case. Our mandate is to actually help Filipinos in any need in which they find themselves. And that’s unique to the Philippines.
Emmanuel: In other countries, Philip, if their nationals get into trouble and they go to their embassies, they’re hands off. Hands off sila. Sa atin, it’s different. And that is because years ago, you were probably very young then, there was a case in Singapore, the Floral Contemplation case.
That was actually a pivotal point. When that happened, we suddenly made sure that the department will be in the forefront in terms of answering the call for help of our nationals abroad. And what does this mean concretely? And this will answer your question more directly.
Emmanuel: In every embassy or consulate, Philippe, there’s what you call an assistance to nationals officer. The job of that officer is basically dedicated to that kind of work. To make sure that if there’s a Filipino in distress or facing a problem, he will extend the appropriate assistance and he will not stop until the issue is resolved.
On top of that, we also have a welfare officer who belongs to a different department, what you call the Department of Migrant Workers. But his job is also related to promoting the welfare of our OFWs abroad. So there are always two people whose job is dedicated to assisting our nationals abroad. And as I said, our mandate is to help in every possible way.
Emmanuel: So we have funds in case we need to hire a lawyer, for example. If there’s a legal case and the Filipino needs the service of a lawyer, the department will actually hire a lawyer for that Filipino or Filipina. If there are other needs, then we extend every possible need.
If he’s in prison, we go and visit the prison. And if there’s a need to talk to the local authorities, without violating the principle of non-interference, then we do that. Of course, we respect the local laws. If there’s a legal procedure in place, you cannot just intervene and say, stop it.
Emmanuel: You can’t do that. But within the bounds allowed by the local law, we do everything we can to negotiate, represent the interests of our nationals abroad. And that’s basically part of our mandate. That’s actually the third pillar of our foreign policy.
Philippe: Let’s rewind back to what you mentioned that happened in Singapore. Of course, our listeners are not even aware of what happened.
Emmanuel: They’re mostly young people, I suppose.
Philippe: Not even young people. We have several age ranges from young to seniors, and they’re not even aware of these types of news. What exactly happened in Singapore that pushed our foreign policy to support all our OFWs?
Emmanuel: There was an OFW by the name of Flor Contemplacion. She worked for a Singaporean household. She was accused of having murdered the child of her employer and a fellow Filipina. That was the accusation. Of course, when she was accused of that crime, the Philippines did everything it could through our embassy in Singapore to protect her, to prove her innocence, because she was saying that she did not do it.
And so we did everything we can to fight for her innocence. But in the end, the Singaporean court found her guilty, and so she was hanged. Of course, back home, the reaction was rather significant. There were actually rallies in favor of Flor Contemplacion.
Emmanuel: People were alleging that the Philippine government through our embassy in Singapore did not do enough. But of course, the Singapore court maintained that she was guilty. That was defined in the Singapore court. But then, of course, as in any case, there are always two versions of the same case.
Basically, it was a wake-up call, Philip, that although the Department of Foreign Affairs has been doing its best to promote and protect the welfare of Filipinos abroad, that incident lifted the level of protection to an even higher degree. If we were serving on this level, the Flor Contemplacion case pushed us even further, upwards.
Emmanuel: That is why we put more mechanisms that would ensure the protection of Filipinos abroad. We revised the procedures. We updated our mechanisms. All for the sake of making sure that the level of protection would be even higher than what was being done at that time.
Philippe: How do you deal with troublesome Filipinos? Because it’s sad to say there are several Filipinos, OFW specifically, who are quite troublesome.
Emmanuel: That’s a good question. Of course, we still have them. Our mandate, Philippe, is really to assist Filipinos regardless of the circumstances. It’s true. Guilty or not guilty, our job is to protect. If he needs a lawyer, we give a lawyer, we visit, etc.
You’ve heard about Filipinos on death row, and the Philippine government still extended the help up to the last minute. The local courts, for example, have declared that this particular person is guilty. He needs to undergo the capital punishment.
Emmanuel: But to the very end, we extend assistance. Ganun yung approach natin, Philippe. In terms of Filipinos making travel abroad, I believe that’s inevitable because like any other country, there are always people like that wherever you are.
In every country you talk about, we still extend help. Of course, you have to exercise a lot of patience, a lot of understanding. Basically, what we teach our staff, Philippe, is when you’re assigned in a country, and you encounter a Filipino, always bear in mind that he’s there for a very good reason.
He’s there to earn a living, to help his family back home. By doing so, he’s actually helping your country. The remittances of Filipinos contribute a lot to our economic standing. It is not an exaggeration to say that OFWs are our new heroes.
Emmanuel: They really are. And that is why they deserve our assistance, our protection, regardless of the circumstances.
Philippe: Thank you for the insights. I’d like your thoughts about the current situation that the Philippines is in regarding the DPWH. Controversial topics these days. What are your thoughts about it?
Emmanuel: Well, it’s a saddening scenario, Philippe. It makes everyone sad, including myself. You realize that there’s a lot of money. The Philippines has a lot of money. And the sad part is, instead of that money being used to build infrastructure that would help our Kababayans, the money unfortunately went to the pockets of certain individuals.
So it’s a saddening thought that what could have been used for the good of the greater community went to the pockets of only a few. At the same time, it’s an angering situation. I’m sure all of us, who would not be angry to realize that? And you’re talking about millions and billions of pesos being pocketed by contractors, by civil servants with the DPWH, by lawmakers if the allegations are true.
Emmanuel: So it’s saddening and angry. That’s all I can say. But at the same time, maybe there’s a silver lining to all of this, Philippe. They say that this has been going on for a long, long time. When you talk about DPWH, I remember even when I was a young man, I’ve heard stories about the corruption in the department. And all of a sudden, it blows up.
The entire wound is exposed. And what are we to do aside from being angry and being sad? I think the real job is to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. So that’s the silver lining with all, Philippe. This is now the opportunity for us to heal our nation.
Emmanuel: To fix what needs to be fixed. I think we need to amend certain laws, amend certain regulations, restructure the way our departments are constituted to make sure that corruption in any form will not happen again.
Philippe: I think with DPWH, that’s just a starting point. There’s a lot of other government agencies that are… I think we’ll go through another investigation and we’ll open up another box of Pandora’s box.
Emmanuel: That’s very true. You and I know there are many notorious departments and agencies. DPWH, as you rightfully said, is probably the first in a long line of corruption places that will be eventually exposed and fixed.
I emphasize that point. It is not enough that we are sad, that we feel angry. We have to go beyond that and ask the question, what do we do now?
Emmanuel: What do we do, first of all, to make sure that money is returned to the national coffers? And in the long term, what do we do to make sure that it doesn’t happen in any form to any degree again? That’s the big, big challenge.
Philippe: And the agencies lined up are usually in with the three-letter initials.
Emmanuel: Unfortunately, unfortunately, yes. May mga notorious talagang agencies.
Philippe: Ambassador, what’s next for you? Because you did mention earlier that you only have a year and a half or even less with your post as an ambassador in Pakistan. What’s next for you?
Emmanuel: Although I enjoy being a diplomat, I enjoy my job. Of course, I look forward to retirement because retirement means I will have more time to write and I can write more freely than I can now being in government.
That’s basically what I’m looking forward to. When I retire, my idea of retirement is I’ll have a quiet time at home in my little room somewhere, writing down my thoughts. And on the side, I’d like to teach. Teaching runs in the family.
Emmanuel: My grandparents were educators. My mother was an educator for a long, long time. My dad was an engineer, but when he retired, he went to the academy and also began a new career as an educator. So it’s in my blood, metaphorically speaking. Teaching is in my blood, so I’ll probably teach and then write.
Philippe: What would you teach specifically?
Emmanuel: International relations. I believe that my experience in the Foreign Service would equip me in a very real way for that kind of discipline. Although my academic background is in sociology, sociology is what you call the mother of the social sciences.
All of these things, international relations, economics, they all came from sociology. So it’s the mother discipline. And as a sociologist, as a trained sociologist, I believe that I can help reframe the discipline of international relations. And I can help people have a better understanding of how the international community works through the lens of my basic discipline, which is sociology.
Philippe: Where can I sign up? Let me be your first student.
Emmanuel: Okay, Please, please.
Philippe: It’s something that I’ve been interested in for quite a while now. And you may not know this, but some of our relatives, I have my own Pamangkins, who one is just graduated with political science and another with international diplomacy.
So I’m pretty proud about that. I did tell them about you. And I said that in two years time or less, he’ll be probably teaching. And it’s something that they really want to pursue. So you already have three students signing up for that.
Emmanuel: I’m happy to hear that.
Philippe: I think that’s something that we look forward with you. Just a quick question. Why the retirement? Is there a limit to where you could serve? Or is this a personal choice?
Emmanuel: No, it’s mandatory. In the department, once you reach your 65th year, on that very day, you’re automatically retired. That’s how cruel the department is. On your 65th birthday, you’re considered retired. Whether you like it or not.
Philippe: But if you had the choice, would you retire?
Emmanuel: Frankly, yes. Because, as I said, I’m basically a writer. I’ve long wanted to write a lot of things, but the limitation is there. So I look forward to retirement basically because the channel for self-expression would be more unrestricted.
That’s common in retirement. Diplomacy is a beautiful job. It’s very fulfilling, very enjoyable even. Your challenges are actually enjoyable. Because at the end of the day, when you realize that you helped a Filipino national in some way, it truly makes you feel good. It truly makes you feel that you’ve done something significant.
Emmanuel: But writing is different. Writing means you leave behind insights that might be read by some fellow sometime. It will help him see things from a different perspective. You may not even know who he is or who she is, what her circumstances are, but that’s the beauty of writing.
A book has a life of its own. For example, I told you about Markings, the journal of Doug Hammershaw. He died in the early ’60s. I read his work in the 1980s, and it changed my life. And up to now, I still read him—the book that was written in the ’60s.
Emmanuel: So Guernon Libre or Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor who was at the same time a philosopher who wrote his thoughts, and it’s compiled in that book. You’re talking about centuries ago, but you still find the book in local bookstores.
It’s still being bought, and it’s still being used by people. That’s the beauty of writing. And that’s why I want to pursue writing when I retire.
Philippe: This is something I look forward to, Ambassador Fernandez. Thank you for coming to the show and making time. You’re a very busy individual, and thank you for your service because you’ve helped so many OFWs globally, and you made a difference.
And I know you’ll make an impact when you start writing. Of course, I’d love to have you again on my show, on my podcast, and hopefully we could talk more without limitations. Something with your personal thoughts, your personal goals, your mission, and how we could improve ourselves as Filipinos generally.
Philippe: Thank you a lot, Ambassador.
Emmanuel: Thank you too, Philip.
Philippe: Safe trip back to Pakistan, and hopefully we get to meet you again, hopefully, sooner than later. And like I said, you already have three students signing up. When the time comes, you decide that you want to start teaching, I’m sure everyone would love to learn from you.
Emmanuel: Wonderful. Thank you, Philip, for this opportunity.
