The Ateneo de Manila University and the Carlos P Romulo Foundation for Peace and Development, Inc are pleased to announce that former Secretary of Foreign Affairs and former Ambassador to the United States of America Albert del Rosario will give the inaugural Ambassador Rodolfo C Severino Jr Lecture on Thursday, 26 August.
The new lecture series honors the legacy of Ambassador Rodolfo C Severino Jr (1936- 019). Severino graduated from Ateneo de Manila in 1956 with an AB Humanities degree and went on to become one of the country’s most respected diplomats. He served as the 10th Secretary-General of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 1998-2002.
Ambassador del Rosario’s lecture, entitled “The Code of Conduct on the South China Sea: Is it still worth pursuing?” will be live streamed on Ateneo de Manila’s YouTube channel at 10 am.
Prior to his work in government, del Rosario was an accomplished corporate executive whose career spanned across various industries: insurance, banking, real estate, shipping, telecommunications, consumer products, retail, pharmaceutical, and food.
Ambassador del Rosario has received various recognitions and awards for his contributions to the country, including the conferment of the Order of Sikatuna, Rank of Datu in 2004 for his valuable role in promoting foreign relations for the Philippines; Order of Lakandula for a Rank of a Grand Cross (Bayani) for acting as Co-Chair of the 2015 APEC; EDSA II Presidential Heroes Award in 2001 for his work in fostering Philippine democracy; and the Philippine Army award in 1991 for his accomplishments as Chairman of the Makati Foundation for Education. He was also awarded the 2013 Professorial Chair for Public Service and Government from the Ateneo School of Government and the Metrobank Foundation and in 2018 was conferred by Ateneo de Manila with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities
The lecture will be followed by observations and reactions from a distinguished panel consisting of Dr Jay Batongbacal (Director, UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea), Dr Alma Salvador (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Ateneo de Manila University), Dr Ngeow Chow-Bing (Director, Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya), Dr Ian Storey (Senior Fellow, Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme, ISEAS- Yusof Ishak Institute), and Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC (Distinguished Honorary Professor, The Australian National University and former Foreign Minister of Australia).