Rod Severino and Philippine independence
When former ASEAN secretary-general, foreign affairs undersecretary, and Ambassador Rodolfo Severino Jr. passed to eternal life on April 19, I knew when I would write and publish my tribute to him. There is no other day than Philippine Independence Day to celebrate the life, accomplishments of a diplomat who was described, by Ambassador Tommy Koh, the great statesman and diplomat from Singapore, “as a gentleman, a peace-maker and a man of goodwill.” Tomorrow, June 12, we celebrate the 121st anniversary of the Philippine declaration of independence in Kawit, Cavite. That day is also the anniversary of our Department of Foreign Affairs, with Apolinario Mabini as its first head. Without a foreign policy and a vigorous diplomatic service, the Philippines does not deserve to be called an independent nation. Rod Severino and his fellow diplomats from all generations worked very hard and continue to work hard to ensure this. We have had great diplomats in this country. Carlos P. Romulo, who became President of the General Assembly, for sure is a legend. Narciso Ramos, father of President Fidel V. Ramos, was a founding of father of the ASEAN. His daughter the late Leticia Shahani, who later become senator of the Republic, was as visionary as the father. And in more recent times, I have worked with excellent career diplomats like Foreign Affairs Domingo Siazon, Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, and several younger but just as brilliant ambassadors and foreign service officers. But I think that all of them would acknowledge that Rod Severino had qualities that made him unique and deserving the accolade given to him by several colleagues—“the quintessential diplomat.’ University of the Philippines professor and international relations scholar Aileen San Pedro Baviera, who worked on Philippine-China relations with Ambassador Severino in the 1990s, described very well these qualities: “He may not have been perfect, just as no human being is. But he was to me an inspiration and a source of learning for what Philippine diplomacy should be like, now and in the future. Always be prepared. Know what results you need to get. Be ready to think out of the box. Deepen your understanding of and with those closest to you. Not only the governments, but the peoples, need to connect to each other. Think before you speak. Say no more than is needed. Then think some more before you act.” Above all, his writings reflected this thinking and reflective diplomat, who had a strategic and visionary mind: In 2010, in his Where in the world is the Philippines?, he asked the right questions: “Where in the world is the Philippines?, In other words, where does the Philippines have jurisdiction? Of what kind? Where does that jurisdiction end? Because the Philippines is an archipelago, that is, a nation of many islands, these questions apply importantly to the country's maritime regime. In contemporary terms, what is the extent of the Philippines’ territorial sea? Its exclusive economic zone (EEZ)? Its contiguous zone? Its continental shelf? From where does or should the Philippines measure its territorial sea, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone? What is the character of the large expanses of sea between some islands of the Philippines? What is the nature of the Philippine claim to the Kalayaan Island Group? What about the Philippine claim to Sabah? For most countries, questions similar to these and the answers to them are fairly straightforward. They have long been settled, and other countries have accepted, or at least acknowledged, those answers. However, in the Philippine case, many of the questions remain unanswered. Fierce, often arcane debates go on within the government, in the academic community, and, of course, with other, especially neighboring, countries. Once in a while, the controversies erupt into public view...” In 2006, he argued for the importance of the ASEAN Regional Forum:"He is the quintessential diplomat."
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