A LONG-time and well-respected Filipino diplomat continues to rise through international ranks.
Esteban Conejos Jr., the former Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, has recently been named as a member of the legal advisory board of the World Trade Organization, the DFA announced earlier this week.
Conejos will serve a two-year term in the 157-member WTO based in Geneva, Switzerland. He is eligible for re-appointment for two years further, after his first term expires.
As the Philippine permanent representative to the WTO, he was appointed to the Management Board of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL).
According to its website, the ACWL advises its developing country members and least-developed countries (LDCs) on all issues relating to WTO law.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has said that “by ensuring that the legal benefits of the WTO are shared among all Members, the ACWL contributes to the effectiveness of the WTO legal system, in particular its dispute settlement procedures, and to the realisation of the WTO’s development objectives.”
As a member of the Management Board, Conejos is among six appointees responsible for making “decisions necessary to ensure the efficient and effective operation of the ACWL and reports to the General Assembly.”
According to the DFA, Conejos was chosen on the basis of his professional qualifications in the field of WTO law or international trade relations and development.
The DFA added: Ambassador Conejos was unanimously nominated by Category B member countries of ACWL to be their representative to the board. Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam are the Category B countries of ACWL.
He has already attended his first Management Board meeting on November 7, where board members welcomed him.
Conejos succeeded Ambassador Bozkurt Aran of Turkey.
Rising through the ranks
Through the years, Conejos has quickly ascended through political ranks in the Philippines.
He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the San Carlos Major Seminary, a Bachelor of Law degree from Ateneo de Manila, before receiving a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University.
He spent more than two decades as a counsel in several different government and private agencies including the Philippine Ports Authority, Presidential Commission on Good Government and vice president and general counsel Mabuhay Holdings and Development Corp, according to his resume.
From July 1988 to February 2001, he served as the undersecretary for Operations in the Department of National Defense.
As a Senior Defense Official, he was responsible for formulating and implementing the country’s security policy through the five different defense agencies.
He also mentioned that he “headed some of the most sensitive offices in the DND” and was responsible fore external defense, internal security operation and disaster relief and rehabilitation.
In 2006, he became the undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
That year he was awarded the Presidential Citation for exemplary leadership in the evacuation of more than 6,000 overseas Filipino workers in the Israel-Lebanon conflict.
As undersecretary, he has been part of the Presidential Special Envoy to the Global Forum on Migration and Development. He was co-head of the Philippine Delegation to the UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Philippine Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, and member of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment.
(balikbayanmag.com)
(LA Weekend November 17-20, 2012 Sec. A pg.10)
