Consul General Senen T. Mangalile met with the members of the community media for his inaugural “Con Gen Media Hour” at the Philippine Consulate General in New York last week.
ConGen Mangalile recognized the role of the media as partners in disseminating information and promoting events of the Philippine Consulate. He said he is looking forward to engaging with the Filipino-American communities in the U.S. Northeast.
Before New York, Mangalile served as Minister at the Embassy of the Philippines in Berne, Switzerland, and as Chargé d’affaires, ad interim at the Embassy of the Philippines in Ankara, Turkey. He holds the rank of Chief of Mission, Class II at the Department of Foreign Affairs which he joined in 1997.
“I am standing on the shoulders of giants who were assigned here in New York, all accomplished diplomats,” he said. “I am very honored to have been assigned here by our Secretary of Foreign Affairs and I am looking at the accomplishments of my predecessors, most of whom I have worked with in various stages.”
The Consul General added that he plans to continue many of the programs including “Kumusta Kabayan” where the consulate invites Cabinet members and senior officials to talk about the developments in the Philippines that may affect Filipinos abroad.
He also emphasized the call of the President to strengthen economic linkages between the Philippines and the United States of America, while continuing all efforts to serve kababayans abroad.
“We have very clear directives coming from the very top that at this point in time, we have to emphasize economic diplomacy so a lot of our efforts should help attract investments, should open doors for Filipino products to enter here, and also for increased trade relations between the states that we liaise with,” Mangalile added.
At the DFA, Consul General Mangalile served as Senior Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Affairs, concurrent Director of the U.S. and Canada Divisions of the Office of American Affairs, Director for Ceremonials at the Office of Protocol, and Principal Assistant at the Office of ASEAN Affairs. He was also detailed to the Office of Presidential Protocol at Malacañang Palace.
Mangalile served as Assistant Secretary of the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs, Consul General at the Philippine Embassy in London, and Consul at the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka. He was the first consul from an ASEAN country to be elected by his peers as president of the Consular Corps of London, the oldest consular corps in the world, having been established in 1902.
During the one-hour face-to-face, Mangalile took the opportunity to assure the community of his willingness to listen to their concerns, explaining that there is a need for the consulate and the community to work in synergy.
He hopes to spark new collaborations among various organizations and individuals for the promotion of Philippine culture, protection of the rights of Filipino migrants, strengthening economic linkages, and celebrating the contributions of Filipino-Americans to the fabric of American society.
Consul General Mangalile holds the degrees Master of Science (with Distinction) in Diplomacy, Statecraft, and Foreign Policy from Loughborough University, United Kingdom, and Bachelor of Arts, Major in Philosophy from Immaculate Conception Major Seminary, Philippines. He attended the Master of Arts, Major in Philosophy program of the Ateneo de Manila University from 1990 to 1992 and entered the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1993. (By Momar G. Visaya/AJPress) n
