Today, we honor one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines—Andres Bonifacio, the founder of the revolutionary society Katipunan. We will commemorate this day by paying tribute not only to the Great Plebeian but also to the unsung heroes of the Philippine foreign service—the men and women who risked their lives by serving in conflict zones abroad to protect our kababayan and lead them out of harm’s way.

Among those we salute today are colleagues who we had the honor to serve with in the most dangerous of foreign assignments—those who courageously went through what many others would not even imagine themselves doing yet never recognized for their service and sacrifice.

Among those we salute today are colleagues who we had the honor to serve with in the most dangerous of foreign assignments—those who courageously went through what many others would not even imagine themselves doing yet never recognized for their service and sacrifice.

We honor Vice Consul Andrei Bauzon of the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad who was there by our side as we struggled to keep ourselves and our kababayan safe from the campaign of terror unleashed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Iraqi capital. 

We honor Vice Consul Jomar Sadie, Jerome Frias, Manolito Ruedas, Richard Billedo, and Joji Abaya who at the height of the ISIS rampage in Iraq swore to die fighting with us in case militants attack the Embassy and who carried out a number of dangerous missions to find and rescue Filipino women victims of human trafficking syndicates. 

We honor Vice Consul Tina Hernandez, Liza Dean, Pol Paguirigan, Caloy Cabuniag, Francis Enaje, Jasmine De Guzman, Walter Villabos, Jenny Caday, Arcel Donato+, and Ed Venturanza of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli as well as our local hire Maria Marnisa Almonte Ty who placed themselves in the line of fire by choosing to go to Libya and stay there to look after kababayan during the third civil war and the coronavirus pandemic that followed. 

We honor our other local hires for likewise putting their lives at grave risk by leading thousands of distressed kababayan fleeing the conflict in Libya from 2011 to 2021.

We honor our other local hires, particularly Arvin Cadiente, Munir Sarail+, Lacson Casim+, and Mokatil Tidto, for likewise putting their lives at grave risk by leading thousands of distressed kababayan fleeing the conflict in Libya from 2011 to 2021. The four were harassed numerous times and were even shot at and nearly kidnapped while in the performance of their duties but their contributions were never recognized. 

We honor retired Army Maj. Gen. Mario Chan, Marine Lt. Col. Rommel Bognalbal, and Army Lt. Col. Glenn Apresto for being there in the foxhole in Tripoli with us to look after us and our kababayan at the height of the civil war and the pandemic. 

We also honor other colleagues from the Rapid Response Teams (RRT) that were dispatched by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to assist us in rescuing and repatriating our kababayan during the conflict. They, too, were exposed to the same danger we faced.

Let us salute them and our other colleagues in the Foreign Service in other hardship and high-threat posts abroad. They are the Bonifacios among us. Let us not forget their service and sacrifice. 

Maraming salamat at mabuhay kayo!

New York, 30 November 2021