Jose Arcel Donato was waiting for us on the tarmac of Mitiga International Airport on the morning of 30 March 2019. We had just arrived to assume as the new Chargè d’Affaires and Head of Mission of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli. As the Protocol Officer of the Embassy, it was Arcel who was tasked to welcome us.

We really did not know Arcel although we have seen him in a number of occasions at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila where he had served at the Office of Personnel and Administrative Services (OPAS) and at the Intelligence and Security Unit (ISU).

It was in Libya where we got to work closely with Arcel in the two years that we served together in what is considered to be not just one of the more challenging but also among the most dangerous posts in the Philippine Foreign Service. When the third Libyan civil war erupted five days after we assumed, Arcel was among those who went to work as soon as our contingency plan was activated.

Like the rest of us, Arcel made sure the Embassy would be able to look after the close to a thousand members of the Filipino Community in Tripoli and surrounding areas. The good soldier that he was, Arcel chose to stay in the frontline and took the same risks we all took even if he could have easily opted to go on home leave in the Philippines when it was his turn to.

During the height of the conflict, Arcel volunteered to escort kababayan who wanted to be evacuated as a result of the fighting. He led them across the dangerous land route to Tunis where they boarded their flights home. Arcel was with us when we had a close call with heavily armed militia who gave chase after we mistakenly drove past their checkpoint on our way back to Tripoli.

Arcel was a team player who could be relied upon to help get the job done. He was someone who would not say no. He immediately said yes when we asked him to concurrently serve as Property Officer and Security Officer when these positions became vacant. He also did not refuse when he was asked to be Santa Claus for the Christmas event we hosted for Filipino children in December 2019. He also agreed to look after our attack dogs Stephanie and Chinchin when it was our turn to go home.

Arcel was a big man with a big heart. He was generous and ready to extend a helping hand. He always lent his ear to colleagues who needed to vent and could be trusted upon to keep their secrets. Many in the Filipino Community in Tripoli, Tunis, and Casablanca remember him for being nice and accommodating. They said he would go out of his way to assist kababayan availing themselves of our consular services.

Arcel loves to eat the same way we all do. At the Embassy, we make it a point to eat together and grilled lamb was something we always looked forward to. Arcel loves anything ube and we always made sure we saved some for him. He also loved chocolates. He also cooked and his chicken barbecue rivaled that of Aristocrat’s. He also loved to sing and when he did, he sounded like Filipino singer Ariel Rivera.

When the coronavirus disease found its way to Libya in 2020, it was Arcel who we were most worried about. He had grown big and was not really fit. He also had other medical conditions. He would easily get tired and had difficulty breathing.

Despite being high-risk, Arcel would go with our teams to deliver food and other necessities to kababayan who were in isolation after testing positive for the disease. He would go unmindful of the danger of getting caught in the middle of artillery exchanges between the contending sides. Arcel also played a critical role in the complex repatriation we had to carry out from Tripoli involving kababayan working in Algeria and Tunisia.

All of us were able to keep ourselves safe from Covid-19 from the initial outbreak that year until shortly before we were reassigned to New York a year later. Arcel caught the virus but was able to recover a couple of weeks later.

Arcel would later avail of his home leave to spend time with his family. It was there that he was advised to stay longer so he could get himself treated from an infection. He did not heed the advise and because of his sense of duty, chose to return to the frontlines. It was there a few weeks later, that his infection made it easier for the coronavirus to make a comeback.

We were later told Arcel was taken to a private hospital and later to an isolation facility. Filipino nurses at the coronavirus center in Mitiga took good care of him and constantly gave us updates about Arcel’s condition. We were all worried because Arcel became critical at one point that colleagues had to ask for prayers. They also moved heaven and earth to get him evacuated from Libya.

Arcel bounced back a few days later and was on his way to recovery. We even got the chance to chat and even joke about his condition. Later, he requested the nurses to get him some adobo. The next thing we knew he was being intubated. And then he was gone. He was only 48 years old and left behind a wife and two children.

This afternoon, during the commemoration of the 128th founding anniversary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Arcel was honored for his sacrifice. His wife and son were there to personally receive from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs the Special Commendation recognizing his service to our country and our people.