Consul General Elmer G Cato

The last time I saw Bogs was five years ago at the Tunis Carthage International Airport. He was eight years old then when we took him, his mother, and several other kababayan on a grueling 12-hour journey by land from Tripoli. They were among the more than 300 Filipinos who we were able to es**rt to safety on several occasions during the Third Libyan Civil War that raged from 2019 to 2020.

That Boy Bogs The last time I saw Bogs was five years ago at the Tunis Carthage International Airport. He was eight years old then when we took him, his mother, and several other kababayan on a grueling 12-hour …

In a show of unity and solidarity, our kababayan came out and braved the morning rain today in response to our call for the Filipino Community in Milan to participate in the annual PittaRosso Pink Parade in support of cancer research. More than 200 Filipinos were in that long column of 20,000 who took part in the five-kilometer walk-for-a-cause that we said was a way for us to give back to a country that has given our people so much. Last week, we sounded our call for our kababayan to join us in supporting the cancer research efforts of the Veronezi Foundation. We reminded them of the fact that cancer is the leading cause of death among Filipino women in Italy. From the initial group of 23 from the Consulate General of the Philippines, the number grew to 50 then 100 then 150 and then 200 as members of the Filipino Community responded as the week went by. This morning, we walked past the grandstand proudly waving Philippine flags with the distinction of being the largest expatriate group to participate in the event.

For the fourth straight day, we fed the lines of Italians and other visitors who trooped to the Philippine Booth at the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024 in Turin. Today, it was the turn of our chefs from Iloilo and other parts of Panay Island to give visitors a taste of their part of the Philippines. They prepared and served traditional slow food dishes such as batchoy, adobo bisayas, sinigang na seafood sa batwan, tinuom nga manok, lechon, and bilo-bilo. Siyempre, manyaman! Unfortunately, Pampanga did not participate in this international event where it could have also shared the culinary delights that it has been known for.

The Philippines did well as expected in the just concluded World Robotics Olympiad Open Championship in Brescia. The boys and girls who make up our national team bagged five awards in the competition that was participated in by students aged eight to 19 from 38 countries—First Place, RoboMission Junior High School, Japer Memorial High, Bocaue; Fourth Place, RoboMission Senior High School, Columban College, Olongapo; Impact Award, Future Innovators Junior High School, Dr. Yanga Colleges Inc., Bocaue; Creative Award, Future Innovators Senior High School, Legazpi Science High School, Legazpi; and We Do Best Presentation, Kids RoboMission, Albay Central School, Legazpi. Thank you for making us proud! Mabuhay kayo!

After Bacolod and Negros Occidental, it was Cavite’s turn today at the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024 in Turin with Chef Jay-Jay Sycip leading a team from the Slow Food Community of Cavite that gave us a taste of the traditional dishes the historic Southern Tagalog province is known for. For the second straight day, the Philippines Booth drew crowds of mostly non-Filipinos who lined up for the torta de chabacana, galunggong Imus, longganisa and sinangag they served for breakfast to the adobong manok sa dilaw, adobong baboy sa p**a, adobo sa tausi at atay ng manok, and adobong hipon, adobong tahong and lechon for lunch and pancit pusit, pan de sal and kesong puti for merienda. Tomorrow, it would be Capiz and other parts of Western Visayas that would take the center stage in the four-day event being participated in by 120 countries.

I could no longer remember what science project we worked on when I was in fourth grade in Angeles City more than four decades ago but it definitely was nothing compared to what these elementary students from Bocaue were able to put together—a robot that could collect and upcycle paper, plastic, and yard waste into usable cups.

What we submitted for our high school science class was also nothing compared to what another group of junior high school students also from Bocaue came up with—a robot that could measure rain fall and predict flood levels; convert the rain water it collected to energy that could be used to charge mobile devices and power lights; and filter the same water to make it potable.

The two robots are among the entries from the Philippines that would be competing in the World Robot Olympiad Open Championships in Brescia this week. The Philippines is being represented there by a 38-member team from the Philippine Robotics Olympiad made up of eight to 17-year old elementary and high school students and their coaches and school administrators from various parts of the country.

Make us proud boys and girls!

It was at the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024 here in Turin on Thursday where we got ourselves introduced to slow food—regional cuisine prepared the traditional way as opposed to fast food that has become a way of life to most if not all of us.

It was also here at Terra Madre that we got introduced not to Italian slow food but to that from other parts of the Philippines that our Kapampangan palates are not familiar with—we are talking about Negrense cuisine other than chicken inasal prepared by chefs from Bacolod City and Negros Occidental who are representing the Philippines in the four-day event.

Thank you to our friends from the Slow Food Community of Negros and the Slow Food Chef Alliance not only for giving us a taste today of kansi, KBL (kadyos, baboy, at langka), kinilaw, adobong manok sa dilaw, apan-apan, and gourmet tuyo with kesong puti but more importantly, for putting the Philippines in the global slow food map.

We can’t wait to try the other Negrense slow food dishes that our chefs will prepare and serve tomorrow and Sunday. Namit gid! Manyaman ngan!

We were in Mestre today to join our colleagues at the Consulate General of the Philippines in attending to the consular needs of our kababayan in Venice and other areas in Veneto Region. For our 12th consular outreach mission this year, we were able to serve more than 300 members of the Filipino Community who would otherwise have to travel three hours to Milan to avail themselves of the services we extended to them the whole day today. We look forward to these weekend outreach missions as these also allow us to see how our kababayan are doing; listen to their concerns; and discuss how we could work better together to advance their interests and welfare.

Today, we remember Jose Arcel Donato, a colleague at the Departmebnt of Foreign Affairs who served with us at the Embassy of the Philippines in Tripoli during both conflict and pandemic. Three years ago today, Arcel gave up his life in the line of duty.

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Jose Arcel Donato was waiting for me on the tarmac of Mitiga International Airport on the morning of 30 March 2019. I 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 me.

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

It was in Libya where I got to work closely with Arcel in the two years that we served together in what is considered to be one of the more challenging posts in the Philippine Foreign Service. When the third Libyan civil war erupted five days after I 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 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 es**rt 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 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 I went on home leave.

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 meat 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 erupted in Libya last year, 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. All of us were able to keep ourselves safe from the virus but shortly before I was reassigned to New York in March, Arcel caught it but was able to recover a couple of weeks later.

Two weeks ago, I was told Arcel was taken to a private hospital and later to an isolation facility after he again tested positive for the coronavirus. Filipino nurses at the coronavirus center in Mitiga took good care of him and constantly gave us updates of Arcel’s condition. We were all worried because Arcel became critical at one point that colleagues led by Charge d’Affaires Jed Dayang, who took over from me as Head of Post, had to ask for prayers. They also moved heaven and earth to get him evacuated from Libya.

Arcel bounced back a few days ago and was on his way to recovery. We got the chance to chat and even joke about his condition. Later, he requested the nurses to get him some adobo. The next thing I knew he was being intubated. Last night before going to bed, I included Arcel in my prayers. I prayed for his recovery. This morning, when I woke up, Arcel was no more. He was only 48 years old and left behind a wife and two children.

I am in grief. Like the men and women of Tripoli who I had served with, I lost not only a friend and colleague. I lost a brother.

New York, 21 September 2021

Last Monday, we got to welcome celebrity couple Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes who are visiting Milan for the first time. We were together at the dinner hosted by Kiko Milano CEO Simone Dominici in honor of Marian, who is the brand ambassador in the Philippines of the Italian cosmetics company. One of the top Filipino endorsers, Marian has contributed to the successful market pe*******on of Kiko Milano, which now has more than 20 stores in the Philippines with several more scheduled to be opened. Over dinner, we congratulated Marian and Dingdong for the success of their movie Rewind, which we got to watch on Netflix a few nights ago. It is now the highest grossing Filipino film of all time. We also thanked the couple for their philanthropic work back home, especially the assistance they have been extending to women and children with disabilities. We also had a very interesting conversation on the West Philippine Sea with Dingdong, who is also a reserve officer of the Armed Forced of the Philippines. That’s the W sign for West Philippine Sea that we were flashing.

I was serving at the Regional Consular Office (RCO) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at Clark Field in Pampanga when I received the call. It was T***s Ople, youngest daughter and chief of staff of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople, who was on the other end.

“Kapatid, ikaw daw nagleak nito?” She was referring to a front page article in the Manila Times containing sensitive information on the South China Sea. The article was based on information that only someone from the inside had access to.

“Ikaw naman kapatid,” I told her. “How can I possibly be the leak when I’ve been away from the Home Office for the past year overseeing the operations of a regional passport office that completely has no access to classified information?”

“Reporter ka kasi dati kaya your name will always be No. 1 in the list of suspects,” T***s jokingly told me. “But don’t worry, sinabi ko imposibleng may kinalaman ka.” I will always remember that conversation with T***s that took place sometime in 2003. I knew right there and then she had my back.

I would see T***s at the Home Office a few months later after Secretary Ople signed my assignment order sending me to New York for my first overseas posting. T***s was so happy for me. “Promise me, you will take Amang to New England so he would see the changing leaves of autumn,” she told me. We never got the chance to take that trip. Amang would pass away a few months later but T***s and I remained in touch and became good friends after she left DFA and joined the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

We would later get to work with T***s on a number of cases involving our overseas workers, including several that were brought to the attention of the Blas Ople Labor Policy Center (BOPC) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). Like Amang, T***s was always there for Filipinos toiling overseas. She had made it her advocacy to look after them and protect them.

We saw it in the way she responded when we asked for help in looking into the cases of Filipino oil platform workers who were being exploited and abused in the Gulf of Mexico. She was there when we asked for assistance on behalf of trafficking victims in Iraq and Kurdistan as well as kababayan caught in the middle of the conflict and pandemic in Libya. She was there closely monitoring our efforts to assist distressed kababayan in the Middle East.

When President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. chose her to head the newly created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) last year, we were among those who jumped in jubilation. We knew our overseas workers would be in very good and capable hands. She was the best choice.

This morning, we woke up to the sad and painful news of Toot’s passing. We mourn with the rest of the Filipino people, especially our overseas workers who lost their champion. Paalam, Kapatid. You can rest knowing there are many of us who will continue what you have started.