Manalo was born on July 21, 1952, in Manila to diplomats Armando Manalo and Jimena Austria.[2] Manalo attended the University of the Philippines Manila, where he obtained both a bachelor's and a master's degree in economics.[7][8]
Career
Manalo has been working with the Department of Foreign Affairs since 1979.[9] He began his career in the foreign service as the Special Assistant to the Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1979 to 1981.[10] After that, he completed his first tour of duty at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland until 1986. From 1986 to 1989, he was the First Secretary and consul at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., and then served as the Special Assistant to the First Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs until 1992.[11]
From 1992 to 1998, he was the Minister Counselor at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York and thereafter, as Assistant Secretary for European Affairs. He was back at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2000 to 2003 serving as its Deputy Permanent Representative (with rank of Ambassador). He then served as the Permanent Representative of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland from 2003 to 2007.[11] From 2005 to 2007, he served as the elected chairman of the 41st and 42nd session of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly.[12]
In 2007, he was appointed DFA Undersecretary for Policy, serving until 2010. From 2010 to 2011, he served as the Philippine Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union. He served as the ambassador of the Philippines to the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2016[13] and a non-resident ambassador to Ireland from 2013 to 2016.[14][10]
In April 2016, he was appointed again as Undersecretary for Policy and on March to May 2017, and served as acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs after the rejection of Perfecto Yasay Jr.'s ad-interim appointment by the Commission on Appointments (CA),[15] with the post of Secretary of Foreign Affairs subsequently taken by former senator Alan Peter Cayetano upon the latter's confirmation by the Commission on Appointments on May 17, 2017.[16] In August 2018, Manalo was appointed by President Duterte as the ambassador of the Philippines to Germany[17] and in February 2020, he was appointed as the 21st Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations, of which has been left vacant since October 12, 2018, after former UN Permanent Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr. left the post to become the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (replacing Cayetano, whom the latter resigned as Secretary of Foreign Affairs on October 17, 2018, upon running for the post of representative of Taguig–Pateros in the May 2019 elections, of which Cayetano eventually won). Manalo's appointment as permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on March 4, 2020,[18] and later, he presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the United NationsAntónio Guterres on July 27, 2020.[19]
Manalo (left) with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, April 2023
In July 2022, Manalo was appointed by President Bongbong Marcos to serve as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, having previously served the post in an acting capacity in the Duterte administration, of which he was sworn in on July 1, 2022, succeeding Teodoro Locsin Jr., and eventually vacating the post of permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations on the same day (of which the latter post would later be filled up by former Philippine ambassador to the United Kingdom, Antonio M. Lagdameo on July 7, 2022;[20] succeeding Manalo).[3][21] The appointment of Manalo as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs was later confirmed by the Commission on Appointments's foreign affairs committee on September 28, 2022.[22][23]
Awards and recognition
Honors and titles conferred on Ambassador Manalo in recognition of his exceptional and distinguished service to the Republic of the Philippines include:
1 Kyaw Tin is currently recognized as Myanmar's official Foreign Minister by ASEAN, instead of Ko Ko Hlaing (despite the latter currently serving as Myanmar's Minister of International Cooperation).
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