Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution asking her colleagues to honor the legacy and memory of the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario for “defending our national interest.”
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his condolences and sympathies on the passing of Del Rosario whom he considered as a “good friend.”
In her Senate Resolution No. 572 filed on Wednesday, Hontiveros described Del Rosario as a “consummate and hands-on diplomat” who represented the Philippines with “utmost grace, honor, and dignity.”
Del Rosario died on Tuesday at 83, according to his family.
It was under his watch at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the Philippines elevated to an international court its complaint against China for violating the national rights over the disputed West Philippine Sea.
“Del Rosario was known for defending the national interest, whether it be the interest of scores of overseas Filipino workers finding themselves in situations of distress in other countries or the country’s security interests vis a vis a foreign aggression,” Hontiveros said.
“Del Rosario will be remembered most for being at the helm of the Philippine victory in the Hague, where the 2016 Arbitral Award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration reaffirmed our legitimate rights in the West Philippine Sea and asserted baseline principles of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” she added.
“The ruling has earned its place in the annals of international law and has shown the world that a country like the Philippines can assert and protect its rights over its territory and resources, even in the face of conflicting claims from a global giant like China,” she said.
“Del Rosario’s legacy will live on, not only in his body of work but in our continued commitment as a people to stand up to aggressors and to defend our integrity,” she added.
In a Twitter post, Koshikawa revealed that he sent the Prime Minister’s condolences to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over the death Del Rosario.
“JP Prime Minister Kishida Fumio expressed his deepest condolences to President Marcos over the passing of former Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario,” he said.
“PM Kishida has been a good friend of Secretary Del Rosario since he was Foreign Minister,” Koshikawa added.
In an earlier post, the Japanese envoy commended Del Rosario for his “contributions” to advancing the Philippines-Japan relations.
According to him, such contribution was symbolized by the conferment of a Japanese Decoration last year.
He served under former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as his top diplomat. He was responsible for bringing the Philippine case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and emerging with a favorable ruling.
The PCA ruling declared as illegal China’s massive claims over large areas in the South China Sea that include the expanded economic zone of the Philippines and other ASEAN countries.
According to the Del Rosario family, wake will be held at the Chapels of Sanctuario de San Antonio in Makati on Sunday and Monday, April 23 and 24, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
A funeral mass will be held on Tuesday, April 25, at 9 a.m. in the Main Church of the Sanctuario de San Antonio.
Instead of flowers, the family said donations may be sent for a Professorial Chair in International Diplomacy at the Ateneo de Manila University.