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PH leads region in women-diplomats, says former foreign minister

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Cathy Yang, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/20191127-delia-albert.jpg?ext=.jpg"/></figure></div><p>MANILA - The Philippines is ahead of its neighbors in Southeast Asia in terms of women&#x27;s participation in diplomacy, the country&#x27;s first female top diplomat said on Wednesday. </p><p>Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said that from 1958 to 2018, the Philippines has had 90 women ambassadors, 76 of whom were career diplomats who rose from the ranks. </p><p>Albert, who was Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary from 2003 to 2004, credits the &quot;healthy enabling environment&quot; of the country for the number of women in the Philippine foreign service. </p><p>&quot;Many of our women diplomats chose to be diplomats because the field was open, there was no restriction,&quot; Albert said in an interview with ANC&#x27;s The Boss. </p><blockquote class="instagram-media" 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translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5XhO46HlIM/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Cathy Yang (@cathyyapyang)</a> on <time dateTime="2019-11-27T11:38:38+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Nov 27, 2019 at 3:38am PST</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>During the launch of her book &quot;Women in Diplomacy&quot; Albert however, also said life as a female ambassador wasn&#x27;t as easy as those of their male counterparts. </p><p>She said that while there was no restriction on male ambassadors marrying foreign nationals, female envoys had to resign from their post.</p><p>Albert, however, fought against this system. </p><p>&quot;I said: this is not right, this is quite discriminating.&quot;</p><p>She refused to resign, and though it took three and a half years to wait for the final decision on her case, she eventually won. </p><p>&quot;It was well worth it,&quot; she said.</p><p>Albert said economic diplomacy, which became her focus, has brought in more jobs to the Philippines. </p><p>Among the firms she helped bring are Lufthansa Teknik and Australian insurer QBE, which now employ thousands of Filipinos.</p><p>Albert said she has high hopes for ASEAN as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade deal. </p>

<p>Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said that from 1958 to 2018, the Philippines has had 90 women ambassadors, 76 of whom were career diplomats who rose from the ranks. </p>

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said that from 1958 to 2018, the Philippines has had 90 women ambassadors, 76 of whom were career diplomats who rose from the ranks.

PH leads region in women-diplomats, says former foreign minister

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PH leads region in women-diplomats, says former foreign minister

Cathy Yang,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 27, 2019 08:24 PM PHT

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Updated Nov 29, 2019 11:06 AM PHT

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