22 December 2003 – The Department of Foreign Affairs is pleased to announce the appointment today of Madame Delia Domingo Albert as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the appointment papers of Secretary Albert today.  The appointment of Secretary Albert will be subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments of the Philippine Congress.

Secretary Albert will succeed Secretary Blas F. Ople, who passed away on 14 December 2003.

Secretary Delia D. Albert, a seasoned career diplomat joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1967 and has served in various capacities in the Philippine Foreign Service, notably at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, in the Philippine embassies in Germany and Australia, among others. In the Home Office, she served as Director-General of the ASEAN National Secretariat of the Philippines. At the 4th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in 1996, she served as Secretary-General of the Conference Secretariat for which she received special commendation from the Philippine Senate.

Secretary Albert attended the University of the Philippines and did post-graduate work in Europe and the United States.

Before this latest appointment, Sec. Delia Albert was designated Undersecretary for International Economic Relations in July 2002. END.