04 August 2004 – The late statesman Arturo N. Tolentino, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the latter part of the Marcos Administration will be brought home to the Department of Foreign Affairs tomorrow afternoon for traditional necrological services given to all who have served as Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Philippines.

DFA officials and staff will bade goodbye to someone who has definitely made his mark in modern Philippine history and even international law.  The cortege bearing the remains of former Minister Tolentino will arrive at the DFA at 2:00 in the afternoon and his coffin will be received with full military honors upon its entrance to the DFA compound.  The DFA personnel will be at the DFA Lobby to accompany the cortege to the Bulwagang Apolinario Mabini (DFA Auditorium) at the ground floor of the DFA building.  About ten minutes will be allotted for the viewing of the casket.

Eulogies will be delivered by former Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Rosario G. Manalo and incumbent Undersecretaries Rafael A. Seguis (for Special Concerns) and Franklin M. Ebdalin (for Administration).  The eulogy by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Delia Domingo-Albert will be read by Undersecretary for Migrant  Workers’ Affairs Jose Brillantes.  A response will then be delivered by
Tolentino’s son Atty. Salvador C. Tolentino.  Two songs will also be offered by  the DFA chorale.  The cortege is expected to depart from the DFA shortly after 4:00 in the afternoon.

The late great statesman Arturo Tolentino was both a political figure and a constitutional and legal luminary.  Having served as Vice President for the late President E. Ferdinand Marcos, Tolentino was also appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, a post he served from 1984 to 1985.  As Foreign Minister, Tolentino created the Board for Overseas Economic Promotion and the Technical Secretariat for International Economic Relations, precursors of what is today the Office of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations or OUIER.
 
As Foreign Minister, Tolentino also headed the Philippine delegations to various international conferences most especially to the preparatory meetings leading to the adoption and entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  There, Tolentino enunciated and promoted the Philippine position on the archipelagic doctrine and many of the provisions under Part IV – Archipelagic States – of the UNCLOS were developed and adopted through the interventions of Minister Tolentino.