A lawyer by profession and a diplomat by occupation – Philippine Ambassador Alex G. Chua concluded his tour of duty in Kenya and his 43 years of dedicated service to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as he reached the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Ambassador Chua, who graduated from the Lyceum of the Philippines University where he took up his Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and Bachelor of Law, joined the DFA in 1978 and rose through the ranks.
His first foreign assignment was at the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong (1985-1993) as Legal Officer and then Vice Consul where he handled various cases of OFWs including those in distress. He was then assigned as Third Secretary and Vice Consul, Second Secretary and Consul, and First Secretary and Consul at the Philippine Embassy in Beijing from 1995 to 2001.
From 2003 to 2009, he was assigned at the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou where he was promoted from the rank of Consul, Deputy Consul General, and then Consul General. He was acknowledged by the Guangdong Provincial Government as the first foreign diplomat who was promoted several times in a single tour of duty.
In 2011, he was assigned again at the Philippine Embassy in Beijing, but as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires (CDA), a.i. where he made numerous representations for the Philippines before the Government of China amid the maritime dispute between the two countries.
After his stint in Beijing, he was reassigned at the Philippine Embassy in Myanmar from March 2013 to March 2017 as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He advocated for the further enhancement of the Philippines-Myanmar bilateral relations, marking a total of four State Visits of then-President Benigno S. Aquino, III, and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
For his final posting, Ambassador Chua was assigned as the Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the Republic of Kenya with concurrent jurisdiction over Burundi, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda (April 2019-November 2021). He was also the Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat).
“Serving as the Philippine Ambassador to Kenya and Permanent Representative to the UNEP and UN-Habitat for two years has been a fitting culmination of my career in foreign service,” he said in a statement.
During his term, he pushed for the opening of the Philippine Honorary Consulate (PHC) in Mahe, Seychelles, and in Kigali, Rwanda. The two additional PHCs further promote, among others, Philippine trade, commerce, culture and tourism, and the welfare and interests of the Filipinos within their jurisdictions.
As a Permanent Representative, one of the most significant meetings he attended was the first session of the UN-Habitat Assembly which took place from May 27 to 31, 2019 at the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi. This meeting adopted five resolutions covering a range of topics, including safer cities; capacity building for implementing the New Urban Agenda; achieving gender equality through UN-Habitat’s work to support inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements; enhancing urban-rural linkages for sustainable urbanization, and on UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan 2020-2023. The Philippines also has a special place in UN-Habitat as it helped with the rehabilitation and reconstruction of homes in Marawi in its project, “COVID-19 Response as we Rebuild Marawi” in 2020.
In his farewell message to the Filipino Community, he expressed his appreciation for their unwavering support to the Philippine Embassy through the years. He also conveyed his hope that they will continue to represent the Philippines in the best possible ways anywhere they go.
Ambassador Chua, as described by his colleagues, is one of the most loved, understanding, competent, and hardworking people in the DFA. He is, unquestionably, an epitome of a dedicated public servant.
Before his retirement, he was conferred the Felipe Agoncillo Lifetime Service Award (FALSA) during the DFA’s 123rd Founding Anniversary. FALSA is being awarded to retiring/retired Career Chiefs of Mission who have consistently exhibited outstanding qualities of leadership, exemplified the DFA’s core values, and have contributed substantially to the advancement of Philippine interests abroad in the areas of bilateral, regional, and multilateral relations.
His previous appointments in the DFA Home Office were as Assistant of the Scholarship Division of the Office of Cultural Affairs and Information, Assistant of the China Division of the Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs, Legal Officer of the Citizenship Evaluation Committee of the Office of Consular Affairs, Acting Director of the Consular Assistance Division; Director of Passport Division, Director of the Investigation and Prosecution Division, Office of Legal Affairs, Executive Director of the Office of Personnel and Administrative Services, and Assistant Secretary of the Office of Financial Management Services from August 2017 to April 2019.
Ambassador Chua is married to Mme. Marie Marla Catan-Chua and is blessed with two wonderful children named Angeli Marie “Mian” Chua and Abraham Almar “Abe” Chua. – bny
