ENRIQUE A. MANALO
Acting Secretary of the 
Department of Foreign Affairs
Republic of the Philippines

Seasoned career diplomat Undersecretary Enrique Manalo is currently the Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Undersecretary Manalo has been at the forefront in addressing several critical issues on foreign policy. His career in the Philippine Foreign Service spans nearly four decades since he joined the Department in 1979.

Despite being the son of two well-respected diplomats, Usec. Manalo has carved out a name for himself in the world of diplomacy and foreign affairs. Usec. Manalo is the son of the late Ambassador Armando Manalo, a journalist and the former Philippine Ambassador to Belgium and political adviser of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations. His mother is Ambassador Rosario Manalo, the first female career diplomat of the Department of Foreign Affairs who was recently elected by acclamation as the Rapporteur of the 23-member Committee of Experts of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

He is currently the DFA’s Undersecretary for Policy, his second stint in the same position since first taking on the challenge as Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy for three years from 2007 to 2010. He has represented the Philippines and has served as the chairman of various international meetings and conferences, the latest of which is the Senior Officials Meeting during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting Retreat (AMM Retreat) in Boracay, Malay, Aklan, last February 20.

Before his appointment as the Undersecretary for Policy, Usec. Manalo previously served as the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2016; Non-Resident Philippine Ambassador to Ireland from 2013 to 2016; Philippine Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, and Head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union from 2010 to 2011; and Philippine Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland from 2003 to 2007.

Undersecretary Manalo has served the Department in various capacities prior to his first appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in 2003. His other tours of duty leading up to his eventual appointment as head of a diplomatic mission include the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C.

At the home front, he began his career in the Philippine Foreign Service as the Special Assistant to the Office of the Deputy Minister from 1979 to 1981. After completing his first tour of duty at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, he served as the Special Assistant to the First Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. He also served as the Assistant Secretary for European Affairs after his stint as the Minister Counsellor of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1998 to 2000.

Usec. Manalo graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines. He also completed his M.A. in Economics from the same university.

In between his normally hectic schedule, Usec. Manalo takes a break by reading, listening to classical music, or taking long walks. He is a husband to Madame Pamela Louise Hunt with whom he has two sons.