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| ASec Raly Tejada lies in state at Arlington Chapels in QC |
Many friends and colleagues of Assistant Foreign Secretary Raly Tejada, who also served as the Philippine consul general to Hong Kong until last year, continue to express shock and sadness over his untimely passing last Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the age of 53.
Among them is
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Antonio Morales, who was among the first to
attend the wake for Tejada at the Arlington Memorial Chapels in Quezon City which
began yesterday.
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| PINDUTIN DITO |
Morales, who preceded
Tejada as consul general in Hong Kong, disclosed that a ruptured abdominal
aortic aneurysm, was what triggered Tejada’s death.
Medical
literature indicate that the so-called triple A disease, which pertains to the
swelling of the aorta, or the main blood vessel that leads away from the heart,
down through the abdomen to the rest of the body- is often fatal.
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| USec Morales was among the early mourners for his HK successor |
Morales said Tejada was alone in his flat along Roxas Boulevard and was already dressed to attend a meeting with Secretary Enrique A. Manalo at 10am that morning, when he apparently collapsed. As he was never late for meetings, DFA staff members were hurriedly dispatched to check on him.
Tejada
reportedly still had a pulse when he was found at about noon. He was rushed to
nearby San Juan de Dios Hospital, but never regained consciousness.
Also among the
first to express shock and sadness over his passing is current Consul General
Germinia Aguilar-Usudan, who was his deputy for the entire four years that he
was head of post in Hong Kong, from December 2019 to December 2023.
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“Until now hindi ako makapaniwala (I
cannot believe it). I’m still in shock,” said Congen Usudan. “He was a good
man. DFA needs people like him.”
Usudan said what
made the news more shocking was that Tejada was relatively young and was a
fitness buff. He was known to play basketball regularly and was so careful with
his health that he managed to escape being infected with Covid-19 even while he
shepherded the community through the three years of the pandemic.
Also expressing
sadness at his passing was Ambassador Tess Dizon-De Vega, who was also posted
in Hong Kong in the early 2000s as deputy consul general.
She said in a
Facebook post, “Farewell to a dear colleague and one of the best in our
country’s diplomatic service - I am still in shock at the sad news. Assec Raly
Tejada was a fellow Hong Kong PCG alum and a steady source of sound advice and
insights through the years. I will remember him best when he took over the helm
of one of our most challenging Posts, hitting the ground running from Day 1
with a deep sense of service. Padayon Panero.”
At Arlington, also
among the early mourners were Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Arnell
Ignacio, who joined former welfare officer to Hong Kong Virsie Tamayao; and spouses
Edgar and Marifi Guibone, formerly of the assistance to nationals section.
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| Tejada's widow, Vivian (in black) speaks with OWWA's Ignacio and Tamayao |
Meanwhile, a memorial
mass was held at the Consulate on Thursday, attended mostly by staff and Filipino
residents and community leaders.
A second mass
will be held tomorrow, Sunday, 5pm, also at the Consulate, to accommodate the
many overseas Filipino workers who wish to say a final farewell to one of the country’s
friendliest congens in Hong Kong.
A book of
condolences has also been set up at the Consulate, and among the first to sign
it was Hong Kong’s Secretary for Labour and Manpower Chris Sun, who also sent a
floral wreath.
The Condolence Book will be available for signing during office hours, 9am to 4pm, until Aug. 29.
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| The Condolence Book at the Consulate |
Tejada is
survived by his Hong Kong-born wife, Vivian, his mother Lily, and three
siblings.
His remains will
be at Arlington until Aug 27, after which they will be transferred to the
Department of Foreign Aairs for a private memorial service on Aug. 28. Interment
will be held later on the same day at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.
(Tejada was a lawyer and career diplomat. He obtained
his bachelor’s degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, his Juris
Doctor degree from the San Sebastian College of Law, his Master of Public
Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he was Public
Policy Fellow.
He served with the DFA for nearly three decades, with
Hong Kong his first foreign assignment a vice consul in 2000. After three
years, he was assigned to Geneva, Switzerland to serve as first secretary to
the Philippine Mission to the United Nations.
After his mandatory recall to the home office, he was
posted briefly as deputy consul general in Vancouver, Canada, then as consul
general in Guangzhou, China from 2011 to 2015.
From 2017 to 2019 he was posted as deputy head of mission
and consul general at the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before
being moved to Hong Kong as head of post and consul general, from 2019 to 2023.
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| Thursday mass at the HK Consulate, which Tejada headed through the protests and the pandemic |
Under his leadership, the consulate received the Best
Organization Award and Best Assistance-To-Nationals Award in the 2021 DFA
Praise Awards.
He was designated as assistant secretary in charge of
the legal division in DFA early this year, a post he kept until his death.
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