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| One of the rare public photos of incoming Consul General Romulo Israel, Jr |
The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong is set to welcome its new consul general, Romulo Victor Manzano Israel, Jr.
ConGen Israel will be taking up the top
post in the city after serving as consul general in South Korea, which
is now headed by Ambassador Tess Dizon De Vega.
Ambassador De Vega, who once served as deputy consul general in Hong Kong and was widely popular in the Filipino community here, describes
her deputy as a “good guy, very patient and malumanay.”
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“Personally I was hoping he would stay
on longer in Korea but this is a good opportunity for him to head a post, and
one of the most important ones at that,” she said.
Congen Israel will replace Germinia
Aguilar-Usudan, who has returned to the head office of the Department of
Foreign Affairs in Manila after nearly seven years of active leadership in the
PCG in Hong Kong, first as deputy consul general, then as consul general in
January 2024.
Congen Israel is 54 years old, married to Catherine Joy Pineda Israel with whom he has two children, Mathew Vincent and Aleithea Clare.
He comes to Hong Kong after 25 years of
being with the foreign service, a big part of which he spent dealing with
migrant workers’ concerns.
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| Congen Israel worked as deputy to Ambassador Tess de Vega (center) in Korea |
On joining the DFA in 2000 he served at the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs handling the Middle East and Africa Desk.
He was then assigned as Officer in Charge of DFA
Regional Office II from 2002 to 2003.
In 2003, he was assigned to the Phil. Embassy
Riyadh where he was named assistant head of the Assistance to Nationals Section,
particularly dealing with women cases.
Three years later he was promoted as consul, and
assumed the role of head of the Consular Section of the Philippine Embassy in
Riyadh.
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In 2013, after serving at the Head Office, he
was posted as consul at the Philippine Consulate in Chicago, and after only
four months, became deputy consul general.
He was then recalled for the mandatory service
at the DFA head office in October 2019, when he became executive director and
deputy assistant secretary at the Office of American Affairs.
In January 2022 he was sent abroad again, to serve as consul general at the Embassy in Seoul.
Congen Israel took up AB Pre-Divinity,
and Masters in Degree Theology major in pastoral ministry, both at the Ateneo
de Manila University in Quezon City.
Before
joining the foreign service he volunteered in church groups involved in
promoting free and honest elections, and also served in religious missions helping
urban and rural poor communities.
One of the things that would surely make
him feel right at home in Hong Kong is the presence of a local chapter of the Knights
of Rizal. He is, after all, the Regional Commander for Asia of the Order of
Knights of Rizal, and concurrent commander for the Korea chapter.
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