MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul Hernandez, former spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), was named as Asia Society Korea’s 2016 Ambassador of the Year, the Philippine embassy said. 

In a news release emailed on Wednesday, December 21, the Philippine embassy said Hernandez was recognized for helping improve ties between the Philippines and Korea.

Asia Society, a 60-year-old nonprofit organization founded by John D. Rockefeller III, handed Hernandez the award on December 9.

In his acceptance speech, Hernandez told Asia Society, “I hope to have somehow contributed to your mission of deepening cooperation among countries in the Asia-Pacific region in the areas of arts and culture, business, policy, and education.”

“The confluence of Seoul’s rise as a new center of business, technology, culture, education, and logistics, as well as my own country’s emergence as a haven of economic stability, has made my work to deepen our relations a lot easier,” the Philippine ambassador added.

The Philippine embassy said former recipients of this Asia Society award include Indonesian Ambassador John Prasetio, Kuwaiti Ambassador Jasem Abudaiwi, Indian Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, and Australian Ambassador William Paterson.

Hernandez has been Philippine ambassador to Korea since 2014. 

Before this, he was DFA spokesman under then president Benigno Aquino III. His term covered the time when the Philippines filed a historic case against China over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) in January 2013. – Rappler.com