From Moscow to Saipan

Belinda Ante, the Philippines’ new consul to the Commonwealth, has not been in a formal classroom in a decade. But she has never stopped learning.

Ante believes that that there is something to be learned from everything. And this is precisely how she plans to approach her latest assignment.

Consular work is new to her, she admits in an interview. Her previous assignments involved mainly political and economic reporting from Philippine embassies abroad.

“I did mostly substantive work in my prior assignments. It was more of writing and researching. It was pretty much working on your steam. But consular work is something I have never done before. I’m excited to have this opportunity to deal more closely with the Filipino community and to hone my managerial skills,” she says.

Ante also expects to face other challenges in what she thought would be a “laid-back post.”

The Northern Marianas, she observes, is different from her previous posts in that the islands have a huge population of Filipino workers needing assistance from the consulate.

She adds that, with the Commonwealth being a small community, diplomatic procedures here are not as defined as, for instance, in Moscow where almost every country has representatives.

There is little doubt, however, that Ante can rise up to the challenge.

For one, she has the education. In 1983, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Philippines’ premier state university. In 1997, she completed her master’s degree in foreign affairs and trade from the prestigious Monash University in Australia.

Her professional experience also speaks highly of Ante. She worked in both the private sector and in a Philippine government agency before she joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1993.

Immediately after obtaining her master’s degree in 1997, she was assigned to work as vice consul in Myanmar. She stayed in the Southeast Asian country for nearly four years, during which she established good relations with both the Myanmar government and the opposition led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

After completing the mandatory two-year home service in Manila, Ante was detailed in Russia, where she served as consul from 2001 to 2003.

Ante arrived on Saipan—her third overseas assignment—exactly a month ago yesterday. She has spent the past month on business matters, calling on the governor, the attorney general, the Labor secretary, and other CNMI government officials.

She hasn’t had the chance to see the island’s beaches and attractions for herself. But she is no rush. She is looking forward to seeing them one by one during her three-year tour of duty in the islands.

“I’m still sort of acclimatizing myself. Saipan is a bit of a challenge. But I’m sure I will have fun,” Ante says.