A PRESIDENTIAL award was conferred posthumously on late Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Bernardita Catalla, the first senior career diplomat in active service to have died from the coronavirus disease 2019.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte, conferred the Order of Sikatuna, with the Rank of Datu, Gold Distinction on Catalla as he cited her dedication and reputation as "a diplomat who genuinely cared for Filipinos abroad."
"In her last assignment in Beirut, she was on top of everything to do with repatriating Filipinos to safety in the pandemic. Tragically, the virus exacted the final price for ensuring the well-being of countless Filipinos that Ambassador Bernie had secured," he said in his speech. "I once again offer my sincerest condolences to her family, and extend the nation's gratitude for her decades of selfless service."
The decoration, received by the late envoy's next of kin Luisito Catalla, is the highest award conferred on an individual in the Foreign Service.
After a 27-year career in the Foreign Service, Catalla died of complications from Covid-19 in Beirut last April 2020.(By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)
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