Only a few months on the job and already he is a household name in the Filipino community in Ottawa. Somehow because of his lofty position, people seemed awed by his immediate personal attention to a Filipina caregiver hit by an OC Transpo bus last December. He was reported to be among the first at the hospital where the Filipina was brought after the fatal accident. She never recovered and later died at the hospital.

When asked for comments, Jose Brillantes, the new Ambassador of the Philippines to Canada dismisses politely the credit accorded to him by an appreciative community. He considers that as being a part of his job. To him every Filipino outside the Philippines deserves to be given all the attention he needs especially by officers and staff of the Philippines’ Foreign Service like the embassy staff here in Ottawa. "The Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is the true hero of his country" declares the Ambassador.

While Ambassador Brillantes puts weight in the Embassy’s diplomatic tasks as well as the promotion of bilateral trade with the host country, he talks, thinks and acts in support of the Foreign Services’ "third pillar" which is the promotion and protection of the Filipino Overseas Worker and his Family. Contrary to common perception about the OFW of being mainly those in the Middle East and some Asian countries, he sees and honors every overseas Filipino, including those in Canada and the United States, as an OFW whether that person is on temporary working status or permanent residency, or even the ones who have acquired the citizenship of their host countries. Ambassador Brillantes accounts almost eight million OFWs spread around the globe remitting money to their loved ones back home thus boosting the economy of the Philippines. Mentally calculating the numbers, he equates the inflow of foreign currencies from the OFWs to that of the Philippines’ national budget of 1.1 Trillion pesos. Ambassador Brillantes says the attention given to the OFW is well-deserved.

Ambassador Jose Brillantes’ view and attitude towards the OFWs should not come as a surprise considering much of his professional background. For many years he has championed the promotion and protection of the rights of the overseas workers in various fora both in the Philippines and abroad. Immediately prior to his posting late last year as Ambassador and Plenipotentiary to Canada, Ambassador Brillantes looked after the welfare of the OFW as the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary (the equivalent of Deputy Minister) of Migrant Workers Affairs. (The then Ambassador to Canada Francisco Benedicto told Pinoy Eh during an interview in mid 2005 that, apparently, the DFA was having a hard time finding a worthy replacement to fill Ambassador Brillantes’ post which he so efficiently dispensed).

To further boost this reputation, on December 8, 2005 Ambassador Brillantes was re-elected for a 4-year term as a member of the United Nations’ Committee on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. This committee is composed of a body of ten independent experts with high moral characters and experience in representing and upholding the rights of worker. Its task is to actively monitor the implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families by its States Parties (countries). To date 34 State Parties have ratified the Convention.

In his acceptance speech as he vowed to work harder to have many more State Parties to accede and sign the Convention Ambassador Brillantes said "the Philippines with its 8 million overseas workers serves as model for labor-sending countries on how to manage the migration phenomenon". He further stated to "continue to exert every effort to represent the interests of every overseas Filipinos in the various fora of the UN system and in the multilateral arena".

Ambassador Brillantes has had a long "love affair" with the overseas worker which goes way back in the early 70s. From 1972 up to 1976 he was the Philippines’ labor attaché to Ottawa. In addition to various other foreign postings, he came back to Ottawa in 1990 until 1991 to hold the same labor attaché post. He has been assigned to known OFW-friendly countries such as Bonn and in Malaysia where he was the Ambassador from 1996 to 2002. A gifted speaker, he has delivered many in various seminars and conventions talking about issues on employment laws for foreign & migrant workers, the protection of migrant workers and their families and the international migration phenomenon. He has also led legal missions representing OFWs in the Middle East.

He was an Undersecretary of Labor for Employment Promotion and Manpower Development. He was Secretary of Labor and Employment from 1995 to 1996.

His professional career is not limited to the Foreign Service and the Labor Ministry. It covers extensive exposure in politics, law, legislation, public and interpersonal relations, and national and international Diplomacy. A lawyer by profession, Ambassador Brillantes had been a private law practitioner for 11 years. Still in his youth, he was twice elected Councilor of Manila’s 4th District. He also served as Technical Assistant of the Philippine’s Commission on Elections.

He is a native of Manila and Ilocos Sur. As a student, he was consistently in the honor list. He was a top graduate of the Ateneo de Manila College of Law where he was President of the Ateneo Law Student Council and an editor of the Ateneo Law Journal. Ambassador Brillantes was one of the topnotchers in the 1960 Philippine Bar Examinations. He holds a Doctors of Law Degree from Lyceum Northwestern University, Dagupan City.

Coming back to Ottawa is a welcome development to Ambassador Brillantes because of certain ties with the country. He’s been here many times over. Other than his two earlier postings here as Labor Attache, he took up graduate studies in Public Administration at Carlton University in Ottawa. His American wife and two children lived here for many years. His son, Mark who is now 30, lives in Calgary. Another son, Paul, 35, lives in the states. The Ambassador currently lives alone at the official residence in Gloucester.

Ambassador Brillantes is a product of the old school. He considers discipline to be very important and attributes this as a result of growing up and living under stricter environment. Here he alludes to his early education in the hands of the Jesuits of Ateneo de Manila University from where he graduated with honors. Ad majorem dei in gloriam, which means for the greater glory of god, according to Ambassador Brillantes helped shape him as an individual. He considers this phrase as his guidance to life where one’s great belief in the glory of God keeps you on the right path. Jokingly, he wishes those who go astray to uphold this message.

Constantly looking for means to efficiently serve his post, Ambassador Brillantes has introduced a few changes in the Embassy. You may have noticed it already by now, instead of the ‘canned’ North American-sounding yet mechanical taped message, a live voice actually answers the phone at the Philippine embassy these days. The Ambassador thought that is necessary to make callers feel welcomed.

He has also started a database to list the names and other pertinent information of Filipinos residing in the area who can potentially benefit from the presence of the Embassy. . With the help of his embassy staff, a sort of phone brigade has been organized to call kababayans to let them know that the Philippine Embassy is here to serve and that they are calling to simply establish contact. They are not asking for help of any kind, just trying to put a human voice on the Philippine Embassy. What can the Embassy do to help if they need any or whatever?

On the diplomatic front, while he maintains contact and good relations with the diplomatic corps, he wishes to relate more with the members of the Filipino community. "We are not a rich country," he says, "our treasure is our community". He wants to give more importance to our people particularly during the celebration of our national day (we Filipinos still call June 12 as our Independence Day celebration despite the phrase’s secessionist connotation – but that’s another story). He has made the official residence available to the community for such related functions much to the delight of the community leaders undertaking the preparation and management of the annual celebration.

He further states that he is willing to go along with the sentiments of the community on how to celebrate the Independence Day event. While the diplomatic corps is important to the country, "Mas matimbang ang community." he adds as he visualizes members of the community "singing our national anthem, in a unison of voices, getting the true meanings of the words".

I must say, I felt goosebumps in my body as he muttered those words in a dreamy stance.

During this interview, many areas were discussed but most important among those, I believe, are these:

The benefits of the Philippines’ Dual Citizenship Act, which is now a law. The Ambassador is very knowledgeable about the re-acquisition of one’s Filipino citizenship and its nuances. He spoke of what is considered truth by many in the community but prove to be nothing more than myth as explained by the Ambassador. I think it would be nice to have the Ambassador talk in greater length about this to a bigger audience. After hearing the Ambassador speak about it, I believe many kabayans who are now Canadian citizens will seriously consider re-acquiring their Philippine citizenship.

As we spoke about it, I could already visualize a well-attended Independence Day celebration highlighted by a mass oath taking of Filipinos reacquiring their citizenship.

Currently, there are 8 million Overseas Filipino Workers. With the Philippines’ population of 80 million, the ratio is 1 OFW for every 10 Filipino. Based on the Philippines’ Central Bank records last year, the money remitted by OFWs amounted to 12.4 Billion US dollars. The OFWs from Middle East are the most obvious senders but in reality it is the Filipinos in North America who send the most through means other than the regular remittance channels which the Central Bank can not quantify as they do not go through the banking system. These are in form of padala (sent through people going back home) and through the mail system. Yes, Juan and Maria de la Cruz still send cash and cheques through the mail. Come to think of it, this could be why we still hear stories of mail pilferages back home.

If everything is accounted for, the value of money flowing back home from OFWs could reach $20 Billion US. Converted, this amounts to 1.1 Trillion pesos, which is the National budget of the Philippines.

"It is correct to call them heroes" reiterates Ambassador Brillantes. And then he adds, "They do it not because they want to be treated as heroes but because they are Filipinos. They simply care about their families."

With this statement, a thought crossed my mind. Could this be the reason why this career officer spent much of his professional years in the service of these hardworking Filipinos? Ambassador Brillantes’ answer? "No, I simply did my job."

Going through Ambassador Brillantes’ very impressive bio-data, I was attracted by a part that says " Engaged in the people business and in the protection and promotion of the Filipino workers’ welfare all his professional life…" I could not agree more. This outstanding man who has achieved so much success in his career has dedicated so much of his time and energy to serve his country through the migrant Filipino worker.

Everyone, take your hats off and bow to another Filipino hero – His Excellency Ambassador Jose S. Brillantes