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My dad the diplomat
By HOWIE SEVERINO, GMA News
Part of a series on dads—and being a dad—for Father's Day.
I feel exceedingly lucky that at 78 years old my dad, Rodolfo Severino, Jr., is not only still around but mobile and as intellectually active as ever. It's a blessing that my 11-year-old son can ask his lolo, why do people need to fight about Sabah? And my son will get a reasonable explanation from one of the world's foremost authorities on Southeast Asian geo-politics.
My dad is a former ambassador and was one of the Philippines' longest-serving diplomats. He ended his career as ASEAN Secretary General and spends his time these days as a public intellectual, writing books and giving lectures and interviews about Southeast Asia.
But I will always treasure much more the private side, the father who took our family camping, introduced me to Charlie Brown, and joined the same art class and church choir when I was a boy so that we could be together. I was born when he was just 25, so he was a youthful father as I was growing up. As a young reporter, I felt like he was my contemporary when our professional paths would cross.
As one of Fr. James Reuter's Ateneo protégés, my father knows his Latin, Shakespeare, and theater. And he still loves to sing, whether it's opera in the shower or spirituals on stage with his old buddies from the famed Ateneo Glee Club of the 1950s.
He is a very modest man, rarely calling attention to himself. But I still recall his pride when he told me privately that he wrote the diplomatic communiqué that opened relations between the Philippines and China on our kitchen table. He is known today in diplomacy circles as one of the architects of the regional dialogue infrastructure that keeps potential adversaries talking rather than fighting. Diplomats like him are a major reason our part of the world has been relatively peaceful for decades.
But when others see the distinguished public servant in a dark suit, I see a funny, endearing young father who wore the ugliest shorts in the world while puttering around our house. — BM/TJD, GMA News
I feel exceedingly lucky that at 78 years old my dad, Rodolfo Severino, Jr., is not only still around but mobile and as intellectually active as ever. It's a blessing that my 11-year-old son can ask his lolo, why do people need to fight about Sabah? And my son will get a reasonable explanation from one of the world's foremost authorities on Southeast Asian geo-politics.
In this 2013 photo, Rodolfo Severino tries to explain the Sabah crisis to his grandson Alon. Howie Severino
But I will always treasure much more the private side, the father who took our family camping, introduced me to Charlie Brown, and joined the same art class and church choir when I was a boy so that we could be together. I was born when he was just 25, so he was a youthful father as I was growing up. As a young reporter, I felt like he was my contemporary when our professional paths would cross.
As one of Fr. James Reuter's Ateneo protégés, my father knows his Latin, Shakespeare, and theater. And he still loves to sing, whether it's opera in the shower or spirituals on stage with his old buddies from the famed Ateneo Glee Club of the 1950s.
He is a very modest man, rarely calling attention to himself. But I still recall his pride when he told me privately that he wrote the diplomatic communiqué that opened relations between the Philippines and China on our kitchen table. He is known today in diplomacy circles as one of the architects of the regional dialogue infrastructure that keeps potential adversaries talking rather than fighting. Diplomats like him are a major reason our part of the world has been relatively peaceful for decades.
But when others see the distinguished public servant in a dark suit, I see a funny, endearing young father who wore the ugliest shorts in the world while puttering around our house. — BM/TJD, GMA News
