Former ambassador Rodolfo Severino to be buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani

Former Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary General Rodolfo Severino will be buried at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani.

According to a post on Severino's Facebook tribute page, his ashes will be interred at the heroes' cemetery on Thursday, July 11, 2019. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana informed the Severino family regarding this on July 3.

“Ambassador Severino is eligible for such honors bestowed only on a few worthy men and women of our country,” said Lorenzana, whose department administers the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Most of those buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani were soldiers who fought in various wars and few civilians who have been honored for their extraordinary service to the country.

Severino, 82, passed away on April 19 from complications caused by Parkinson's Disease. He served as the Philippines' first Consul General to Houston, Texas, from 1979 to 1986. He had previously been assigned as a junior foreign service officer to the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC.

He also served as the charge d'affaires at the Philippine Embassy in Beijing in the late 1970s and later became ambassador to Malaysia.

Severino became the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs in two post-Marcos administrations, then Secretary General of ASEAN from 1998-2002, the second Filipino to occupy the position.

After his career as a diplomat, Severino became an author and advocate for ASEAN's vision of peace and cooperation, and its economic and political integration. —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA News