By Anton Lutter.
The President of The Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte has named Jose Eduardo Malaya to be the new ambassador posted in The Hague. His nomination is pending before the Commission on Appointments of the Philippine Senate. He will succeed Ambassador Jaime Victor Ledda, who just before his recent return to Manila, was awarded the Knights-Grand Cross in the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Ambassador J. Eduardo (Ed) Malaya is a foreign affairs career official with over three decades of experience. Currently he’s the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) Undersecretary for Administration in Manila. Before being appointed to that position in 2019, Mr. Malaya, who’s considered a legal heavyweight, was Assistant Secretary at the Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs. Previously he was ambassador to Malaysia from September 2011 to March 2017 following his position as Foreign Affairs spokesman and concurrently Assistant Secretary of Legal Affairs from February 2009 to September 2011. Earlier he was Assistant Secretary of Policy Planning at DFA from March 2007 until January 2009. He served at Philippine missions in New York, Brussels, Chicago and San Francisco.
Mr. Malaya is the author/editor of several books: “Frontlines of Diplomacy: Conversations with Philippine Ambassadors” (Anvil Publishing, 2011); “Philippine Treaties Index, 1946-2010” (Philippine Foreign Service Institute, 2010); “So Help Us God: The Presidents of the Philippines and their Inaugural Addresses” (Anvil Publishing, 2004), “Philippine-Malaysia Agreements (1962-2014): Cornerstones of a Partnership” (2015). “Frontlines of Diplomacy” was a Finalist for the 2013 National Book Awards (Professions Category) under the auspices of the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle.
Furthermore, he published: Forging Partnerships: “Philippine Defense Cooperation under Constitutional and International Laws” (University of the Philippines Law Center, Quezon City, 2016); Stewards of the Nation: Aguinaldo to Duterte and their Inaugural Visions (Anvil Publishing, 2018), which is an expansion of the 2004 publication. In 2018 when he visited The Netherlands he donated his books to the library of the Peace Palace, hoping that” ‘these books will reflect the vibrancy of diplomatic engagements and the ferment of international law discourse in the Philippines and relatedly in the Asian region’. ‘It is hoped that the above-said materials will be helpful to researchers and students of the law’.
Ambassador Malaya studied economics (BA with honors) and law (Juris Doctor) both at the University of the Philippines. Married to Rena Cristina Koa-Malaya MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist, he has three children – Mark Edward, Jana Ariana and Adrian Edward. He was awarded the Order of Sikatuna, rank of Datu (Grand Cross-Gold Distinction), in 2010 by President Arroyo and the Order of Mabini (Gwad Mabini) in 2016 by President Benigno S. Aquino III.
