AMBASSADOR RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO

His Excellency Rigoberto D. Tiglao was appointed in October 2005 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Hellenic Republic and to the Republic of Cyprus. He assumed his post in Athens in May 2006 presenting his credentials to Greek President, His Excellency Karolos Papoulias in June, and to Cyprus President, His Excellency Tassos Papadopoulos in September.

He first joined government in April 2001 as Presidential Spokesperson with Cabinet rank and then on a concurrent capacity, as Press Secretary. After a six-month research fellowship at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies from May to October 2002, he resumed his post as Presidential Spokesperson concurrent with his new appointment as Presidential Chief of Staff. President Arroyo appointed him as the Head of the Presidential Management Staff in August 2004.

Educated at the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines, Ambassador Tiglao has a 19-year experience in journalism as a reporter, columnist, and editor in local publications. He was also the Manila Bureau Chief for the international magazine Far Eastern Economic Review.

He was a regular opinion-page columnist of the newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer from September 2001 until his appointment as Presidential Spokesperson. During this period, he was also editor-in-chief and senior vice president of the news website Inq7.net, owned by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA 7 Network.

He won four of the most prestigious awards in local and international journalism: The Catholic Mass Media Awards’ Best News Reporter for 1983; Fellow, Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, 1988-1989; One of the Philippine Jaycees’ Ten Outstanding Young Men for Print Journalism, 1991; and the Mitsubishi Corporation foundation’s Asia Economic Journalist of the Year, 1991. He has authored or co-authored six books dealing with Philippine economy and politics. ### -RDT-