Amb. Generoso Calonge with Philippine troops who were conducting peacekeeping operations in the Golan Heights with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Photo by Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.From negotiating the release of a kidnapped diplomat to coordinating lifesaving assistance after a major typhoon, Amb. Generoso Calonge has made a significant impact during his diplomatic career with the Philippine foreign service. Along the way, he used lessons learned from IWP about negotiations and political motivations while serving as Ambassador to Israel, Consul General in Chicago, and Ambassador to Iraq. Most recently, he served in the strategic position of Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs in Manila.
Here, he shares what he learned at IWP, some adventures from his career, and insights for aspiring diplomats.
Practicing and studying diplomacy
Generoso Calonge already had a J.D. from the University of the Philippines and a Master of Laws from Harvard when he came to study at IWP. He was posted at the Embassy of the Philippines in Washington, D.C. at the time.
It was the early 1990s, and IWP had just been founded. Calonge remembers, “It was advertised as a school for practitioners. Since I was a practitioner myself, it might have been useful for my career. I believe it was.”
Formerly an officer in the Philippine Army, Calonge had taken the foreign service exams in his country, where he placed third out of hundreds of people nationwide. Only 18 were accepted to join the Philippine foreign service that year, and 15 reported for duty, including Calonge.
He was now on his second posting to D.C. and had served in a variety of sections in the Philippine embassy in Washington, including the administrative and political sections.
In his role as a political officer, he was interested in national security and statecraft, and he studied these topics at IWP. He also studied American political theory and the beginnings of the American political system, including the Federalist Papers. He also took a class on American intelligence policy. He studied the American political system and its foreign policy arm, including the State Department and various national security agencies.
“The professors were working in their fields or retired. They seemed immersed in what they were doing in international relations,” Amb. Calonge remembered. “When the professor came to evening class from his office, he would still be thinking of his day’s work. You could feel the reality of it.” Many of his fellow students were also practitioners and enhanced the class discussions with their perspectives on diplomacy.
A distinguished diplomatic career
After his time in D.C., Calonge was posted to Moscow, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. He served as Ambassador to Israel from 2011-2014, and as Ambassador to Iraq from 2020-2022. “Some say that I have been to two of the most mentioned places in the Bible – Jerusalem and Babylon!” Amb. Calonge said.
Amb. Calonge is proud that he could look after the welfare of Filipinos while they were working abroad by having the protective mechanisms of the embassy and consulate in place to help them. As Ambassador to Israel, he negotiated that the spouses of diplomatic staff could work in Israel – a policy which greatly helped the embassy staff.
He was serving in Israel when a massive typhoon hit the Philippines, causing widespread devastation. Amb. Calonge coordinated Israeli assistance, which included planeloads of Israeli troops, goods, equipment, and personnel to assist the people of the Philippines.
When asked what it was like being an Ambassador, he said, “I wouldn’t exchange it for anything of monetary value. It is something you cannot put a price on.”
The most challenging part of being an Ambassador, Calonge said, was the fact that you must represent your country at all times. “How you act is a reflection of your country. You have to behave accordingly. Your hosts observe you as you convey your country’s position, and the way you are able to communicate your country’s priorities will largely depend on how you convey it, how intelligent your comments are, your training, and your education.”
His other diplomatic posts included serving as Consul General in Chicago and in Saipan, near Guam. He established the Philippine consulate in Dubai, where he served as the first Consul General.
In Dubai, in the early 2000s, a Filipino diplomat was kidnapped in Afghanistan. Amb. Calonge was part of a team that helped negotiate his release in Kabul. They got him out of Afghanistan successfully.
Amb. Calonge also served as the Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs in Manila – a strategic position for the Philippines. In this capacity, he attended high-level conferences at the IMO (International Maritime Organization) in London which led to the reelection of the Philippines in Category C of the IMO Council. He belonged to the Philippine delegation to the United Nations that paved the way to the refinement of UNCLOS for its application in Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). At MOAO, Ambassador Calonge helped ensure that Philippine territory was defended in the diplomatic arena, in view of territorial differences with his country’s neighbors.
Diplomacy and the IWP education
“IWP ingrained in me the importance of understanding the interplay of the political forces within a country,” Amb. Calonge said. “The way a certain country interacts with another is dictated by its own domestic imperatives.”
As Ambassador to Israel and Iraq, he took time to analyze the wishes of the people and how they shaped the policies of each country.
“The Jewish people long to exist, but the threat to them is real. In Iraq, Baghdad has to exert control because Saddam Hussein made it a pariah in the international community. There is also a political force in the north, the Kurds. The Kurds belong to their respective countries (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey), yet they are one nation. I am of the view that they need to be accommodated in their home states. Their longing for a nation will always be there.”
Advice for future diplomats
When asked what Amb. Calonge would tell current students of diplomacy, he advises them never to stop studying, whatever post they will be assigned to. “You should study the country where you will be posted, including its language if possible. Read something substantial about the country and the culture of its people. Cultural differences can cause misunderstandings sometimes if you are not prepared.”
He also noted that what you learn can significantly impact your future. “Your time at IWP is either the beginning of your career or an enrichment of your profession, if you are mid-career. Take full advantage of your readings, activities, and interactions with professors and classmates. These could turn into lifelong contacts.”