Questions swirl over ambassador who is full-time student

By GIGI GRANDE, ABS-CBN News | 10/09/2008 5:50 PM

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CANBERRA-At 3 pm sharp, a black chauffer-driven Mercedes pulls up the driveway of Australia National University’s Building 8.

A man with salt and pepper hair alights, impeccably dressed in a dark suit and red tie. He strides confidently to the lecture room. It’s Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ernesto de Leon.

De Leon is not here to give a lecture, but to attend one. Since February 2008, he’s been taking his Masters in International Affairs.

De Leon stands out in a room full of students, not because of his age or ethnicity, but because most graduate students walk or ride a bike to class casually dressed in jeans and t-shirt.

But De Leon prides himself for being “just like everyone else.” Asked what its like to go to University, he says, “When I’m there I’m a student. When I step out of the university I’m the ambassador.”

Lectures during office hours

Pursuing an education at any age is usually laudable, but in De Leon’s case, there’s one problem. He attends class mid-week, when he should instead be working as the Philippines’ top representative to Australia.

How de Leon manages to be a full-time student and a full-time diplomat is anybody’s guess. Graduate studies at the Australia National University can be grueling. ANU’s Web site says “a major component of the program is attendance at lectures and tutorials, and submitting essays and assignments”.

De Leon says he can juggle both full-time work and full-time studies. “I’m doing it off office hours and I do it on a weekend. What’s affected is my golf. I cannot play as much golf as I want to.”

But some members of the Filipino community in Australia doubt both full-time tasks are possible. One Filipino-Australian laments the Ambassador is not as accessible as they’d like him to be. “I am told by his office that that on Wednesdays or Fridays, he’s only available between 10am and 2pm,” he says.

A quick look at the class schedule of students in International Affairs explains why. On Wednesday afternoons, de Leon is required to attend a lecture on Global Governance. On Friday afternoons, it’s a lecture on China’s Global Engagement and Domestic Transformation.

ABS-CBN witnessed and secured a video of de Leon attending class on a Friday afternoon. Clearly, not everything takes place after office hours.

That De Leon is taking graduate studies is no secret to the Filipino-Australian community. De Leon proudly volunteers the information himself, once telling a group of visitors from Sydney that his “plate is full” because of his post-graduate studies. Another time, he offered to show Australian Members of Parliament his school ID.

Not present for bilaterals

Philippine tax payers spend thousands of dollars each year to pay for living expenses of top diplomats like de Leon.

In Canberra, Australia’s capital, de Leon has the luxury of living in a two-storey mansion, travels in a Mercedes, enjoys allowances, and has a household staff much like other top diplomats. In return, the Ambassador is expected to be a full-time public servant.

Interviewed in late September, de Leon talked about the Philippine-Australian Ministerial Meeting (PAMM) this October, the first time the Foreign and Trade Ministers of the new Australian government under the Labour party will meet face to face with Philippine counterparts.

“It is very important,” de Leon said of the meeting. “There are so many bilateral subjects that are being taken up between the two countries.”

Protocol says that De Leon travel to Manila for such an important event. He is also expected to “coach” his boss, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, during talks.

Yet when asked when he would leave for Manila, de Leon was quick to say his presence was not required. “I don’t need to go (to Manila). What is important is: it is well set up.” A source at the DFA wonders if De Leon’s reluctance to travel to Manila can be attributed to the fact that he doesn’t want to skip lectures at ANU.

Last week, Secretary Romulo finally put his foot down and reportedly gave “strict orders” for de Leon to travel to Manila to attend the PAMM, says the source. De Leon was left with no choice but to do so.

$24,000 tuition

An international student, De Leon has to pay full price for the one year program in International Affairs. That’s P830,000 in tuition alone at the current exchange rate, more than the Philippine president’s legislated annual salary.

Asked why he’s making such a big investment, de Leon says, “I just want to know better. And to contribute better to my job. I’m not a career diplomat, I’m finding out that I really have a lot to learn.”

If De Leon believes he has a lot to learn in diplomacy, it’s because his background is in the military, commanding 23,000 navy personnel at the height of his career with the Philippine Navy.

De Leon’s name might ring a bell for those who remember the “Hello Garci“ scandal. In 2005, Brig. Gen. Fransisco Gudani testified that then Flag Officer in Command de Leon and Gen. Emmanuel Teodocio instructed him to leave his post during canvassing of votes in Lanao del Sur, asking him to “play golf, go to Boracay” instead.

De Leon was appointed Philippine ambassador to Australia months after the scandal broke, and faced tough questions at the Commission on Appointments in early 2006. His appointment was eventually confirmed after he explained that he had asked Gudani to come to Manila “because of a shooting incident where a civilian died and the Marines were being dragged. I said, this is difficult, I have to get this guy here because we might be accused of white washing the investigation in Marawi,” De Leon recalled in an interview with ABS-CBN in 2006.

as of 10/09/2008 6:18 PM