NEW DELHI, 15 January – Career diplomat Mr. Josel F. Ignacio arrived in New Delhi on 14 January to assume his duties as the Philippines’ new Ambassador to India.

He was welcomed by Embassy personnel led by Consul John Boitte C. Santos, Vice Consul Mark Anthony P. Dizon, Vice Consul Mark Anthony G. Articulo.

Ambassador-Designate Ignacio brings to the position a wealth of experience from nearly 27 years as a diplomat.

He embarked on his foreign service career in 1997. His very first portfolio involved supporting the coordination and extension of assistance to Filipino overseas workers, gaining immediate valuable experience on a core DFA mandate.

After completing foreign service cadetship, his career took a turn toward political-security work and regional affairs. From 1998 to 2003, he was Assistant Director of the U.S. Division, Special Assistant at the Presidential Commission on the Philippines-U.S. Visiting Forces Agreement, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and then Acting Director for socio-cultural and human rights as addressed in the UN and other multilateral bodies.

Upon the conclusion of his first foreign assignment at the Philippine Embassy and Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna (2003-2009), he steadily built credentials as an Asian hand.

At headquarters, he was Director for Northeast Asia (2009-2012), and thereafter, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs (2018-2021).

This growing expertise is reflected in his later foreign assignments. He was Minister in charge of Political Affairs at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo (2012-2018). Most recently, he was Consul General in Shanghai (2021-2024). India represents the Ambassador-Designate’s fourth foreign assignment.

The Ambassador-Designate began his professional life in the early 1990s as an employee in the then nascent Philippine BPO sector. His then shifted to the civil service, serving as junior specialist at the Department of Trade and Industry (1996-1997), before joining the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador-Designate Ignacio holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines and an A.B. Classical and Philosophy degree from San Carlos Seminary.

He is also an alumnus of the 2001 International Visitor Program on Preventive Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution of the U.S. Department of State. END