On behalf of the Board of Governors and the more than 1,100 members of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), I express our sincerest condolences to Gretchen and the entire family of Ambassador Albert F. del Rosario, whom we will greatly miss.
We thank Ambassador del Rosario, who served as MAP President in 2007, for his many contributions to MAP and for introducing many firsts that continue to be nurtured today.
He started the drive to increase and sustain the MAP membership at more than 1,000. Today, we are more than 1,100 and increasing every month. In line with this drive, he initiated a MAP mini-general membership meeting in Cebu in 2007 where he personally inducted about 15 MAP members based in the Visayas. Up to now, we still hold these meetings in Cebu. On May 12, we will hold one and will induct about 20 members.
With a membership base of 1,000, Ambassador del Rosario envisioned MAP to achieve a critical mass to enable a greater exercise of influence and relevance with both the business community and government in the promotion of management excellence. Today, MAP is the organization that Ambassador del Rosario had envisioned.
He also started the weekly MAP Insights column in BusinessWorld every Tuesday.
It was during his term when the “MAP CEO Academy” was institutionalized as the group’s umbrella brand for all management development fora and other learning activities on leadership and management to address the continuing education needs of MAP members and other management practitioners.
He initiated the healthcare coverage of all regular employees of MAP as well as their spouses and children.
MAP conferred the “MAP Management Man of the Year 2014” award on Ambassador del Rosario for raising the standards of economic diplomacy by pursuing an independent and principled foreign policy, and for standing firmly in staunchly defending the Philippine national interest in the global arena.
Ambassador del Rosario has set a leadership example that Filipino professional managers should emulate through his track record of integrity, professional competence and strong leadership in his management career in both public and private sectors.
He will forever be remembered for being a paragon of statesmanship and management excellence for nation-building, and for his overwhelming love of country.
Farewell to an extraordinary leader, an exemplary public servant and a genuine patriot.
We will certainly miss you, Ambassador del Rosario!
(This article was lifted from the eulogy delivered by the author, who is president of MAP, at the MAP-sponsored mass for the late Ambassador Albert F. del Rosario at the Santuario de San Antonio on April 24.)
Benedicta “Dick” Du-Baladad is the founding partner and CEO of Du-Baladad and Associates.
