(UPDATED) The former government official dies in Paris on Monday, March 23. He was 66.
Sofia Tomacruz
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Philippine Council for Foreign Relations president Alan Ortiz died in Paris, France early Monday morning, March 23, due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. He was 66 and would have turned 67 this August.
His daughter Monica Ortiz announced his death on behalf of her mother.
“Dr. Alan T. Ortiz – our dearest Alan, beloved father, Kuya to his family, and indulgent Lolo – passed away in the early morning of March 23 due to complications from COVID-19,” Monica said in a public Facebook post.
“We entrust him completely to God and we give thanks for the blessings that God has given us through the abiding and steadfast love of our Papa. We grieve our loss and celebrate the life that God has blessed him with,” Monica wrote.
“All the days of our lives, we will miss him, his laughter, his intelligence and his sense of adventure. We thank everyone who has stood by us and we ask you to pray for his eternal rest,” she added.
Monica also disclosed in her post that her father was last in Manila on March 3. “He died in Paris, where he was invited by the French government for a security conference, and contact tracing has already been done. His last known contacts in the Philippines are in good health. His prior international travel history was in December [2019] to London to spend Christmas with his family to meet his grandson for the first (and sadly only) time.”
Public servant
Before becoming the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations president, Ortiz was former president and chief operating officer (COO) of SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation, a wholly-owned affiliate of San Miguel Corporation.
He was previously the president of the National Transmission Corporation and served as a board adviser to, and member of, the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) Energy Development Corporation and Manila Electric Company, respectively.
Ortiz, who placed first in the 1981 Philippine Foreign Service Officer examinations, also served extensively in government.
He was assistant director-general of the National Security Council under former president Corazon Aquino and vice-chairman and COO of the Development Bank of the Philippines, among others.
According to his official profile on the Philippine Council for Foreign Relation website, Ortiz also held chief executive positions in the Philippine divisions of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Edison Mission Energy, and Dharmala Corporation.
He was also a fixed income associate with Goldman Sachs Company in New York and Tokyo. – Rappler.com
Source: https://www.rappler.com/nation/255528-alan-ortiz-death-coronavirus-march-23-2020