Libran N. Cabactulan
Chair of the Advisory BoardAmbassador Libran N. Cabactulan was the 18th Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York (2010-2015), appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo following his role as Ambassador for Disarmament and Nuclear Non-Proliferation in 2010.
He was Chairman of the 58th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2014, President of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010, Group of 77 Chief Negotiator from 2006 to 2007, and General Assembly facilitator for a UN resolution in 1999 that paved the way for the Monterey Summit in Mexico on Financing for Development (FFD).
A career ambassador, his roles included: economic officer (1976-1979) in Geneva, Switzerland; Third Secretary (1986-1989), Minister Counselor (1995-2000), and Ambassador (2010-2015) at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York; Second Secretary (1990-1993) in Brussels, Belgium; Consul General (2000-2002) in Sydney, Australia; and Ambassador (2003-2008) to the United Arab Emirates. At the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), he served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Among his duties were: supervision of the DFA’s Management Information System (MIS) and Code, Radio, and Telecommunications (CORATEL); Director for Planning of the Office of Fiscal and Management Services (OFMS), Executive Director of the Office for United Nations and Other International Organizations (UNIO), and Executive Director of the Office of Consular Affairs (OCA). Prior to his third posting to New York, he was appointed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs as Senior Special Assistant on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, with the rank of Assistant Secretary.
He was a member of the team that negotiated the Philippine accession to the GATT (now WTO) and the delegation that participated in the Tokyo Round of GATT Multilateral Trade Negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland.
He received a presidential citation for his role in the repatriation of Filipinos from Lebanon during the Lebanon-Israeli crisis in 2006 and was conferred the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu (the highest Philippine decoration for exemplary achievements in foreign affairs and international relations) after his successful presidency of the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
More recently, he was invited as an expert in: the Regional Dialogue and Consultation on Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (March 2017) in Jakarta, Indonesia, jointly organized by the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands; the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN) Southeast Asia Regional Meeting 2017 in The Peninsula Manila; Bridging the Gap: Harmonizing the NPT and the Nuclear Ban Treaty (2018) jointly organized by APLN, European Leadership Network (ELN), Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and TODA Peace Foundation in Seoul, Republic of Korea. In May 2021, he was principal speaker at the webinar on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organized by the DFA with the support of Miriam College, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
He was Chairman of the 58th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2014, President of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010, Group of 77 Chief Negotiator from 2006 to 2007, and General Assembly facilitator for a UN resolution in 1999 that paved the way for the Monterey Summit in Mexico on Financing for Development (FFD).
A career ambassador, his roles included: economic officer (1976-1979) in Geneva, Switzerland; Third Secretary (1986-1989), Minister Counselor (1995-2000), and Ambassador (2010-2015) at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York; Second Secretary (1990-1993) in Brussels, Belgium; Consul General (2000-2002) in Sydney, Australia; and Ambassador (2003-2008) to the United Arab Emirates. At the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), he served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Among his duties were: supervision of the DFA’s Management Information System (MIS) and Code, Radio, and Telecommunications (CORATEL); Director for Planning of the Office of Fiscal and Management Services (OFMS), Executive Director of the Office for United Nations and Other International Organizations (UNIO), and Executive Director of the Office of Consular Affairs (OCA). Prior to his third posting to New York, he was appointed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs as Senior Special Assistant on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, with the rank of Assistant Secretary.
He was a member of the team that negotiated the Philippine accession to the GATT (now WTO) and the delegation that participated in the Tokyo Round of GATT Multilateral Trade Negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland.
He received a presidential citation for his role in the repatriation of Filipinos from Lebanon during the Lebanon-Israeli crisis in 2006 and was conferred the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu (the highest Philippine decoration for exemplary achievements in foreign affairs and international relations) after his successful presidency of the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
More recently, he was invited as an expert in: the Regional Dialogue and Consultation on Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (March 2017) in Jakarta, Indonesia, jointly organized by the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands; the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN) Southeast Asia Regional Meeting 2017 in The Peninsula Manila; Bridging the Gap: Harmonizing the NPT and the Nuclear Ban Treaty (2018) jointly organized by APLN, European Leadership Network (ELN), Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and TODA Peace Foundation in Seoul, Republic of Korea. In May 2021, he was principal speaker at the webinar on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organized by the DFA with the support of Miriam College, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).