Meet the Man at the Helm: Eric Tamayo

ConGen Eric Tamayo

Eric Tamayo is a Career Minister of the Philippine Foreign Service currently assigned as Chargé d’affaires, ad interim, and Minister and Consul General at the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, Canada and Alternate Representative to the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Prior to his assignment to Canada, Eric served as a Special Assistant at the Office of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and was concurrent head of the Economic Diplomacy Unit, undertaking activities involving the promotion of Philippine trade in services, national competitiveness and the new media and creatives industry. He was designated as an alternate representative for the Department Secretary in national inter-agency bodies such as the Export Development Council, the Minerals Development Council, the National Statistical Coordination Board, and the National Commission for the Role of Filipino Women (now the Philippine Commission on Women).

He assisted in APEC National Secretariat work concerning digital opportunities and small and medium scale enterprises, and worked on department projects on technical cooperation and coordination under the trade-related technical assistance program of the European Commission.

Eric has conducted lectures and workshops on economic diplomacy at the Foreign Service Institute and for various trade and professional associations.

Eric was previously assigned to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. He also served as Chairman of the Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group in the conduct of overseas voting in Tokyo during the national elections in 2004, 2007 and in Ottawa in 2013.

Eric completed the Foreign Service Officer Cadetship program of the Foreign Service Institute in Manila, and was assigned as principal assistant in-training at the Office of the Middle East and African Affairs. Eric was subsequently assigned as Principal Assistant at the Office of the Secretary,and eventually designated Head of the Economic Diplomacy Unit concurrent as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

Eric obtained a Master of the Arts degree in International Affairs and Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

He has undergone further specialized training in Capacity Building for WTO Trade Negotiations at the Civil Service College of Singapore under the joint France-Singapore Cooperation Program, and in Economic Diplomacy as conducted by the Asian Institute of Management. Eric lives in Ottawa with his wife and two sons.

Article and photo courtesy of the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa.