Ex-ambassador Jun Lozada dies at 67

“This morning, we heard the sad news that Ambassador Jun had passed away. I join the rest of the foreign service in mourning his passing,” Cato wrote, along with a picture of himself and Lozada. (Photo: Elmer G Cato/Facebook)

Former ambassador Jose Apolinario “Jun” Lozada, Jr. passed away on Tuesday morning, July 31, according to a report. He was 67.

Lozada’s daughter confirmed to ABS-CBN News that her father suffered brain hemorrhage and was confined at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.

Elmer Cato, Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), also confirmed this in a Facebook post.

“This morning, we heard the sad news that Ambassador Jun had passed away. I join the rest of the foreign service in mourning his passing,” Cato wrote, along with a picture of himself and Lozada.

Cato recalled that the last time he was with Lozada was when they were at the Command and General Staff College of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in 2017.

“We had a lengthy discussion on the paper that I was planning to deliver about the Islamic State,” he narrated.

“I was looking forward to more conversations with Ambassador Jun—a respected diplomat and legislator—but that encounter with him in Camp Aguinaldo was going to be our last,” he added.

Lozada became the Philippine ambassador to the Austria, Holy See, and Palau.

He served as a presidential adviser for foreign affairs and appointment secretary under the regime of former President Fidel V. Ramos from1992 to 1998.

Lozada was also former Negros Occidental Representative for two consecutive terms until 2004.

The former envoy, who was the main author of the Dual Citizenship Act, also became the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

It was in 2014 when Lozada was diagnosed with prostate cancer.