The Philippine Ambassador receives the decoration from President Aquino in the presence of his wife, Isabelita T. Salinas./ Photo: Embassy of the Philippines
The Diplomat. 28/01/2016
On 11 January, the President of the Philippines, Benigno S. Aquino III, decorated its Ambassador to Spain, Carlos C. Salinas, with the Order of Sikatuna, the highest diplomatic distinction granted by the Philippine state.
The Order of Sikatuna, founded in 1953, is awarded by the Philippine president to people who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the State. This decoration commemorates the Sandugo, the first international friendship treaty between the Bohol native chieftain Datu Sikatuna and the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi, a blood agreement signed in 1565.
In a ceremony celebrated at the Malacañan Palace, President Aquino decorated the veteran diplomat with the Grand Cross for his “active commitment to shape the Spanish-Philippine cooperation” in the sector of defence and for his initiatives to organize a research group “that discovered historical documents that strengthen the claim of Scarborough Shoal”, a sandbank also known as Scarborough Reef, whose sovereignty is being disputed by the Philippines and China.
Besides, Carlos C. Salinas, Ambassador to Spain since May 2011, has been recognized for his tireless defence and promotion of the Philippine maritime interests” before the International Maritime Organization and the European Maritime Safety Agency. According to the website of the Philippine Embassy in Spain, that management has helped to “guarantee the trust of the international ship industry in the professionalism of Philippine sailors”.
