PMA alum, former Navy officer is DFA’s new spokesperson for maritime affairs

As he waits to be introduced to a room full of journalists, Rogelio Villanueva Jr. stands at attention on the sidelines of an undecorated hall inside the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) headquarters in Pasay City.

“Effective diplomacy has also opened pathways for cooperation in critical areas from coast guard communications to ocean meteorology, all aimed at regional peace, stability, and prosperity,” said Villanueva, the first ever DFA spokesperson for maritime affairs.

Villanueva is deputy assitant secretary of the DFA Maritime and Oceans Affairs Office (MOAO), a unit that handles maritime issues, including the West Philippine Sea.

His new role comes at a curious time. The Philippines, as chairperson of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is trying to navigate a close to the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea (COC) talks.

Villanueva’s introduction as spokesperson also comes amid a weeks-long word war between the Chinese embassy in Manila and different Philippine government personalities and agencies.

While the embassy has seemingly scaled down its rhetoric against some agencies and elected officials, it has continued criticizing another Philippine spokesperson, Commodore Jay Tarriela, who speaks for the Philippine Coast Guard on West Philippine Sea matters and the government’s transparency initiative or its name-and-shame campaign to expose China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.

Villanueva did not make an explicit reference to Tarriela and declined to answer if his appointment as spokesperson was related to the online quarreling between the Chinese embassy and different government officials.

But in the DFA statement, Villanueva noted: “The DFA recognizes that policy instruments must work in tandem. Defensive capabilities and transparency serve vital ends, but diplomacy remains indispensable for securing the country’s strategic priorities.”

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“[The] DFA will pursue its mandate patiently, resolutely, and without fanfare. Progress may be incremental, but lasting solutions are negotiated over time,” he added.

Villanueva’s background is uniquely suited for his new role. Before joining the foreign service in 2008, he was an officer in the Philippine Navy, and he also served in the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

“This has enriched my background and experience and contributes to what I am doing right now in my duties and functions as a member of the Maritime and Oceans Affairs Office,” said Villanueva, when asked about his experience in the Navy and the PCG.

Villanueva graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1994. He later earned a Masteral Degree in Maritime Administration from the World Maritime University.

Most of his career in the DFA home office has been devoted to maritime and security issues. From 2009 to 2011, he was principal assitant under the now-defunct Office of the Undersecretary for Special and Ocean Concerns, and from 2019 to 2025, he was director of the Intelligence and Security Unit.

His foreign assignments have been to Lisbon, Vancouver, and most recently to Frankfurt.

DFA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Angelica Escalona said Villanueva’s new role was made to “give [maritime issues] the importance it deserves.” “Mas technical siya compared to me, so mas mabuti siguro na meron tayong spokesperson (He’s more technical compared to me, so it’s better to have a specific spokesperson),” said Escalona.

Villanueva would be the DFA’s third spokesperson. Escalona speaks for the entire department, while Deputy Assistant Secretary Dominic Xavier Imperial is spokesperson for ASEAN.

He also is not the first maritime or West Philippine Sea-specific spokesperson of a government agency. The former Navy and PCG officer, in fact, joins a full roster of Philippine government spokespersons specifically tasked to talk on maritime issues.

In the military, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad is spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, a role that’s separate from the AFP spokesperson and the Navy spokesperson. In the PCG, Tarriela co-exists alongside another officer who speaks on PCG matters — including maritime safety and law enforcement — outside the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines also has a spokesperson for the National Maritime Council in Undersecretary Alexander “Alex” Lopez, who is a retired vice admiral. Assistant Director General Cornelio H. Valencia Jr., meanwhile, is spokesperson for the National Security Council, which also comments on issues relating to the West Philippine Sea and China’s aggression in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and near features that it claims. – Rappler.com