Maria Andrelita Austria, Philippine Ambassador to Canada. Photo courtesy of Philippine Consulate General, Vancouver BC

The government of Canada accepted the nomination of career diplomat Maria Andrelita Austria as Philippine Ambassador to Canada on February 21, 2023. The Philippine government nominated her to the post in Ottawa in December last year.

The ambassadorship is a momentous milestone in Austria’s long career in public service and international affairs, which started after she graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in international studies from Maryknoll College in the Philippines in 1986. Then she obtained a post-graduate diploma in International Relations and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, the Netherlands.

“I was in college when the Filipino people came together in what became known as People Power,” Ambassador Austria recalled. “As an active participant in that effort, I was very much aware that overthrowing a dictatorship was the easy part, but the task of rebuilding the country would be arduous. I joined government in August 1986, a few months after earning my bachelor’s degree, inspired by the desire to help rebuild the nation.” The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986.