Rodolfo Severino Jr.

Rodolfo Certeza Severino Jr. (27 April 1936 – 19 April 2019)^[2] was a Filipino diplomat who served as the tenth secretary-general of ASEAN between 1998 and 2002.

He was the inaugural head of the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore from 2008 to 2015,^[3] and was an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore^[4] until 2015. He was an Associate Senior Fellow affiliated with the ASC at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.^[3] He is the author of four books: Southeast Asia in Search of an ASEAN Community (2006), ASEAN (2008), The ASEAN Regional Forum (2009) and Where in the World is the Philippines? (2010).^[5] He is also the co-editor of Whither the Philippines in the 21st Century? (2007),^[6] among other collections.

He studied at Ateneo de Manila University and held a post-graduate degree in international studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

He previously held the following positions^[7][8]

• Third, Second, and First Secretary, Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1967–1974)
• Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs (1974–1976)
• Minister-Counsellor and Chargé d'Affaires, Philippine Embassy in Beijing (1976–1979)
• Consul General, Philippine Consulate General in Houston, Texas (1979–1986)
• Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs and ASEAN Senior Official of the Philippines(1986–1988)
• Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Malaysia (1989–1992)
• Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and ASEAN Senior Official of the Philippines (1992–1997)
• Professor, Asian Institute of Management, Manila, the Philippines (2003–2004)
• Visiting Research Fellow, ISEAS, Singapore, Singapore (2005–2008)

Severino died of complications from Parkinson's disease on 19 April 2019, eight days before his 83rd birthday.^[9]

• 1997 – Order of Sikatuna, rank of Datu, from President Fidel V. Ramos of the Philippines^[10]
• 2001 – Order of Sikatuna, rank of Rajah, from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines, one of only two non-heads of state to receive the award in that rank^[11]
• 2002 – Commander of the Royal Order of Sahametrei, from King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia^[12]
• 2017 – Order of Lakandula, rank of Supremo, from President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines (posthumous)^[13]