Up Close and Personal with Ambassador Teddy Locsin

His diplomatic career followed decades in media and government

Honourable Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. is Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with concurrent Jurisdiction over Ireland, Isle of Man, and Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey. 

The Ambassador had returned from an official trip to the Philippines shortly before this relaxed interview at the ambassador’s office at the embassy in London. The conversation covers his diverse roles, his journey on becoming where he is now and lessons for us to ponder. 

As a writer

“For you to be a good writer, you need to start writing. No matter how much you read books, that’s not enough. What really helps in any public career is learning how to write, and how you learn how to write is by writing; that’s the only way.”

Teddy Boy’s father was a publisher of The Philippines Free Press—the biggest and oldest (founded in 1908) paper in the Philippines. When his father travelled to Red China behind the Bamboo Curtain for work, as directed by then President Ferdinand Marcos, Teddy Boy asked to join him, with a motive of going shopping in Hong Kong. During those times, Filipino kids often went to Hong Kong with their yayas (nannies) during the summer. 

In China, Teddy Boy watched his first hydrogen bomb explosion, met Red Guards, did some military training in the Red Army, honed his bayonet practice, and engaged in other things boys like to do, he says. When they arrived home in 1967, his father asked him to write the cover story from his experience on that trip. That was the start of his writing career at the age of 17, with the country’s best writers available to check his work, hone his strengths and improve his weaknesses. 

As a lawyer and government worker

When martial law was declared in 1972, the Free Press was closed and Teddy Boy’s father was put in jail. Before his departure, he turned to their family lawyer, Joker Arroyo, and said, “That boy is very naughty—send him to law school. When he’s back in school, he will not get in trouble.” After finishing his law degree, Teddy Boy worked for Ponce Enrile’s law firm and then became the favourite lawyer of Ed Angara. 

With his writer’s bloodline calling, he soon realized he wanted to reopen the Free Press. He therefore went to San Francisco to restart the publication on U.S. soil. He put out one issue and then he received a call from Cory Aquino. “Teddy Boy, I’m running for president. Come home and write for me,” she said with a strict tone, he recalled. Teddy Boy says that being surrounded by strict people always helped him with his own self-discipline. Cory Aquino was religious and loved to read the Bible; thus, she influenced the ambassador to study the Bible to get into the rhythm of writing the speeches for her. 

In government, the ambassador has served as legal counsel and speech writer to President Corazon Aquino and speech writer to Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo. He was also elected to the Philippine House of Representatives, where he represented the First District of Makati City from 2001 to 2010. 

He served as the 20th Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, of which the Philippines is a founding member, succeeding a long line of distinguished diplomats. He then served as the Philippine Secretary of the Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022. He was appointed by President Marcos Jr as the Ambassador to the United Kingdom in August 2022. 

As a public speaker

“Terrible” in public speaking as a young boy but an excellent writer in many papers and speeches, the ambassador gives credit to Noli de Castro for opening the opportunity to a new line of work in television.

Although he was already the publisher and editor of Daily Globe and Today, Noli told him that nobody knew him except the readers of the paper. He was persuaded by Noli de Castro to come on T.V. and be the English version of Magandang Gabi Bayan. He was hesitant and shy at first. He recorded himself a few times—with one cameraman and a lot of hesitancy—until Noli aired one of his recorded shows. That was the start of people recognising him and of the history of his public speaking career on television. That’s when I got to know him, too, on television during my school years. 

As an ambassador and a leader

Ambassador Locsin is not a career diplomat. He was a political appointee of President Duterte to the United Nations and Foreign Secretary, later appointed by President Marcos Jr. as the ambassador to the United Kingdom.

According to him, his job as the ambassador is to protect and serve his nationals abroad. “You must be available to help and take care of the nationals. Most of the time you go to various consular places to serve the needs of the Filipinos,” he says.

“For young people aspiring to be diplomats, you must keep in mind that you are not special. The job is not rocket science, but it is hard to pass the foreign service exams. There are good people who did not make it; sometimes you need luck. What you do is how to be useful to Filipinos abroad. You don’t have to be brilliant.”

What the ambassador has achieved

“The only thing worthwhile achieving is to help Filipinos bring out the best in themselves and leave a lasting impression on the well-being of the host people,” he says.

A lawyer by profession and a journalist by trade, Ambassador Teodoro L. Locsin Jr holds a Master of Law from Harvard Law School, and was publisher, editorial writer, and co-anchor and host of several national broadsheets and radio and TV news shows. He was publisher of Today and Globe newspaper, host and co-anchor of TV shows “Teditorial”, “The Assignment” and “Points of View”, and co-anchor of radio shows “Executive Session” and “Karambola”. He was also the editorial writer of the Philippines Free Press and writer of Interaksyon. 

The ambassador is the middle child with two brothers. He is married to Maria Lourdes Barcelon Locsin and has four children. He was once a model for a famous jeans brand.

About the author:

Myla (Petmyla) Arceno is a Filipina-British resident in Stevenage, U.K., where she was the first Filipina mayor. A physiotherapist, she is also active in academics, arts and culture, and government service. A pride of the Filipino community in the U.K., Myla is now a Councillor in Stevenage. Myla hails from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines.