Consul General Senen Mangalile on his 1st year in N.Y.: ‘Gallimaufry’
By Cristina DC Pastor
In January 2023, Senen Mangalile officially assumed the position of consul general in New York. He came into a discordant community that was struggling to understand why the shift in consular chiefs was abrupt and reeked of confusion.
Mangalile tried to explain that diplomats are like soldiers. When interviewed in the talk show Makilala TV, he said, “Just like in the military we have the same sense of mission. It basically means we go wherever we’re needed and it is up to them to deploy us as they see fit.”
His experience in the United Kingdom in 2013 came to mind.
“After a month in the UK, they sent me an order to go to Turkey to temporarily head our embassy there because they needed somebody with seniority to continue engagements with the Turkish government. I had to leave my wife and my daughters behind,” he recalled. “It happens with this job. We are like soldiers. We are sent by command to wherever our skillsets are needed.”
On arriving in New York, Mangalile hit the ground running. He buckled down to his official duties at the same time that he was getting to know Filipino American leaders and organizations. He was funny, friendly, and accessible.
He was somewhat hindered by the fact that some of his consular officers were, like him, new in their posts and also learning the ropes. Yet, FilAms saw a Congen who worked diligently to foster cooperation and gain their trust.
He extended “with absolute sincerity an offer of partnership” to Filipino Americans in the U.S. Northeast in his January 9, 2022 New Year message. He said he is working to “spark new collaborations among various organizations and individuals…in promoting Philippine culture, protecting the rights of migrants, and strengthening economic linkages.”
Before coming to New York, Mangalile was Chief of Mission II in the Philippine Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. He was previously Deputy Chief of Mission and consul general at the Philippine Embassy in the United Kingdom. He was elected the 2018 president of the Consular Corps of London (CCL), the association of all Consuls General and consular officers, both career and honorary, working in London. He is the first ASEAN diplomat to lead the prestigious club with a 121-year legacy.
Mangalile, who hails from Baliuag and Malolos, Bulacan, would occasionally reveal little known facts about himself, exposing his self-deprecating humor and his fluency speaking in deep Tagalog.
He and his wife Ma. Fe have two daughters. He joked about being “outnumbered” in his “female-dominant household.” Sometimes, he said, he is pampered like a king and other times treated like a “chauffeur who takes them wherever they need to go.”
The jolly, beefy Congen calls himself a foodie. He loves to eat but stays away from hardboiled eggs and beansprouts. In fact, Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn was the first New York landmark he fancied visiting when he first arrived.
When asked to describe his first year in New York, he replied, “Gallimaufry.” The word sent me to the dictionary.
Mangalile explained the use of an odd British word that defines food “of different flavors, all coming together into one satisfying dish” to describe Year One.
“That’s my first year in New York, a jumble of different activities, events, causes, personalities, concerns, wish lists, aspirations, all coming together as a platform for our engagement with the vibrant Filipino diaspora in this part of the world,” he said.
Now we all learned a new word.
© The FilAm 2023
