Modena, RP envoy to Israel, dies of cancer

Ambassador to Israel Antonio Modena died of lung cancer yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. He was 58.

DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal confirmed that Modena, a former journalist, died at around 1 p.m. at the Medical City hospital.

Modena, former desk editor of Malaya, took the Foreign Service Officer exam in 1983 and rose through the ranks until his appointment as ambassador to Tel Aviv. He also served as consul in Bonn, Germany and minister in Paris, France.

In May 2005, Modena protested the discrimination of Filipino workers arriving in Israel.

He made a strong representation with the Israeli Interior Ministry to improve the treatment and security procedures for incoming Filipino workers at the Ben Gurion International Airport as well as at international airports in Hong Kong and Bangkok, Thailand.

The embassy protested the segregation of incoming Filipino workers from other passengers by interior ministry personnel posted at Israeli airports.

Modena had spoken with Interior Minister Ophir Paz-Pines during the latter’s meeting with members of the diplomatic corps at the Labour Party headquarters in Tel Aviv.

He also brought to the attention of the Israeli Interior Foreign Ministry the plight of Filipinos bound for Israel, saying they are subjected to overly strict scrutiny and assigned seats at the rear of the aircraft, which violates their right to choose seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Modena said the cellular phones of incoming Filipinos were confiscated, and they were not able to call consular officers at the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv. He reminded the Israeli interior minister that the practice violates the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The other ambassadors echoed similar concerns regarding the treatment of their own nationals by Israeli airport security personnel, and supported the representations by the Philippine embassy.

Pines promised to meet with Israeli airport executives and seek an improvement in the conduct of security procedures.

Modena assured that the embassy will continue monitoring Israeli immigration practices to safeguard the rights of every Filipino arriving in Israel.