Ms. Cortes is a career officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs with the rank of Foreign Service Office (FSO) IV.  She joined the Department in January 2005, after passing the FSO Examinations in 2004.

At the Home Office in Manila, Ms. Cortes served in various capacities in the Department: Acting Director of the Authentication Division, Office of Consular Affairs (February – December 2007); Principal Assistant, Office of the Secretary (February 2006 – January 2007); Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Administration (January 2005 – January 2006) and, in a concurrent capacity, as Assistant Board Secretary of the Board of Foreign Service Administration (May 2005 – January 2006).

Ms. Cortes is a member of the Philippine Bar having passed the Bar Examinations in 2002.  She earned her Bachelor of Laws from the College of Law, University of the Philippines, Diliman, and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman.

Prior to joining the Department, Ms. Cortes served as an Executive Assistant in the Court of Appeals in Manila (November 2001 – May 2002) and later as Court Attorney V (May 2002 to December 2003) before leaving the judiciary to engage in private practice (January – December 2004).

Other new additions to the staff complement of the Consulate are Ms. Maria Bernadette Y. Galura, Finance Officer, (replacing Ms. Begonia Legisniana) and Ms. Fides D. Sang-Ollay, Collecting Officer, (replacing Ms. Leny P. Quimque) both of whom assumed their offices last November.

Ms. Galura is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), who earned her Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (2000) at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.  She has been with the DFA since September 2002, serving in various capacities, including as Collecting Officer, Regional Consular Office (RCO) in La Union, Chief Accountant of the Technical Cooperation Council of the Philippines (TCCP) and Special Disbursing Officer of the Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (OAVS). 

Ms. Sang-Ollay, on the other hand, is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (1997) from the National College for Business and the Arts (NCBA) and has earned some MBA units from the Lyceum of the Philippines. She has been with the DFA since 1999, serving as the Collecting Officer and later Finance Officer of RCO La Union and as Accounts Examiner at the Foreign Service Accounting Division of the Office of Fiscal Management. - END -