31 March 2023 – The Embassy is pleased to inform the public of the arrival and assumption of duty of H.E. Bernard Faustino La Madrid Dy as Ambassador-designate of the Republic of the Philippines to the Swiss Confederation, today.
Ambassador-designate Dy finished his undergraduate Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration (Major in International Business) from the University of California, Riverside, California, U.S.A. He holds a doctorate degree in Organization Development from the Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Development Institute in Antipolo, Rizal. He also has attended certificate courses on the following: United Nations University (UNU-CRIS) Institute on Comparative Regional Integrated Studies, School of Modern Diplomacy (2021), Mayors Academy for Sustainable Urban Development in Asia-Pacific (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) (2021), E-Learning Course on Smart City (World Bank Group: Open Learning Campus, 2021), and Course on Strategic Organization Development, (Graduate School of Public and Development Management – Development Academy of the Philippines in Davao, 2019), John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, among others.
Ambassador-designate Dy was the City Mayor of Cauayan City, Isabela from 2013 to 2022. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Isabela Hotel and Resort from 2004-2013 and the Vice President of Perpetual Help System: Isabela, both located in Cauayan City, Isabela Province. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of B.G.D Farm in the city.
He was a recipient of the following awards: Honorary Local Chief Executive Officer of the Year (The National Builders, 2021), the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM, 2018), Most Outstanding Mayor Awardee (Superbrands Marketing International, 2014-2018), Achievement in Public Service (2017), Most Outstanding Public Servant (Golden Globe Awards, 2015), and Science Ambassador (Department of Science and Technology, 2015), among others. In 2022, he was a finalist in the UN SDG Action Awards.
Ambassador-designate Dy has delivered lectures on the issue of smart and sustainable cities in various fora, including at the 76th UN General Assembly, League of Cities of the Philippines, UN Environment Programme, Europe Business Assembly in Oxford, United Kingdom, the US-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership in Washington, D.C., and the 6th Annual Urban Renewal and Future Cities Asia in Singapore.
