29/05/2026
Today, I mourn the passing of Mr. Tadateru Konoe, former President of the Japanese Red Cross Society and President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 2009 to 2017, whom I had the privilege of working with during my time as a member of the IFRC Governing Board.
He came from Japan’s distinguished Konoe family and was closely connected to the Japanese Imperial Family. He was a great listener, a man of great compassion.
I will always remember his visit to the Philippines in 2013, following the devastation of the Bohol earthquake and Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). At a time when much of the attention had understandably shifted to Leyte and Cebu, President Konoe came to the Philippines as President of the Japanese Red Cross, with Cebu as a focus of Japanese Red Cross assistance.
But I told him, “You are not only the President of the Japanese Red Cross. You are the President of the IFRC.”
I convinced him to go to Tacloban and Bohol. Together with then IFRC Secretary General Bekele Geleta, we brought him to Leyte and Bohol so he could see the suffering of our people and the work being done on the ground.
He was very impressed because he saw the enthusiasm of the volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross working together with their international counterparts. We led by example by distributing relief goods to affected families. We finished late, flying back to Cebu at night so we could return to Manila later on by plane.
No matter how high you are in the Red Cross, you do what must be done when the world is no longer watching.
I was also deeply honored and surprised when President Konoe gave me the Gold Medal Humanitarian Award of the Japanese Red Cross in 2008, recognizing our work for the victims of the Guinsaugon, Leyte landslide and our other humanitarian efforts. At the time, I did not know why he was giving me a medal. Later on, I came to understand that it signified the common bond between us, between the Japanese Red Cross and the Philippine Red Cross, and between the people of Japan and the Philippines.
That bond was again shown after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011. The Philippine Red Cross, together with Japanese companies, Filipino employees, and partners in the Philippines, was able to extend substantial assistance to Japan during one of the most painful disasters in its history. Japan had helped us many times, and in Japan’s time of need, Filipinos were there.
The Japanese Red Cross has always been a stalwart partner of the Philippine Red Cross. During Guinsaugon and in many other disasters, they stood with us and helped us serve our people. I also learned from the Japanese Red Cross the importance of putting up hospitals and medical facilities that can be ready when people need them most.
President Konoe later received the Henry Dunant Medal, the highest distinction in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. He deserved it. His devotion to duty, even beyond retirement, will always be appreciated and will remain an example for all Asians and for humanitarian leaders around the world. He was the first Asian to become President of the IFRC, and he carried that distinction with humility and honor.
His passing is deeply personal to me. His loss will be severely felt not only by his family and the Japanese Red Cross, but also by the volunteers of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and by the leaders of National Societies across the world who knew and worked with him.
He will always be remembered, as his memory lives on in every volunteer who continues to serve the most vulnerable.
