Francisco Afan Delgado

Filipino diplomat and politician

Francisco Afan Delgado (January 25, 1886 – October 27, 1964) was a Filipino diplomat who served as a Resident Commissioner from the Philippine Islands from 1935 to 1936.

Delgado returned to the Philippine Islands in 1908 and joined the Philippine Government as a law clerk. Later, he became the chief of the law division of the executive bureau, serving until 1913 when he resumed private law practice. In 1918, Delgado served in the Philippine National Guard and became a member of the National Council of Defense for the Philippines. From 1931 to 1935, he served in the Philippine House of Representatives for Bulacan's 1st district as a Nationalist. He was elected as a Resident Commissioner to the United States and served from January 3, 1935, until February 14, 1936, when a successor qualified under the new government of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands. Delgado was appointed as a justice of the court of appeals in February 1936, serving until 1937. He then resumed his law practice and became a delegate to the International Committee of Jurists in Washington, D. C., and to the United Nations Conference in San Francisco, California in April 1945. Delgado was a member of the Philippine War Damage Commission from June 4, 1946 to March 31, 1951. Subsequently, he served as a Senator from 1951 to 1957. Finally, Delgado held the position of Ambassador to the United Nations from September 29, 1958 to January 1, 1962.

In court, Delgado was unmatched in upholding the ideals and noble precepts of his profession. He strongly denounced lawyers who worked for money sake and the many foul tactics employed by government prosecutors. Philippine Ambassador Francisco A. Delgado Wednesday jointed the exclusive "club" of victims of Soviet Premier Krushchev's table pounding outbursts (United Nations, Oct. 6). Krushchev pounded the bench with his fists several times in response to Delgados fiery speech "denouncing the evils of Western colonial imperialism in season and out of season, the Communists are merely playing the cunning game of wolf in sheeps clothing." Ambassador Delgado was quoted in saying after his speech: "I think Krushchev's table pounding was the best endorsement of the truth of my speech." Ambassador Delgado was also an active member of the Freemasons, being a Shriner and The Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Freemasonry between 1926 and 1927 and founder of the Masonic Hospital for Children in Manila. He was the first Filipino made an active member of the American Bar Association in 1919 and organizer/director of the International Bar association.

Upon his retirement, he resided in the province of Bulacan, north of Manila; died in Manila, October 27, 1964.