Narciso G. Reyes

Narciso Gallardo Reyes (2 February 1914 – 7 May 1996) was a Filipino diplomat who served as the fourth secretary-general of ASEAN between 1980 and 1982 and the chairman of UNICEF between 1972 and 1974.

Career

He initially worked as a teacher, journalist and newspaper publisher. In 1948 he joined the civil service and was posted to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York in 1954. He then became Director of the Philippine Information Agency. He was then posted to Thailand and was Ambassador in Burma from 1958 to 1962. In 1962 he became Ambassador to Indonesia. From 1966 to 1970 he served as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Reyes then became the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was Chairman of UNICEF from 1972 to 1974 and President of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 1974. From 1977 to 1982 he was Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. He was Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from 1980 to 1982.

On July 11, 1994, he was awarded the highest decoration in the Philippine Foreign Service, the Gawad Mabini Award, with the rank of Dakilang Kamanong.