Ada Ledesma-Mabilangan, The Philippine STAR

Ada Ledesma-Mabilangan has lived as a diplomat's wife abroad for many decades. She and Philip Mabilangan were married in Paris in 1964 and settled in Geneva, Switzerland where Philip was a junior officer at the Philippine Mission. He went on to a distinguished diplomatic career as Philippine Ambassador to France and concurrently to Portugal, to the People's Republic of China, and as Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York City. With her experience in diplomatic life, Ada wrote the book Entertaining with Ease: Etiquette and Protocol for the Modern Filipino, which won the National Book Award in 1997. Upon their return to the Philippines Ada went on to manage her family's real estate business, while initiating art-related projects as president of the Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation, until her retirement earlier this year.