{{Short description|Filipino foreign policy and energy sector expert (1953–2020)}} {{Infobox person | name = Alan T. Ortiz | birth_date = {{Birth date|1953|08|23}} | birth_place = Manila, Philippines | death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|03|23|1953|08|23}} | death_place = Paris, France | children = 4 | alma_mater = Ateneo de Manila University<br>University of the Philippines{{which|date=August 2025}}<br>Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania | occupation = Policy expert, government official, and business executive }} '''Alan T. Ortiz''', Ph.D. (August 23, 1953 – March 23, 2020<ref name="HowieSeverino20200504">{{Cite news |last=Severino |first=Howie |date=2020-05-04 |title=Howie Severino: Remembering four friends, victims of COVID-19 |language=en-US |work=GMA News and Public Affairs |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/147/howie-severino-remembering-four-friends-victims-of-covid-19/ |access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref>) was a Filipino foreign policy and energy sector expert who was held key positions in the Philippines' government and business sectors, as well as civil society organizations such as the Bantayog ng mga Bayani.<ref name="Paddock20200411">{{Cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard C. |date=2020-04-10 |title=Alan T. Ortiz, a Veteran of Philippine Government and Business, Dies at 66 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/obituaries/alan-ortiz-dead-coronavirus.html |access-date=2020-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Lirio20200323">{{Cite news |last=Lirio |first=Gerry |date=2020-03-23 |title=Alan Ortiz: 'Goodbye to a good old, reliable public servant' |language=en |work=ABS CBN News and Public Affairs |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/life/03/23/20/alan-ortiz-goodbye-to-a-good-old-reliable-public-servant |access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref>

At different points in his career, he was assistant director-general of the Philippines' National Security Council, Undersecretary to the President for the build-operate-transfer projects, president and chief operating officer of the power company SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation (SMC Power), and president of the non-profit Philippine Council for Foreign Relations.<ref name="UPMPR20200506">{{Cite news |last=Solitario |first=J. Mikhail |title=IN MEMORIAM: Remembering those we have lost |language=en-US |work=University of the Philippines (University Website) |publisher=UP Media and Public Relations Office |url=https://www.up.edu.ph/in-memoriam-remembering-those-we-have-lost/ |access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref><ref name="PSHS">{{Cite web |title=Dr. Alan T. Ortiz |url=http://www.pshs.edu.ph/11-feature/497-dr-alan-t-ortiz |website=Philippine Science High School System (PSHS System Website) |language=en |access-date=2020-05-12 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Education == Ortiz earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the Ateneo de Manila University and obtained a master's degree from the University of the Philippines{{Which|date=August 2025}}. He placed first in the Philippine Foreign Service Officer examinations in 1981.<ref name="Paddock20200411"/><ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

He then earned a doctorate in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School,<ref name="Paddock20200411"/> writing his doctoral dissertation under the title: "The Political Economy of Ethnicity: A Case Study of Muslims in the Philippines".<ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

==Career== === Early career === During the late 1980s, Ortiz worked as a journalist for the Manila Chronicle, where he was considered the chronicle's resident expert on international relations.

=== Government === Ortiz' career in government began with various roles under the administration of President Corazon Aquino, where he eventually became assistant director-general of the National Security Council.<ref name="PSHS"/> In the administration of President Fidel Ramos, he became undersecretary to the President for the build-operate-transfer projects (later renamed public private partnership projects).<ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

=== Government-owned corporations and the private sector === Concurrent to his service as undersecretary to the President for the build-operate-transfer projects, he was assigned to be vice-chairman and chief operating officer of the government-owned Development Bank of the Philippines.<ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

After this, he held key positions in various government-owned corporations within the energy sector, including being the president of National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) from January 6, 2006 (two months before the turnover of operations, maintenance, and ownership of the Philippine power grid and its associated assets and facilities from another government-owned corporation National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR/NPC) to TransCo on March 1, 2003) until September 25, 2006.<ref name="Lirio20200323"/> and the PNOC Energy Development Corporation.<ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

Later entering the private sector, became an executive in the Manila Electric Company (Meralco),<ref name="Lirio20200323"/> and became president and chief operating officer of the power company SMC Global Power Holdings Corporation (SMC Power).<ref name="PSHS"/><ref name="Oplas20170308">{{Cite news |last=Oplas |first=Bienvenido Jr. |date=2017-03-08 |title=How the bureaucracy works against cheap and stable electricity. |work=Business World |url=https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/business-world/20170308/281822873592769}}</ref> Later, he became president of the non-profit Philippine Council for Foreign Relations.<ref name="PSHS"/><ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

=== Civil society roles=== Ortiz also active roles in the Board of Trustees of the Philippine Science High School,<ref name="PSHS"/> and of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, which honors the martyrs and heroes of the struggle against the 21-year dictatorship of former President Ferdinand Marcos.<ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

== Public image == Ortiz was popular and well respected in government and corporate circles as well as by the media, who regularly came to him as a source of information and as a commentator on complex policy issues on the energy sector and in Philippine foreign policy.<ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

John Forbes of the United States Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines described ortiz as "a game changer in both his public and private sector careers" and a "larger-than-life hero of our times,"<ref name="UPMPR20200506"/> while Ramos administration Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo remarked on his reliable "ability to make things happen, and happen well."<ref name="UPMPR20200506"/>

=== Among media practitioners === Media practitioners have turned to Ortiz over the course of the Corazon Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo, Benigno Aquino Jr., and Duterte administrations, either as a key as a key news source explaining the details of government policy when he was serving in the administration, or as a knowledgeable commentator on issues ranging from national security to energy stability after he had moved on to the private sector.<ref name="Lirio20200323"/> The Philippine media particularly relied on him during his time as a senior official of the National Security Council, when his explanations of government policy were typically anonymous, and he was typically cited only as "the source."<ref name="Lirio20200323"/> Media practitioners of the time recall that they trusted Ortiz' explanations "because he didn't have any political agenda."<ref name="Lirio20200323"/>

== Personal life == Ortiz was a self-described "avid shooter, a rescue diver, a biking enthusiast, and an amateur photographer", with his August 2014 Philippine Daily Inquirer article "Why do we ride?" considered a manifesto of sorts among the Philippines' big bike enthusiast community.<ref name="Lirio20200323"/> Ortiz was married and had four children.

== Death == {{see also|COVID-19 pandemic in France|COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines}} In 2020, Ortiz accepted an invitation from the French government<ref name="HowieSeverino20200504"/> to attend an international security conference,<ref name="UPMPR20200506"/> traveling to Paris in early March.<ref name="HowieSeverino20200504"/> At the conference, both he and fellow Filipino delegate Aileen Baviera were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.<ref name="HowieSeverino20200504"/> Ortiz contracted the disease while in Paris and was unable to make it back to the Philippines, while Baviera showed symptoms of the disease only after returning to Manila.<ref name="UPMPR20200506"/>

Ortiz died from complications of COVID-19 on March 23, at age 66. As of May 4, 2020, he is believed to be the first Filipino to die of COVID-19 while overseas.<ref name="HowieSeverino20200504"/>

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Alan}} Category:1953 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Ateneo de Manila University alumni Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France Category:Filipino business executives Category:Filipino journalists Category:University of the Philippines alumni Category:Wharton School alumni