The Order of Sikatuna (Filipino: Orden ni Sikatuna) is the national order of diplomatic merit of the Republic of the Philippines. It is conferred upon individuals who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the Republic of the Philippines, upon diplomats, officials and nationals of foreign states who have rendered conspicuous services in fostering, developing and strengthening relations between their country and the Philippines, or upon personnel of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), both in the Home Office and in the Foreign Service.
The Order of Sikatuna may be awarded by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the name and by authority of the President.
The Order of Sikatuna as already pointed out was established by President Elpidio Quirino as the "Order of Sikatuna" through Executive Order No. 571 dated February 27, 1953. Section 2 of the executive order states, "The Order of Sikatuna [...] commemorates the first treaty (Pacto de Sangre) between the Philippines and a foreign country..." In the Quirino order, the Order of Sikatuna commemorates the pacto de sangre or blood compact, more popularly known as sandugo. This was, according to the Executive Order, the first international treaty of friendship between Bohol native chieftain, Datu Sikatuna and Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi, between a Filipino and Spaniard. Lately, however, the Executive Order's premise has been put to question. The event was not the first blood compact since the first recorded happened 44 years before between Ferdinand Magellan, representing the Spanish crown, and raia Siaiu, king of the island-port of Mazaua. Magellan called the ceremony "casi casi", a Malayan term meaning "to be one and the same thing" or to be blood brothers. At the same time the first recorded Treaty of Peace was entered into on Tuesday, April 9, 1521 by datu Humabon of Cebu and Magellan.
The Order of Sikatuna's original four-class composition was expanded by Presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand E. Marcos. In 2003, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reformed the Philippine system of orders, medals, and decorations, through Executive Order No. 236, known as the Honors Code of the Philippines which codified the civilian orders, decorations and medals of the Republic of the Philippines. Among its provisions was one renaming the order as simply, "The Order of Sikatuna," and clarifying its protocolar standing.
Grand Collar (Raja) – Conferred upon a former or incumbent Head of State and/or of governmentGrand Cross (Datu) – The Grand Cross shall have two (2) distinctions: (i) Gold (Katangiang Ginto) and (ii) Silver (Katangiang Pilak). The Grand Cross may be conferred upon a Crown Prince, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House, Chief Justice or the equivalent, foreign minister or other official of cabinet rank, Ambassador, Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoingGrand Officer (Maringal na Lakan) – Conferred upon a Chargé d'affaires, e.p., Minister, Minister Counselor, Consul General heading a consular post, Executive Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoingCommander (Lakan) – Conferred upon a Chargé d'affaires a.i., Counselor, First Secretary, Consul General in the consular section of an Embassy, Consular officer with a personal rank higher than Second Secretary, Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoingOfficer (Maginoo) – Conferred upon a Second Secretary, Consul, Assistant Director, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoingMember (Maharlika) – Conferred upon a Third Secretary, Vice Consul, Attaché, Principal Assistant, or other person of a rank similar or equivalent to the foregoingRobert Gerard Brinks - Former Kingdom of The Netherlands Ambassador, rank of DatuWu Hongbo - former Chinese ambassador, Rank of Datu (Grand Cross)Aftab Ahmad Khan - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Pakistan for services rendered in the freeing of two hostages in 1986Domingo Lucenario Jr. - Filipino diplomat, Rank of DatuAlcides G. R. Prates - former Ambassador of Brazil to The Philippines, Rank of Datu (Grand Cross), for promoting bilateral trade Alejandro Horacio Pineiro - former Argentina Ambassador to the Philippines, Rank of DatuGraeme Matheson - former New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines, with the rank of DatuFrancis J. Ricciardone, Jr. - former United States Ambassador to the PhilippinesJerril Santos - Philippine ambassador to Vietnam, with the rank of DatuIskandar Bin Sarudin - former Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines, Rank of DatuHis Excellency Dato Mohd Zamri bin Mohd Kassim - former Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines, Rank of Datu Northbound Philippines News Online Retrieved 22 January 2016.Joao Jose Gomes Caetano da Silva - former Portuguese Ambassador to the Philippines, Rank of DatuStanislav Slavicky - former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech RepublicKiyoshi Sumiya - Ambassador from Japan to the Philippines, Rank of Datu (Grand Cross) U San Thein - former Myanmar Ambassador to the Philippines, Rank of DatuChristopher Thornley - former Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines, Rank of Datu.Harry K. Thomas Jr. - former United States Ambassador to the Philippines, Rank of Datu.Bill Tweddell - former Australian Ambassador to the PhilippinesRodolfo Severino, Jr. - former Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General, Rank of RajaHerbert Jess - former Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Rank of DatuWadee Al-Batti - former Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq, Rank of DatuFerdinand Marcos - 10th President of the PhilippinesEmperor Haile Selassie of EthiopiaSyed Putra of Perlis - Yang di-Pertuan Agong III of Malaysia (1960 – 1965)Dwight D. Eisenhower - 34th President of the United StatesAkihito - Crown Prince of JapanGeneralissimo Francisco Franco - Head of the Spanish StateBhumibol Adulyadej - also known as Rama IX, King of ThailandKing Mahendra of NepalBarack Obama - 44th President of the United StatesSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono - 6th President of IndonesiaNorodom Sihanouk of CambodiaShinzo Abe - Prime Minister of Japan, Rank of RajaPlaek Phibunsongkhram - Prime Minister of Thailand, Rank of Raja, 1955Hirohito - Emperor of Japan, Rank of RajaWassim Nanaa - Honorary Consul General of the Philippines in Aleppo Syria Rank of Grand OfficerJaime Cardinal Sin - Archbishop of ManilaManny Pacquiao -Filipino boxerChuan Leekpai - Former Prime Minister of ThailandMohammad Mohsin - former Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary, Rank of DatuJohannes de Kok - European Commission head of delegation, Rank of Grand Cross Datu (Gold Distinction)Rafael E. Seguis - Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns, Rank of DatuTadao Chino - President, Asian Development Bank, Grand CrossPatrick Pichi Sun - Ambassador for the Republic of ChinaBan Ki Moon - Secretary-General of the United Nations (Korea)Hillary Clinton - US Secretary of StateJose T. Almonte - former National Security Advisor to President Fidel V. RamosDaniel Inouye - United States Senator, rank of DatuGeorge Yeo - Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, with rank of DatuSadako Ogata - Former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa - Prime Minister of BahrainThis article incorporates public domain text from the library of the Philippine Congress.
