Who’s Who in Bataan – FE GARCIA BANZON-FUENTEBELLA

FE GARCIA BANZON-FUENTEBELLA was vice-consul at the Philippine Embassy in New York in the 1990s and later on, appointed as Consul General at the Embassy of the Philippines in Ankara, Turkey.

Mrs. Fuentebella was born in Balanga in October 1932 to parents Manuel Banzon Sr. (former Congressman of Bataan) and Teofila Garcia. She is the younger sister of former Board Member Crisostomo Banzon and Colonel Jose V.H. Banzon.

After completing her primary and secondary education at the Balanga Elementary School and Bataan High School, respectively, she enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas where she finished her course in Education. She had a brief stint as a high school teacher at the Arellano Memorial (Bataan) High School.

It was her brother, Colonel Jose Banzon, then the military attaché in Indonesia, who persuaded her to join the Foreign Service. He facilitated Fe’s first foreign assignment at the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta. It was at the same embassy where she met and fell in love with a Bicolano, Jose Fuentebella, son of the erstwhile Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia. The couple has a daughter, Christine.

Fe Fuentebella’s dedication to work and passion for service to her fellowmen brought her to the Philippine Embassy in New York where she served as vice consul and trade and cultural officer under Ambassador Rodolfo A. Arizala. She was assigned as consul general in Turkey prior to her retirement from government service in 1997. She and her daughter are currently based in New York, USA.