Ma. Theresa “Tess” Lazaro is President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s second secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), succeeding Enrique Manalo.

A career diplomat like her predecessor, Lazaro has worked in foreign service since 1984. Prior to her appointment as DFA chief, she served as undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs.

Lazaro was the Philippine envoy to France and Monaco, and also to Switzerland. She served as Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO while she was ambassador to France. 

She had also served as consul general in Sydney and deputy consul general in New York, and diplomatic posts in Madrid, the Philippine Mission to the UN in Geneva, and Bangkok, among others.