One reason was his commitment to service, reflected in his steadfast response to extreme or difficult circumstances, such as the attack on his residence in Saigon during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
For example, his book, A Guide to Protocol (published in 1949 and 1959) was the main reference for Filipino diplomats seeking to build the Philippine foreign service in the period after WWII.
In 1940 he graduated with a Bachelors of Law (LLB) degree, magna cum laude at the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, Manila.
He became part of a group of new recruits sent to the US State Department for training shortly after independence in 1946 to improve the capacity of the Philippines to apply diplomatic principles and practices.
This was a difficult setting for diplomacy, due to the Vietnam war, and Moreno Salcedo and his wife narrowly survived an attack on the Philippine Ambassador's residence in Saigon during the Tet Offensive of 1968.
Moreno Salcedo's last assignment as a Filipino diplomat was as Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York in 1982.
He retired in 1985, after which he spent some time as Chairman of the Academic Council and Dean of the College of Foreign Service at Lyceum of the Philippines University.
Moreno Salcedo was cited specifically for his knowledge and studies in Spanish history, literature and culture as well as his efforts to promote more fruitful cooperation between the Philippines and Spain in UNESCO.
This was considered the highest honor that could be conferred upon an individual by the government of the Republic of (South) Vietnam, based on works, deeds, bravery, virtues or outstanding knowledge.
Manila De Borja, Marciano R (2014): The State Department Boys: Philippine Diplomacy and Its American Heritage.