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Age-rule ‘violations’ have foreign service going gray

(I did the following article for I-Magazine of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism)

UP for confirmation before the Commission on Appointments anytime now is retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide, 71, who has been nominated as permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.

If confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, Davide will replace Lauro Baja, 69 years old and a retired career foreign-service officer.

As ambassador to the United Nations, Davide would have the duty to ensure that Philippine interests are protected in all the international treaties that the organization is crafting and implementing. For that, he would get at least $30,000 ( P1.5 million) a month, representing $20,000 free housing plus some $10,000 in salary and allowances.

In a country that honors its elders for the wisdom they have accumulated through the years, Davide’s potential career shift late in life may seem most welcome. Yet within the staid foreign affairs department, grumbling over what many there see as yet another violation of the Foreign Service Act (Republic Act 7157) is becoming louder.

To many foreign affairs department officials and staff, the Act bars the appointment of non-career individuals aged 70 years old and above to a foreign service post after 1992. They also note that the Act specifically says that career officials and employees of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are to be retired once they reach the age of 65.

Section 23 of the Foreign Service Act states: ” All officers and employees of the Department who have reached the age of sixty-five (65) shall be compulsorily and automatically retired from Service. Provided, however, that all incumbent non-career chiefs of mission who are seventy (70) years old and above shall continue to hold office until June 30,1992 unless sooner removed by the appointing authority. Non-career appointees who shall serve beyond the age of sixty-five (65) years shall not be entitled to retirement benefits.”

Despite this law, non-career people like Davide who are past the allowed age are still being nominated to foreign posts. Meantime, Baja – who Davide is poised to replace once his nomination is confirmed – is only one among several career officers still serving past the retirement age of 65.

This has been going on for years, say DFA insiders. But since their environment and nature of work encourage them to be pacifists rather than activists, DFA officials and staff have so far confined their grumbling about the age-rule violations within the department.

It has taken former senator Francisco Tatad, who once chaired the Senate foreign relations committee, to bring the issue at least twice now before the Commission on Appointments.

Tatad had earlier objected to the appointment of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona as ambassador to China, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Mongolia. One of the reasons he cited was Guingona’s age, which was “more than 70 years.”

VOID FROM BEGINNING?

But the Commission went on to confirm Guingona, who was actually 76. Tatad filed a complaint against the Commission at a Quezon City Regional Trial Court to have Guingona’s appointment “void from the beginning.”

At the onset of the Hello Garci controversy last year, however, Guingona resigned before he was able to assume his ambassadorship.

When Davide was nominated, Tatad again objected. In a letter to then Senate President Franklin Drilon, Tatad said, “(Obviously) this law (RA7157) did not anticipate the case of specially situated septuagenarians who may wish to become or accept the position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary after they had retired from business, or other professions, or other branches of government, or even from the Department itself.”

“But,” he pointed out, “it is the law, and our duty is to comply with it.”

According to Tatad, the provision on compulsory retirement is clear on four points:

* All career officers and employees of the Department shall be retired compulsorily and automatically upon reaching the age of 65;

* All non-career chiefs of mission, 70 years or above, who were in the service when the law was enacted in 1991, could serve only until June 30, 1992;

* As a consequence of the above, no non-career individual who is 70 years or above may be appointed chief of mission after June 30, 1992;

* non-career individual, who is 65 years or older, may serve as chief of mission until he reaches 70 years, unless he or she is removed or leaves the service before that; but, he or she shall not be entitled to retirement benefits.

Former Senator Leticia Shahani, author and main sponsor of R.A. 7157, has also said that the law puts the retirement age for career foreign-service officers at 65 while that for non-career ambassadors is 70. She confirms the contention of Tatad and many DFA insiders that after 1992, those past 70 should no longer be appointed to foreign-service posts.

Shahani’s stand is supported by records of the congressional deliberation on R.A. 7157. Retired Ambassador Hermie Cruz points to the following passages in the deliberation transcripts:

“Sen. Ernesto Maceda: ‘Mr. President, I really do not want to insist at this time. My feeling is that there is a violation – and I said this in the Commission on Appointments – of existing retirement laws, where the retirement law is 65 and the President can just readily extend one year, so as not to go into a lot of debate, could we just limit the political ambassadors to a 70 years maximum limit?’

“Senate President Jovito Salonga: ‘That would mean that persons like Ambassador Teehankee who retired at 70 from the Supreme Court cannot be appointed Ambassador to the UN?’

“Sen. Maceda: ‘Exactly Mr. President… I think considering that our retirement law is 65 for the Executive Department, and even for the Supreme Court it is 70, why should we go beyond the Supreme Court retirement age where the job is intellectual and they sit down, research and study. The job of an ambassador is more active than the job of a Supreme Court justice.’”

Cruz says Maceda’s comments later became identified as the “Maceda amendment.” There were some proposals made afterward, but when Salonga asked if there were any objections to the “Maceda amendment” that had already been accepted, there was only silence. Salonga then declared: “Hearing none, the amendment is approved.”

Shahani, who was a diplomat before she entered politics, has also noted, “The job of a diplomat is physically demanding. We can’t put someone who is in a retirement mode to head an embassy.”

Michael Macaraig, president of the DFA Personnel Association (DFAPA), the umbrella organization composed of foreign-service officers and foreign service staff employees, the DFA Rank and File Association (DFARFA), does not see logic as well in re-enlisting into active service someone who has reached the age of retirement in another department. Pointing to the case of former Chief Justice Davide, he observes, “In the Supreme Court’s standard, Davide is retired. Why should DFA’s standard be less?”

Then again, glamorous foreign-service assignments seem to be one of the standard prizes for those who have pleased whoever is sitting in Malacañang – although these are also used at times to court someone whom the Palace wants to win over or placate.

Guingona’s nomination as ambassador to China, for instance, was seen as largely as the Arroyo administration’s way of winning back the former vice president who had even endorsed the presidential bid of opposition bet Fernando Poe Jr. in the 2004 elections.

NEUTRALIZE CRITICS

Many observers also consider the nomination last year of respected journalist Amando Doronila to a diplomatic post in Europe as another Palace ploy to neutralize yet another of its critics. Doronila would have been the Philippine ambassador to Belgium had not the Commission on Appointments rejected his nomination. But it was not his advanced age that did him in, although he was already 77 years old at the time. It was his competence that was challenged instead, with Sen. Luisa ‘Loi’ Ejercito making only a brief reference to his age during the confirmation hearings.

Unlike Doronila and Guingona, Davide’s nomination to the UN post is nothing less than a reward, say observers. Indeed, Davide’s decision to administer the presidential oath of office to then Vice President Arroyo on January 20, 2001 paved the way for her controversial assumption to the Office of the President.

Whatever its real reasons for nominating people deemed over the age limit under the Foreign Service Act, the Arroyo administration has maintained that it is well within its rights to do so.

In his reply to the complaint filed by Tatad on Guingona, then Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo said, “Since an ambassador is the personal representative of the President and acts in behalf of the President, the President must be allowed to choose whomever she or she pleases.”

In addition, Benipayo’s interpretation of the Act was that any person, regardless of age, may be appointed or re-appointed by the president as ambassador, provided that non-career appointees past the retirement age shall not be entitled to retirement benefits.

Davide himself has seen it fit to defend Malacañang’s decision to nominate him. Taking the unprecedented step of answering someone opposed to his own nomination, Davide said, “The law recognizes the traditional power of the President to nominate/appoint in the foreign service individuals who are more than 65 years old whom the President believes can effectively represent the Philippines in diplomatic and permanent missions.”

Foreign Undersecretary for Administration Franklin Ebdalin, for his part, says that the president’s power to nominate a person of his or her choice as ambassador emanates from the Constitution and whatever the interpretation of R.A. 7157, the latter cannot supersede the former.

PALACE EMBOLDENED

It could well be, though, that Malacañang has also been emboldened by the willingness of DFA’s own career officers to overlook the rules and have themselves considered for assignments abroad even after they turn 65.

Just recently, retired career diplomat Antonio Villamor, 72, was confirmed as ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Last August, too, DFA employees complained to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo about the third extension of service of the ambassador to Japan, Domingo L. Siazon Jr., who turned 65 in July 2004.

Jocelyn B. Garcia, DFA’s acting assistant secretary for personnel and administration, wrote the Office of Legal Affairs, expressing concern on the legality of the extension of Siazon’s services “by the Office of the President from 10 July 2006 to 10 July 2007.”

Both Garcia and the DFAPA cited E.O 136 issued by President Joseph Estrada on July 31, 1999 that limits extensions to “extremely meritorious reasons” and for “a maximum of one (1) year only.”

But Siazon, who was the foreign secretary when E.O. 136 was signed, echoed Davide in retorting, “The prerogative of the President of the President to appoint ambassadors is well established under Philippine jurisprudence.”

He also insisted that his third extension is legal. “Executive Orders are signed by the President and therefore the President can in certain cases authorize exemptions to E.O. 136,” he said. “In all my extensions, the words ‘as an exemption under E.O. 136’ have been clearly indicated. I am quite certain about the legality of this appointment.”

Perhaps unaware of the restlessness his second extension caused in the DFA, Siazon then asked, “Why is the legality of the third extension being questioned? Why is the second extension not being questioned?”

In truth, Siazon’s overstaying in the service past retirement age is not an isolated case. Siazon himself cites the case of “Romy Arguelles, who was given a two-year contract as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Japan in 1999 by President Estrada shortly before he turned 65 years of age. After his tenure in Tokyo, he was appointed AEP to the Netherlands after CA confirmation.”

Arguelles, now 74, is still in the Netherlands. There’s also Consuelo Puyat, ambassador to Chile, who is 69. And Baja, of course.

Then there are those who have gotten new assignments shortly before turning 65. Norberto Basilio, whose wife Erlinda is foreign affairs undersecretary for policy, became ambassador to Bangladesh a few months before he turned 65 last March 20. Estrella Berenguel also became ambassador to Vietnam three months before her 65th birthday.

Not surprisingly, the services of both Berenguel and Basilio have since been extended.

In official statements, the DFAPA and the Union of Foreign Service Officers (Unifors) have said such “unbridled extensions retard” the career development of junior and middle-level officers. In fact, these also fly in the face of a provision in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. 7157 related to the retirement age of 65. The provision says, “No foreign service officer, staff officer or employee who is over 62 years of age shall be considered for foreign assignment.”

Practicality dictates that an ambassador stay in a post for at least three years. After all, the cost of moving from one foreign post to another could run up to at least $30,000. It also takes a while for one to settle, develop contacts, and be effective as the country’s representative. Giving a new assignment to a diplomat who is over 62 would thus be almost guaranteeing he or she would be staying beyond the mandatory retirement age.

Ironically, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ebdalin also points to Estrada’s E.O. 136 as basis for all these extensions of services of presidential appointees beyond the compulsory retirement age. And he faults R.A. 7157’s lack of provision on sanctions for the non-adherence to the law.

“All we have are guidelines,” he says, “but no teeth.” – Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

Published inForeign Affairs

48 Comments

  1. TongueInAnew TongueInAnew

    What do you expect from Hilarious Davide? He doesn’t even possess enough delicadeza to avoid showing the United Nations how even a former Supreme Court Chief Justice can shabbily treat any law of this very unlucky country. A man of his age should have been ripened with wisdom.

    Sige, ipamukha ninyo sa buong mundo na sa Pilipinas, walang qualified maging UN ambassador maliban sa isang uugod-ugod na kampon na wala namang alam man lang sa foreign policy, diplomacy, sipsip kasi.

  2. TongueInAnew TongueInAnew

    Ito namang si Ebdalin, palibhasa dating pulis, wala naman raw sinabing parusa sa batas kaya puwede nang isantabi. Gago! Isa pa, gagawa kayo ng milagro tapos ituturo ninyo kung sinu-sino. E ano kung si Erap ang unang gumawa, dapat, mga hunghang, itama na ninyo dahil alam ninyo naman palang mali! Mga inutil!

    Hoy mga taga-UN, kung sakali, mag-iingat kayo diyan kay Hilarious DVD. Baka matuto pa yung bagong Koreanong Sec. Gen. ng kabulastugan. Baka turuang palitan din ang mga silya ninyo ng tig-45,000 ang isa at kurtina na tig-15 million – ang mga dahilang ginamit sa muntik nang pag-impeach diyan. Kapalmuks mo Tatang!

    Lunes na Lunes, kunsumisyon agad.

  3. I feel sorry for career Philippine foreign service officials for being made subservient to appointees.

    When Marcos was president, I was asked to try to work for the Philippine Embassy even as an interpreter because by then I was already a Japanese citizen, and I could work only in such capacity, but I declined especially when I saw how the ambassador then treated even supposedly career diplomat. I was at the time working at a big travel agency in Tokyo as a consultant and part-time tour escort/guide, and had ten years of working in Japan to know how Japanese employees are treated more with propriety and decorum, nothing of the attempt to humiliate them when they commit error but correct them in a more civil way. That was a good incentive in fact to say “No.” Besides, why should I work for lesser than what I was being paid then for my abilities and qualifications?

    I was appalled when I heard of how the ambassador would humiliate the said attache regarding his fondness for instance for big and colorful necties. I thought why would an appointee do that to a career diplomat especially when he did not pay for his clothes.

    Japanese diplomats cannot be treated that way by any political appointee, who are in fact more qualified than many political appointees in the Philippines.

    In another case, I was appalled at the competition for higher position in the DFA. People are getting promoted not really for merit and ability and even qualification, but for the ability to sipsip, cheat if not to kabisote the exam for career diplomat, and worse, to pay the asking price of the crook in the Commission on Appointment. That really sucks.

    I was actually a witness to such operation that really made me curse the civil service in the Philippines, and thanked my lucky star that I was out of that miserable system called Philippine government. May sexual harrassment pa toward the lady diplomat that I was informed about trying to get a higher position in the DFA.

    My anger I then expressed by joining movements that dreamt the impossible dream as yet and hopefully just for the moment that the land of my birth would one day be better than what these crooks are doing to make it worse.

    At least, over in Japan, government employees cannot be subordinated by the elected officials, and thanks to their sense of camaraderie that I wish Philippine government employees would someday be able to attain and achieve. For this, I pray for the members of the union of foreign service employees and diplomats. May they have the power that they deserve to have versus the misfits even among their ranks.

    Nakakalungkot talaga lalo na ngayon na mas rampant ang mga kalokohan ng mga ulol na nakaupo! PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!

  4. TongueInAnew:

    One best thing to do is to write a petition to the UN and stop the confirmation of Davide with signatures of members of this blog and other Filipinos on cyberspace. Nakikinig ang mga tao doon. We actually have done similar action in Tokyo before, and the questionable diplomat and/or attache was removed. At least, over in the UN or progressive societies like Japan, the voice of the masses still prevail.

    Let’s also expose such groups as the Singaw as being an illegitimate vox populi. Umpisahan mo kaibigan.

  5. TongueinAnew, it’s not Ebdane, the police officer quoted here. It’s Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin. He is a career foreign service officer.

  6. Spartan Spartan

    Off topic…just saw in CNN thenews about the 6.6 tremor that shook the Hawaiian Islands…hawaiianguy, hope you and our other kababayans as well as all the other people over there in the Aloha State are all okey as far as your physical and health state are concern…nevermind the damaged properties, it all can be rapaired or rebuild. Again, our hope and prayers to you hg and the people of Hawaii.

  7. florry florry

    Senator Jinggoy Estrada said he will block the confirmation of Hilarious Davide. This was reported in The Daily Tribune’s issue of October 5 as follows:

    Sen. Santiago who sits as chairman of the Commission on Appointments screening committee for Malacañang-designated diplomats yesterday disclosed that Davide will be facing rough sailing in his confirmation of an ambassadorship in New York.
    She pointed out that President Arroyo’s ambassador-designate Davide’s appointment drew numerous objections, one which happens to come from a colleague, Senator Estrada, who reportedly said that as long as he remains a senator of the republic, he will ensure that the Davide appointment is blocked.
    Under Senate rules, a senator who opposes the confirmation of the presidential appointee can block that confirmation by simply saying two words” Section 20,” and does not have to explain why he resorted to the Section 20 rule.
    Santiago, a staunch ally of Mrs. Arroyo and the current CA foreign affairs committee chairman admitted that, gauging the situation, it would not be a walk in the park for the former chief justice who, it will be recalled, presided over the Senate impeachment court trying then President Estrada in December 2000.
    The Estradas have accused him of having conspired, along with then Vice President Gloria Arroyo, to depose him.
    In his trial at the Sandiganbayan where he testified, the detained leader showed a video of Mrs. Arroyo admitting to her having conspired with at least five sets of military officers to oust Estrada a year before the actual ouster.
    A book written by now Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban. Reforming the Judiciary, also wrote about the decision made by Davide to swear in Mrs. Arroyo as president, after he cut the bible, even when the justices knew that there was no vacancy in the presidential office, as Estrada had not resigned.
    Besides the objections and manifestations by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada to question Davide, Santiago said there are at least two sworn oppositors who have manifested their objections to the confirmation of Davide.
    “The committee has the power to reject the oppositions filed but Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has the power to veto the confirmation under Section 20 of the rules of the CA,” she said.

  8. Toney Cuevas Toney Cuevas

    I was told and heard so many times that some Pilipinos took a life time to mature, which is perhap in the case of pervert Hilario Davide. Furthermore, it doesn’t really matter of the age requirements and the piece of paper its written on. It’s just a piece of paper, just like the constitution, and illegitimate Gloria’s wants that only matter. We should be used by now, e.g. Angelo Reyes, Assperon, Gutierrez, Hello Garci, Bolate, and pervert Davide is part of the long list of rotten system dominated by bogus Gloria.

    When pervert Davide installed fake Gloria through constructive resignation, pervert Davide misused his position, and should automatically disqualified as representative to United Nation. Certainly, pervert Davide is a disgrace as a human being and to his profession he swore to served with honesty and integrity. Pervert Davide failed himself, his family and most importantly the people of the Philippines.

    The $30,000 could be better use to benefit the needy, instead of wasting it as a payback to pervert Davide.

    Hilario Davide perverted his sense of honor as an individual, and sold his soul to the devil. And the devil is the infamous illegitimate Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

    Bogus Gloria and Pervert Davide raped the people when both plotted to overthrew legitimate President of the Philippines. Now, both are in ca-hoot and doing it again in broad daylight, raping the people once again.

    How dare these two scatter-brain!

  9. Toney Cuevas Toney Cuevas

    I’m putting up my last pesos that Bogus Gloria will get her wish, and pervert Davide will go to New York with and without the approval of the Confirmation on Appointments. Any taker? Like I said before, nobody beat the house, the system has been rigged way back when in favor of the house all the time. Bogus Gloria is so over confidence on herself right now, and she can almost do anything without anybody dare stopping her. I think fake Gloria starting to believe that she’s god, came down to earth with a mission to straigthen out the Pilipino nation. Or she communicate to god directly and only god can judge her, so she said. The Senate according to bogus Gloria are the devils that gets in her way. What do you think of that?

    When in New York to make sure to stop and say hello to pervert Davide to make sure that has been at age 71 is not sleeping on the frigging job. Let see now, at age 71, how long pervert Davide can keep up with the tight schedule, such as, shopping at Macy, visiting the Liberty, attending Broadway show(Saigon still playing in New York).And how long will he last at age 71 and how many $30,000 a month will he need? Imagine, how many of the poor in the Philippines can the $30,000 feed?

    What a racket? And it’s all legal.

  10. kitamokitako kitamokitako

    Hindi ba isa pa itong dapat naimpeach nuon? Alam na alam nitong magmagic ng funds. Tama ka TIA magtuturo ng kabulastugan yan duon sa UN. Mahirap ma-addict sa datung, dahil kahit saan dalhin o pumunta dala niya yan.

  11. Toney Cuevas Toney Cuevas

    Lets ask Pervert Hilario Davide what money was used to build the Davide’s Baguio mansion and who hired the sole source contractors without competitive bids. I also recalled that his daughter and his son was inflicated for illegal hiring. Ellen I vaguely remember the Baguio Mansion and the funds used. Do you recall? Please enlighten us about the baguio mansion. Thank you!

  12. alitaptap alitaptap

    $30K per month! That is $360,000 per year, more than dubya makes in the white house. Well … Davide can be hilarious and thumb his nose at the white house. With free housing, Hilarious Davide can be at par with the Waltons. Some asslicker indeed!

  13. Spartan Spartan

    Simple lang…itong si Hilarious davide ay taong (in fact matandang tao to be exact) walang “DELICADEZA”. Kung hindi ba naman…siya ang “seating judge” nuong i-impeach si Erap(para sa maherap), tapos nang “AGAWIN” ang “panguluhan”, siya pa ang “nagpa-honest to God” kay “ngusong kansusuwit” na gloria, at nang “makaupo” naman ang “duwendeng itim” sa Palasyo, ginawang “Cheap Justice” ang “matandang hukluban”, nang maging “punong-manhidstrado” nagpagawa pa ng “bahay-mansion bakasyunan” sa Baguio…tapos ngayon, kulang na lamang ay “umihi sa salawal” ang lolo…ipapadala pa sa Yankee City para gawin niyang “retirement home” ang UN? GAGONG GOBYERNO, dahil sa GAGANG NAMUMUNO!!!

  14. masha masha

    nakakahiya si davide. naging chief justice pa naman tapos nangunguna pa to break a law.

    his silence speaks volumes. sabagay, if you have children and other family members who have no career, another appointment with staff allocation must seem really attractive.

    plus the money must be really tempting. benefits of siding with a cheater. morality is nothing these days.

  15. vic vic

    Now everyone in position will “suck” it to the Lady of the House, since an appointment to the Enchanted Kingdom is waiting. Next Comelec Chairman Abalos as Ambassador to the U.S. Mirriam Santiago as Ambassdor to Britain maybe. How about the fencejumper Enrile? Pretty soon there won’t be enough room in her Kingdom for all these suckers that they are going to bring their dirty games even “up there”. That’s getting interesting, yet not funny..

  16. anthony scalia anthony scalia

    “At least, over in the UN or progressive societies like Japan, the voice of the masses still prevail”

    Right. Ano ba yan? The lengths the anti-GMA group would go to…even bringing down the country with them

    If you have to make a protest at the UN, just convince any member-state to do it for you. Kung baga sa Kongreso, kailangan may sponsor na congressman. Di papakinggan ang individuals, unless a member-state takes the cudgels for them.

    “$30K per month! That is $360,000 per year, more than dubya makes in the white house”

    That’s true. Dubya only gets less than US$200,00 a year.

    But

    Dubya has Air Force One, the White House, among other ‘almost heavenly’ perks, that Dubya need not touch a penny of his annual pay.

  17. anthony scalia anthony scalia

    puro maka-Erap lang kasi kayo. haay naku. the price i pay for blogging here

    (oops, i can already anticipate “no-one-is-forcing-you-to-blog-here” and/or “you-are-in-the-wrong-blog” and/or “you-are-not-welcome-here”, plus the usual ad hominems of course)

  18. Mrivera Mrivera

    ayan na naman sina jinggoy at brenda. nagbanta na naman na iba-block ang appointment ni hilarious divided pero pagdating ng oras atras din sila. (kapag binayaran din ng tama sa presyo?)

    kanino pa ba ibibigay ni gloria ang lahat ng grasya kundi sa kanyang mga tagapagtaguyod na walang delicadeza? kungsabagay, nakakaraos pa naman ang mga dukha sa ating bayan. marami pang bunton ng basurahan kung saan meron silang makukunan ng pang-agdong buhay kahit magmistulang aso na rin silang maturingan. na siyang ikinatutuwa ng mga nasa malakanyang at kanilang mga tagapagsanggalang na kunwari ay ayaw sa bogus na pangulo (daw).

    at saka hindi naman dapat mag-alala ang mga pilipino dahil maraming pilantropong may magandang kalooban na makapagbibigay sa kanila ng trabaho.

    ang tanong nga lang, ano ang kabayaran?

    great people prefer to remain anonymous not until their works are known to everyone but without flaunting their greatness.

  19. Toney Cuevas Toney Cuevas

    anthony scalia:

    In honesty, and I won’t lie to you, and you know that. I’m glad that you post in this blog, surely I would like to hear what you have to say, the opposing view. It’s clearly I’m no fan of what I called numerous time illegitimate Gloria, I’ve my good reasons. I also respect your view of Gloria. But my greatest argument is not about Gloria itself, it could be anybody sitting in Malacanang. In my opinion, it is about respecting the law of the land, and illegitimate Gloria is doing a poor job at that. Won’t yu agree?

    Come back anytime and treat this blog as your home. I’m sure Ellen won’t mind it at all. She’s very accomodating and she strong believer of her battle cry, “making life worth living”. Sometime, she’s making a believer of me, but I know it has a long way to go yet. I hope her kind of justice will prevail someday. Won’t it be nice!?

  20. TongueInAnew TongueInAnew

    puro maka-Erap lang kasi kayo. haay naku. the price i pay for blogging here

    And all the while I thought your alternative views provided us with a better perspective of what the innards of a non-admitting, staunch Gloria supporter may look like. I also thought you presented your case better than the other faggot here who blasts his way through and takes refuge in ad hominem when cornered.

    But this statement just about sums up your own unfounded personal bias and the inherent wrong conclusion that mirrors the twisted and failed logic typical of any of the defenders of the Little She-devil.

    Maka-Erap pala, ha? Guess again. Better, read again. And oh yes, lady, your slip is showing.
    – – – – – – –
    Ellen, the reason I called him pulis is because I have encountered a certain Major F. Ebdalin in the 80’s and I’m quite sure he looks very much the same. This cop helped me recover my driver’s license from a group of drunken Flying Squad extortionists who wanted me to withdraw money from my ATM and deliver it to them in a club in Ermita. Which I reported to some policemen, whose initial reluctance to confront fellow uniformed men was cut short on orders of the Major.

    I guess I may be mistaken and I’m sorry if I am, but I’m sure as hell THIS Ebdalin from DFA has it all wrong when he justifies the illegal appointments by saying Erap did it first. So, now I guess it would be perfectly alright for Gloria to collect jueteng payola, have several paramours, and play blackjack in the casino – because Erap did it first. He also fails in respect to his statement that because there are no specific sanctions in a law, violators can have a field day.

    What logic! What assholes!
    – – – – – –

    Hilarious DVD had probably roused Noah Webster from his grave when in his 2001 decision he redefined “resignation” to also mean a non-voluntary act. And wrote the infamous landmark decision backed up by evidence from a news clipping, which had lifted entries off an unrelated person’s diary, of another man’s intention to resign.

    Damn! Triple hearsay evidence, let alone the Supreme Court’s not being a “trier of facts”.

    This clown of a man has singlehandedly erased all respect his office has built for decades, now we know what it all boils down to: US$30,000 a month plus perks!

    If he is not a prostitute, or per Toney, a pervert, I don’t know what is.

  21. anthony scalia anthony scalia

    To TongueInAnew:

    “Hilarious DVD had probably roused Noah Webster from his grave when in his 2001 decision he redefined “resignation” to also mean a non-voluntary act. And wrote the infamous landmark decision backed up by evidence from a news clipping, which had lifted entries off an unrelated person’s diary, of another man’s intention to resign.”

    Mga maka-Erap lang naman ang nagsasalita ng ganyan.

    “I also thought you presented your case better than the other faggot here who blasts his way through and takes refuge in ad hominem when cornered”

    At least I don’t initiate using ad hominems – you know that for sure.

    Be careful – it takes one to know one. You were able to identify a faggot in this blog, its because….. (could it be, that’s the reason why you chose that blogging name? to hide something? aaaaaaaay!)

    Wait, maka-Erap ka nga! Kasi si Erap, galit sa mga faggot!

  22. anthony scalia anthony scalia

    To Toney Cuevas:

    Thanks. i appreciate it. really.

  23. vic vic

    An Incident in a Philippine’s Office at The United Nation:

    Ambassador Assistant (AA): Good Morning Mr. Ambassador!

    Ambassador (AM.- H.Davide): Good morning Mr Ambassador. Who is the Ambassador?

    AA: You, sir, Hilario Davide is the Ambassador.

    AM: Mem Hilario Davide is an Ambassador? I thought I am the chief justice.

    AA: You were. But you were already retired, and President Gloria Arroyo Appointed You to the Ambassordorship to the United nation.

    AM: Really, when was that? Is this Gloria Arroyo still the President; I assume because am still the ambassador. What have I done to deserve this?

    AA: You were appointed in October 2006. You were the Chief when she took office by extra-constitutional means by complicity of overthrowing the duly elected President, threw Him in Jail and what you did just simply made so many brilliant decisions on the side of the President on all her Proclamations, all her Actions and maybe this is your reward.

    AM: BTW how much do I get paid for this job? And how long have I been doing this?

    AA: You started at $30,000 a month and now you are making three times the amount and today is the year 2020.

  24. Email from retired ambassador Hermie Cruz:

    Ellen,

    I can’t get to your blog site. Pls. print these comments in
    your blog.

    Hermie

    Ellen,

    The DFA personnel associations should get together and
    file a case before the courts compelling the Sec. of Foreign
    Affairs to implement the provisions of RA 7157. All laws passed by Congress are presumed constitutional unless
    declared invalid by the courts. The way it has operated, it is the DFA which has declared RA 7157 unconstitutional
    usurping the function of judicial review of the Supreme Court.

    When we drafted RA 7157, we set up an elaborate system of internal and external controls with appropriate sanctions ( contrary to the claims of Usec Ebdalin that there are no sanctions).

    The internal controls are represented by the Assistant
    Secretary for Personnel and Administrative Services and by
    the Assistant Sec. for Fiscal Services. Both of them are enjoined from disbursing funds for appointments in violation of law under Sec. 22 and 34 of RA 7157. Those who
    collect emoluments illegally are required to refund the same to the government. There are additional sanctions under the
    Civil Service Laws ( RA 2260 and PD 807) imposing six months imprisonment for those who violate the law. Thus there are sufficient sanctions under our laws contrary to the allegations of Usec Ebdalin that there are none.

    To go back to our topic, the internal controls failed when Orestes Bello, then Assistant Sec. for Fiscal Management and later Ophelia Gonzales, Assistant Sec.
    for Fiscal Managment and later head of Personnel and Administrative Services, themselves broke the law they are
    supposed to safeguard, by having their services extended
    beyond age 65 in violation of Sec. 23. This is a case of
    corrupt management, or what we term “bantay salakay.”
    The guardians of the law themselves broke the law.

    The internal controls having been corrupted, there remains the external controls. These are the Ombudsman,
    the COA and the Civil Service Commission. The following
    are the developments.

    a) On Dec. 4, 2001, we brought a tax payer lawsuit before the Ombudsman for violations of RA 7157.( Case
    No CPL 01-02-1171). The Ombudsman referred the case to the CSC.

    b) In CSC Resolution 01-0715, dated 17 May 2002, the
    CSC claimed they have no jurisdiction over the DFA cases
    because they involved presidential appointees.

    c)We filed a complaint before the COA. In a letter dated
    03 Nov., 2003, Chairman Carague upheld the position of the DFA that in the “exigencies of the service” the DFA can
    disregard the retirment age provisions of Sec. 23 limiting
    career personnel to age 65 and non-career to age 70.

    Repeated representations to the Ombudsman to re-assume jurisdiction over the case has not been successful.
    There is no further prospect that the Ombudsman will act on the case.

    Case Before the Supreme Court as a Last Remedy

    The DFA employee associations ( Unifors, DFARFA, and
    DFAPA) should get together and elevate the issue to the
    Supreme Court. As noted all the internal controls and
    external controls have been ineffective or corrupted. All administrative remedies have been exhausted. Only court action remains.

    US Precedent

    In elevating the case before the Supreme Court, one should note that we rely heavily on US jurisprudence. RA 7157 and its preceding law, RA 708, borrowed heavily from the US Foreign Service Acts of 1924 ( the Rogers Act) and
    the US Foreign Service Acts of 1946 and 1960.

    In the US, the retirement provisions of the US Foreign Service Act which was set at age 60, was challenged before the US Supreme Court in 1979. The retirement age for all other US civil servants is age 70 at that time.

    The US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Rogers Act on the grounds that ” the determination of
    the retirement age of FSOs is a question of public policy
    which only the duly elected representatives of the people
    (read : Congress ) can establish” and the courts cannot
    question such action.

    I hope the career officers in the DFA will summon the necessary courage to elevate this issue before the courts
    for their and the country’s well being. The career officers should also note that we have already done a lot of
    homework in their behalf. The ball in now in their front court.

    Hermie Cruz
    Amb. (ret.)

  25. kitamokitako kitamokitako

    Mahusay na palusot itong ‘in the “exigencies of the service”’ng COA. Kahit na may law na nagbabawal, pero sabihin lang in the exigencies of service, pwede na. Nakupo!

  26. Mrivera Mrivera

    nakupo nga! onli in da entsanted kingdam of mydamn president!

  27. Diego K. Guerrero Diego K. Guerrero

    Retired chief justice Davide should not accept the position of United Nations permanent ambassador for the sake of delicadeza. His appointment violated Foreign Service Act based on age limit. As an ex-Chief Justice, he should uphold the law not deliberately violates it for the reason of self-interest. Bayad-utang ni Gloria wala ng iba.

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