Tag: Philippine Foreign Service

The Department of Foreign Affairs is at a loss how to accommodate the 161 names they have received from Malacañang for ambassadorial positions.

The list, sources say, includes names of retired military officers.

There are only 60 Philippines embassies all over the world, four permanent missions and 20 consulates general.

The 1991 Foreign Service Act provides that “the President shall be guided, as much as possible, by the principle that a majority of diplomatic and permanent missions shall be headed by career ambassadors.”

The four Permanent Philippine missions are to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations headquarters based in Jakarta which is currently headed by Elizabeth P. Buensuceso; to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland headed by Cecilia B. Rebong; to the United Nations in New York headed by Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, and to the World Trade Organization, also based in Geneva and headed by Ryan Francis D. Gener.

By simple mathematics, 60 embassies and four permanent mission equals 64. Simple majority of 64 is 33. That leaves 31 posts for retired military officers, campaign contributors and friends whom Duterte may want to reward with an ambassadorial post.

Does the controversial appointment of businessman Alfonso Yuchengco as ambassador to Germany have to do with the expose’ of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano in 2006, when he was still a member of the House of Representatives , about a secret bank account of the Arroyos in HypoVereins Bank ?

Or does it have to do with Fraport AG, a German company that partnered with Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) in building the $350 million Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport? It must be recalled that the Supreme Court under Gloria Arroyo nullified the Piatco-Fraport contract because of anomalies.

These are just some of the questions that came up as we tried to find rhyme and reason for Arroyo’s appointment of 87-year old Yuchengco to Germany with only three months left in her administration.

From a very reliable source:
Heard that the German ambassador has recommended that German government deny the request for agrément on the basis of age if such a request is ever sent.

Foreign Service officers were shocked and disgusted to learn about the letter of Gloria Arroyo to the Commission on Appointments coursed through the Office of Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo asking for the confirmation of her nomination to Yuchengco as ambassador.

The letter, which was received by the office of Romulo, only last week, was dated March 9, 2010, two days before the 60-day ban on presidential appointments before Election Day. Many suspect that the nomination was ante-dated.

(Last Dec.14, the Union of Foreign Service Officers wrote Gloria Arroyo and copy-furnished the Commission on Appointments opposing the midnight appointments of Francisco Benedicto as ambassador to China and Antonio Cuenco as ambassador to Italy. The CA rejected Cuenco’s appointment upholding the reason forwarded by the Unifors which is the appointment is a waste of money with only five months left in the Arroyo administration. The CA, however, approved the nomination of Benedicto.

The author of this article, Mr. Roberto Romulo, son of the statesman Carlos P. Romulo,was formerly foreign affairs secretary during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos.)

by Roberto Romulo
Philippine Star

In the course of the year, I usually devote a column or two to critical issues of concern in the Philippine foreign service, believing how vital it is to our ties with the world. This yearend column is such a piece.

Contrary to the feeling of some that ambassadors may have outlived their usefulness in the age of the Internet, competent diplomats are more important than ever. The new global security threats — not only terrorism — require more intimate knowledge of foreign peoples and places that still cannot be acquired from Discovery Channel and websites. We still need to get our passports from a government office and not from e-Bay. Trade deals still need to be negotiated and economic promotions have to be carried out face-to-face and mano-a-mano in the face of intensive globalization. International migrations call for countries, like the Philippines, to deploy diplomatic and consular agents in far-flung and often hostile parts of the world.

And perhaps most important of all, we need effective ambassadors to man the ramparts of a new 21st century international order where many new players jostle one another for ever greater global and regional power and influence. This game has quickened considerably since the position of the United States has begun to erode in many international arenas, including East Asia

While everybody was busy with preparation for the 2010 elections, Maguindanao massacre, and Martial Law, two opportunists were able to wangle midnight appointments from Gloria Arroyo which will further undermine the country’s foreign service.

Last week, the 300-strong Union of Foreign Service Officers wrote Arroyo, through their president Vicky Bataclan, protesting the appointment of two Rep. Antonio Cuenco as ambassador to Italy and Ambassador Francisco Benedicto as ambassador to China.

Unifors said they have two fundamental concerns about the appointments of Cuenco and Benedicto, both Cebuanos:

“First, if ever the appointment of these persons is confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, the appointee will only be able to serve as ambassador for less than six months. Such duration in our view does not justify the additional expense for their deployment and transfer.