Ambassador Albert del Rosario may finally get his wish of returning to the private sector where he earns much more than what the Philippine government is paying him now.
Del Rosario should thank Gloria Arroyo’s trusted advisers, including national security adviser Norberto Gonzales, who are blaming him for the April 5, 2006 editorial of the New York Times, “Dark Days for Philippine Democracy.”
A source said Arroyo’s inner circle saw the NYT editorial as an indication of the failure of Del Rosario to present the Arroyo administration’s case in sectors that matter in the United States.
The source also said Arroyo is unhappy that Del Rosario can’t get a White House meeting for her and Bush.
Del Rosario has long ago told Arroyo of his desire to go back to private sector but was prevailed upon to stay put while she looked for a replacement. Last year, the position was offered to Angelo Reyes, whom Malacañang wanted to take out from the Department of Interior and Local Government so that Ronnie Puno could come in to drive the Cha-cha express.
Reyes, our source said, declined the Washington D.C. post because he is planning to run for senator in 2007. He figured that if he stayed in Washington D.C., he would be erased from the consciousness of Philippine voters. He settled for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
A source said outgoing Ambassador Lauro Baja to the United Nations (incoming is former Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide) showed interest in Del Rosario’s position but despite his letters to the New York Times, he won’t get it. It is also doubtful if he will get the position of foreign secretary if and when Alberto Romulo decides to go to Washington D.C.
Baja’s desire for the Washington D.C. post answers the biting commentary of Uniffors (Union of Filipino Foreign Service Officers), the underground organization in the Department of Foreign Affairs in their blog.
Uniffors asked “Why is Lauro Baja writing letters to the New York Times? Isn’t that the job of the Philippine ambassador to the US and not the Philippine ambassador to the UN?
“Baja is accredited to the UN, not the US. Besides, Baja’s response was nothing more than a rehash of Malacañang press releases. Is Baja trying to prove that, aside from kissing ass, he can also shovel horse manure? Is he angling for Secforaf Romulo’s position?”
Although people in the DFA welcome the end of Baja’s term in the UN, they are again disgruntled that he is being replaced by an outsider past retirement age.
Retired Ambassador Hermie Cruz said the appointment of Davide as Philippine representative to the UN confirms the “Davide and rule doctrine”, which is uniquely Arroyo’s.
Cruz said “The doctrine has an ironic twist. A duly elected president, Erap, was removed from office under the fabricated doctrine of ‘constructive resignation.’ What should have been an illegal act, removing a duly elected public official, was declared legal under the
constructive resignation doctrine. Erap, the official removed from office by extra-legal means, is now facing charges of plunder.
“Now the person who concocted the constructive resignation doctrine, has put himself in a position where he can plunder the public treasury based on his illegal appointment as ambassador.
“He is over 70 years old in violation of Sec. 23, RA 7157.Davide, at the rate of $30,000 per month in emoluments, will have received the neat sum of Php78 million pesos if GMA lasts until 2010.
“Thus, Davide who was instrumental in effecting the plunder case against Erap, is now the one who is going to plunder the public treasury.”
My goodness!!!…….Sobrang kapal na talaga ng mga mukha nila. Hilarious !!! Kung pipigilin natin si Davide sa kanyang pagpunta sa US, lalo lamang silang magpupumilit sa katusuhan nila. I curse them!! Doon na siya aabutan ng kamatayan…..hindi niya madadala ang Php78 million at hindi rin pakikinabangan ng kanyang pamilya. Mark my words!!
The choice facing our country in the Davide appointment is
either the “Rule of Law” or the “Rule by Outlaws.” Section
23 of the Foreign Service Act explicitly forbids anybody over age 70 from serving as political ambassador. The records of the Senate during the deliberations on the Act
confirms that retired Chiefs Justices since they are over
seventy years old, cannot serve as ambassadors. (Statement of Sen. Ernesto Maceda). Others have violated this provision. But Davide is a special case. As a retired justice he knows that the doctrine in our country is that
” all laws passed by Congress are presumed constitutional unless declared otherwise by the courts.” RA 7157 has not been declared unconstitutional. Rather, it has been declared invalid by the DFA through “constructive
interpretation.”
This is a questionable procedure. Under our separation of powers doctrine, it is only the courts which through the
power of judicial review, can declare laws invalid.
Davide, if he has any sense of history left, has the golden
opportunity to follow the rule of law. He can get a
declaratory judgment from the courts to find out if
RA 7157 is valid law and at the same time get the opinion of the his former colleagues if the procedure followed by the DFA declaring the law invalid, is allowable under our
system of government. As noted in an earlier discussion,
in the United States, some career Foreign Service Officers
who were unhappy with the retirement provisions of the US
Foreign Service Act had to challenge the validity of the law
before the Supreme Court in the Vance vs. Bradley case in
1979. This should have been the case also in the Philippines. The Philippine Foreign Service Act borrowed
heavily from the US Foreign Service Act.
One can only hope that Davide will take this step out of a sense of delicadeza considering the background under which he is getting the nomination as ambassador to the UN.
Or will this be asking too much from a government that
has been tolerating all kinds of corruption?
A heard a rumor that Angie Reyes wanted to keep the NAKTAF even after he was moved to DENR. My source told me malaki kasi ang budget ng Naktaf. Then, recently, I read that Reyes wanted to organize an anti-environmental terrorism task force within DENR. Ano kaya ang projected budget doon? Imagine the publicity plus the budget would help towards a senatorial campaign siguro ano?
Fundraising time!
The NY Times published an article urging GW Bush to advice
GMA on the status of democracy in the Philippines. As usual,
there was a hysterical reaction from our government. They
should have asked the question : What are the chances of
GWBush listening to an advice from the NY Times? About the same chance as GMA listening to the advice of Nines Cacho
Olivares!
The NYTimes endorsed Gore over Bush in the 2000 elections; Kerry over Bush in the 2004 elections. Most living Americans cannot remember the last time the NYT has endorsed
a Republican candidate for President over his Democratic
opponent. Almost everybody in the US knows that the NYT
is the voice of the liberal Eastern establishment in the US. It tends to endorse the liberal Democrats over the
more conservative Republicans.
So we are going to see a rigodon of our top officials and
diplomats because of the over riding concern of our government to gain credibility which it has lost. Bunye et al could have easily brushed off the NYT editorial as at
best representing the views of one segment of the US press
and that should have been the end of the matter. But as I
stated, when a government has lost legitimacy, it sees
sinister shadows everywhere.
Kahit magpalit sila ng magpalit ng ambassadors sa UN, di nila mapagtakpan ang katotohanan na ang ating bayan at ang ating demokrasya ay papunta na sa kangkungan. Ang baho, kahit anong pagtakip o pagtakpan, hanggat di nililinis ang source noong baho, lalabas at lalabas parin ang amoy. Dapat nilinisin ang baho sa loob ng Malacanang at ang source ng baho ay walang iba kung hindi si pandak. In short, isa siyang tae sa loob ng Malacanang.
On another issue, ang pag sipsip ni pandak sa mga obispo (CBCP) sa pamamagitan ng pag commute sa lahat ng mga death convicts ay isang desperadong move mula kay pandak. Akala siguro niya ay mababawasan ang galit ng tao kung gawin niya ito. Sorry shorty, wrong move. Ang isang angulo na nakikita ko bukod sa pagsipsip nya sa mga obispo ay siguro alam niya na kung sakaling bumagsak siya sa kapangyarihan ay siguradong bitay ang kanyang haharapin kaya ngayon palang pinaplano na niyang ma abolish ang death penalty. Ang aking suggestion ay ganito, kung si Sen. Gordon ay para sa ChaCha after 2007 election, ang sa aking ay bitayin muna si pandak bago i-abolish ang death peanlty. Yun lang po
Excertps from the colum of Amb. Reynaldo O. Arcilla (ret) in Biznews magazine:
Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire
To paraphrase that old adage, where there is mention of certain people’s names in the Garci tapes, there must be complicity in the alleged irregularities in the last elections.
So how come military officers mentioned in the Garci tapes have been cleared by a military investigating panel? Helloh?! What did you expect?
The mere fact that it took months to release the results of the investigation conducted by a military officer on the alleged involvement of certain generals in the Garci controversy says a lot, don’t you think? Does it also come as a surprise that the same officer is now the Flag Officer-in-Command of the Philippine Navy? I wonder what further reward is in store for him when he retires.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Incidentally, the immediate predecessor of the incumbent navy chief was appointed ambassador to Australia right after his retirement. That should have raised the hackle of the career officers in the Department of Foreign Affairs. I am not aware that it did.
With the naming of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, vice Ambassador Lauro Baja, Jr., will the career officers now howl in protest? I’m afraid they won’t either, for a number of reasons, foremost among which is the specter of instant retaliation from the powers-that-be.
Boy, am I glad I am no longer in the Foreign Service. Woe unto the career officers whose morale must be so low it now lies beneath the ground they stand on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is ironic that the “prostitution” of the Foreign Service should be taking place during the watch of an appointing power whose father is considered the “father” of the Philippine Foreign Service, the late President Diosdado Macapagal. He authored the Foreign Service Act of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 708 of 1952, when he was a member of Congress.
It is doubly ironic that this prostitution of the Foreign Service should also be taking place when a Romulo is at the helm of the DFA. The name was made famous by the revered General Carlos P. Romulo who was considered the “best foreign minister” the Republic ever had by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos. His initials, CPR, also elicited instant recognition as belonging to a man of great stature. Those initials too have been “desecrated” by the present occupant in Malacanang when she instituted the so-called calibrated preemptive response or “CPR” that suppresses the people’s right of free expression.
Going back to Foreign Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, who has been described by certain quarters as “feeble” and others as “courtly,” though he is said to be less than courtly to subordinates, with invectives flying left, right and center, when things go awry….
In the beginning I did not have much sympathy for him for the way the DFA is now being run. But seeing as how his boss is “transactional” in nature, I can well understand his utter helplessness in preventing the prostitution of the Foreign Service.
The poor man probably is no longer listened to by Malacanang on matters pertaining to his turf, specifically appointments of political ambassadors. Reports that he might go to Washington seem to indicate that he is on his way out. For what reason, no one really seems to know, except of course, his boss in Malacanang. Speculations are rife that she wants him in Washington in the hope that he and the name he bears will be able to bring about a much-desired invitation to visit Washington again.
No way. Knowledgeable sources say she will never get past the powerful Condoleezza Rice. And President Bush himself, according to the same sources, took her decision to prematurely withdraw our small troop contribution to the so-called Coalition of the Willing in Iraq as a personal betrayal.
In the meantime, Ambassador Baja is being bruited about as a possible replacement for Romulo. How would you feel if you were Romulo? Knowing you won’t be able to hack it in Washington anyway and a replacement is already being lined up for you? What would you do?
Quit? As a close friend of his has suggested?
The DFA career people are a pitiful bunch. Their opportunity for advancement are being trampled. However, they have not summoned the courage to challenge in court the
widespread violations of RA 7157. In 2001 we worked with
Unifors, we were able to get a reputable law firm in Atlanta
Center, Greenhills, to represent the DFA career people pro bono. Not a single FSO signed the complaint in spite of earlier assurances of career people that they will do so. Just the same we filed the case before the OMBUDSMAN. I signed the complaint with three other retired career officers. It became a tax payer lawsuit in the absence of signatories from the career service. Tax payer lawsuits are not entertained in the Philippines unlike in the US.
The Ombudsman has not acted on the complaint. So until the day the career officers summon he courage to bring the
violations of RA 7157 to court, the violations of the law will continue to the detriment of the career officers. On the other hand, they are not blameless for this fiasco
since they do not have the courage to stand for their rights.
Email from Manuel Bondad:
The Malacanang Press Office(MPO) must have lost it’s touch or credibility.I
n the case of Japan, it was the Director, Information Center, Consulate-General of Japan, New York,New York who was tasked to respond to an article by Newsweek about a 10 billion U.S. dollar aid to Pyonyang. Similarly,the Foreign Press Spokesperson,Ministry of Finance and Economy,Seoul,Republic of Korea responded to anothe article”Will Korea Break Up Samsung?”
It’s doubtful if the Letter was penned by the Ambassador himself, as it was characteristically MPO.The flagship ADB report published on April 7 that the”country’s growth performance was falling short of what was required to make significant inroads into persistent high levels of poverty and unemployment” disproves the truthfulness of the Letter.
There is no delicadeza left in Gloria’s government of crooks.
As Ambassador Cruz said, the rule is RULE OF OUTLAWS.
davide unmasked.
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