Tag: PAFI

Retired ambassador Jaime J. Yambao wrote in his column in Manila Times that the Board of Governors the Philippine Ambassadors Foundation Inc. (PAFI) at its last meeting agreed to “express its alarm and concern over the demoralization in the ranks of career ambassadors caused by the announced and probable appointment of political ambassadors to the country’s diplomatic and consular posts abroad.”

One cannot expect the active foreign service officers to come out about their misgivings with the way things are in foreign service so their “elders”, the retired ambassadors are taking up the cudgels for them because they are all “committed to promoting and upholding the professionalization of the (foreign) service for the effective pursuit of the interests of the country and its people. “

Yambao said, “The board therefore deplores the appointment of non-career ambassadors on the basis of contributions the prospective appointee made to the election campaign kitty of the appointing power or powers, or upon the recommendation of campaign contributors and supporters.

“One such appointment that has not escaped the notice of the PAFI board involves yanking a career ambassador, a former undersecretary of foreign affairs for policy no less and a topnotcher of the Foreign Service Officers examination, from a post at which he is newly arrived and has just presented his credentials. This is almost unheard of, even in the Philippines. Political appointments have always been to vacant or about-to-be-vacant posts.”