'Extended term for political ambassadors to cost P30 million'

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang’s approval to extend or hold over 21 political ambassadors for another three months translates into lost government savings amounting to at least P30 million, ranking officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) disclosed yesterday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The STAR that “this decision is riddled with serious legal infirmities.”

“At a time of severe budget deficit when the government should practice austerity enjoined no less by President Aquino, the lost savings could have been channeled to pressing needs, like the urgent repair of many of our embassy chanceries whose dilapidated state is an international embarrassment for the nation, or legal assistance for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) facing death row,” one ranking official said.

The officials complained that far from being censured for defying the coterminous nature of their appointment with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the political ambassadors are instead being rewarded for their “callous obstinacy” by the new administration.

Political ambassadors that continue to cling to their posts are Delia Albert (Berlin), Francisco Benedicto (Beijing), Jose Brillantes (Ottawa), Ernesto de Leon (Canberra), Shirley Ho-Vicario (Port Moresby), Antoio Lagdameo Jr. (London), Cardozo Luna (The Hague), Ramoncito Marino (Koror), Orlando Mercado (Jakarta ASEAN), Francisco Ortigas III (Mexico), Ma. Consuelo Puyat-Reyes (Santiago), Vidal Querol (Jakarta), Regina Irene Sarmiento (Prague), Domingo Siazon Jr. (Tokyo), Manuel Teehankee (Geneva WTO), Bienvenido Tejano (Wellington), Rigoberto Tiglao (Athens), Mercedes Tuason (Vatican), Ana Ines de Sequera-Ugarte (Madrid), Antonio Villamor (Riyadh), and Noe Wong (Phnom Penh).

The DFA, for its part, said the cost of differentials would be very minimal.