Compliance with law

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine STAR’s editorial of 14 October titled “Marginalized” opined that “numerous political appointees were marginalizing the career foreign service corps.” I wish to clarify that the appointment of non-career ambassadors is well-settled in Philippine constitutional practice, just like in the US and many other countries.

The Foreign Service Act (R.A. No. 7157) sets the ratio between career and non-career Ambassadors, thus:

In order to strengthen the Career Foreign Service Corps and to enable it to respond to the challenges in the field of international relations, the President shall be guided, as much as possible, by the principle that a majority of the diplomatic and permanent missions shall be headed by career ambassadors.

As the law clearly states, it suffices that the majority of the diplomatic and permanent missions (50 percent plus one) are headed by career ambassadors.

In fact, this administration has appointed more career Heads of Posts, i.e., Ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary and Consuls General (72.83 percent) than during the Estrada and Ramos administrations (70 percent and 67 percent, respectively).

In this administration, the record is quite clear that there has been strict and ample compliance with the law. 

It should be noted that the four most recent vacancies in the foreign service, namely Brussels, Pretoria, Islamabad and Hanoi, were all filled up with career diplomats, with their appointments approved by the Commission on Appointments on 14 October.

Non-career ambassadors complement the career corps and have historically enriched the Philippine Foreign Service with their deep experiences and wide backgrounds, notably business, journalism, military, labor and migrant worker advocacy, and other fields. They have helped advance the country’s strategic national interests in the international community.

We thank the Philippine STAR for acknowledging how grueling the entrance tests for Foreign Service Officers are and how they upgrade their skills as they rise through the ranks. 

We wish to assure your readers that the DFA will continue to nurture and provide every possible opportunity to our career officers and personnel. After all, they, together with the non-career ambassadors, man the country’s first line of defense, in terms of pursuing our national interest in the community of nations and safeguarding the rights and welfare of our overseas Filipino workers.

For these crucial tasks, we should have only those who are — in the words of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo — among “our best and the brightest.” — J. EDUARDO MALAYA, Spokesman, Department of Foreign Affairs