Despite the diplomatic row between the Philippines and Kuwait, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto has maintained that asking Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to resign is a wrong move.
In a statement on Thursday, Recto said the controversies surrounding the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait are not enough reasons to call for Cayetano’s resignation, adding that it contradicts the country’s position of “being more assertive” in helping OFWs.
“Why should Alan resign? His men rescued two Filipinas in distress. He didn’t bomb a country, nor did he invade another,” Recto said.
“Yes, it was improper to officially upload the video, but it is equally wrong to equate it as a major diplomatic faux pas that would warrant his resignation,” he added.
Reports have circulated that career diplomats wrote a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte asking for the removal of Cayetano from the DFA post. The DFA has dismissed the requests, saying there was no letter, and individuals who want the Secretary out do not represent all career officials.
READ: DFA: No letter from career diplomats asking Cayetano to quit
Recto also justified the DFA’s steps on the rescue of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). He even praised Cayetano’s strategy — especially as countries nowadays can easily opt to use military might to protect its people and advance its interests.
“At a time when countries use might to enforce their will, the worst that the rescue inflicted was a pinprick on diplomatic niceties,” Recto said.
“Aggressive defense of our abused countrymen is no vice; it is a virtue. When thousands of our OFWS await repatriation, when thousands of them have sought sanctuaries from abuse, when almost 5,000 of them are behind bars or facing charges, some audacity in representing them is needed,” the senator added. /muf