It’s final: DFA to close 10 foreign posts

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will proceed with the closure of 10 diplomatic outposts to make the Philippine foreign service “smarter, meaner and leaner.”

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) the other day that the closures are necessary “so that we can allocate limited resources to areas of greater need.”

Del Rosario did not name the missions to be closed, but DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez told the Inquirer that his boss was referring to the country’s diplomatic posts in Saipan, Northern Marianas; Caracas, Venezuela; Barcelona, Spain; Dublin, Ireland; Frankfurt, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Bucharest, Romania; Helsinki, Finland; and Havana, Cuba; and the west Pacific island-state of Palau.

Earlier Hernandez said “six [of the DFA missions] will be closed by July, the rest by October.”

“It is final. [President Benigno Aquino III] has already approved it,” Hernandez added.

According to Del Rosario, the closures are one of four initiatives that “will enable us to more effectively focus on our foreign policy, which consists of three pillars: promoting national security, enhancing economic cooperation and protecting the rights and welfare of Filipinos overseas.”

The other initiatives are “restoring morale, upgrading the skills of our senior officials and putting merit over seniority,” Del Rosario said.