1. In line with the administration’s thrust to enhance international relations, what programs and plans does the Department of Foreign Affairs have at present?

The pillars of Philippine foreign policy - national security, development diplomacy and the promotion and protection of the rights of Filipinos overseas - serve as our guide in formulating and implementing programs and projects.

In the Department of Foreign Affairs, we will support democratic institutions and processes in the international arena.  We will place great emphasis in promoting better access for Philippine products in the foreign markets. More particularly, we shall seek to enhance economic and trade relations with our traditional trading partners even as we endeavor to open up new markets for our businessmen to explore. In other words, we will do our best in promoting a stable, democratic international environment conducive to free trade and economic relations.

The Philippines will continue to play a major role in ASEAN to promote regional peace and stability and to strengthen existing bilateral and multilateral relations with other regional partners.

Commitment to ASEAN remains a cornerstone of Philippine foreign policy.  Last year at the 33rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed to the Philippines' initiative to include "building a community of peace" as a pillar in the comprehensive development of ASEAN.  This will include putting into practice the Regional Code of Conduct in the South China Sea - an important Philippine initiative - and operationalizing the Rules and Procedure of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN troika and the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.  We are also actively involved in facilitating the ASEAN Regional Forum's transition from confidence building to preventive diplomacy, thereby reaffirming the ARF's role in maintaining regional peace and security. We also support the peace process between the two Koreas and the activities of the Korean Energy Development Organization (KEDO) as a means to eliminate a potential flashpoint and to maintain peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region.

We continue to maintain our one-China policy and non-governmental and people-to-people contacts with Taiwan.  We also reaffirm our commitment to cooperate with China to maintain peace and stability in Southeast Asia, particularly in the South China Sea.

We seek the commitment of the Japanese Government to maintain the level of Japanese ODA for the next two years.

We will continue to work for the realization of the One East Asia Community comprising the ASEAN 10, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.  We hope the ASEAN+3 will eventually lead to wide-ranging areas of cooperation particularly in the economic, financial, socio-cultural and political-security fields.

We consider the United States as one of our closest and most reliable security partners and will undertake efforts to further solidify these relations.  We will continue to ensure that bilateral military exercises advance the national interest and adhere to the provisions of our Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement.  We also hope to see the deepening of RP-US economic ties that are responsive to the realities of globalization and greater market access for both countries.

We will continue to reaffirm our support for Indonesia's territorial integrity and the efforts of their government and people to maintain political and economic stability in their country.  We also reaffirm continued Philippine participation in the UNTAET and will work for the integration of East Timor in the international community.

We will also continue to establish closer bilateral relations with Islamic countries and intensify relations with OIC countries to bring about peace and development in Southern Philippines.

Through our active participation in APEC, we also hope to generate a broader awareness of the economic reforms being done by the Philippine government.  Through and with APEC partners, the Philippines would also like to call attention to the need for a better educational system to "build human capacity," an APEC phrase which basically means developing the human resource of an economy like ours, to enable us to meet the challenges of globalization and the New Economy.

We are also currently undertaking a more vigorous cultural diplomacy program, in line with the administration's efforts to enhance the image of the country overseas.  In cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, we have been upgrading the resource materials on Philippine culture in our foreign service posts.
 

2. What efforts have been taken during your incumbency as DFA Secretary with respect to foreign policy?

The Arroyo Administration's immediate foreign policy goals are to restore the positive image of the Philippines in the international community, regain the confidence of investors and economic partners in the Philippines as an attractive and viable market.  To achieve this, the President dispatched Special Envoys to our bilateral partners, with the DFA providing substantive and policy guidance as well as administrative support. The DFA supported the work of the Presidential envoys to convey the message that the Philippines has returned to normalcy and to assure these countries that the country would honor and abide by its international commitments.

We intend to jumpstart efforts in resuming negotiations for the peace process in Mindanao, and pursuing vigorously the socio-economic development projects for the depressed, poverty-stricken and war torn areas in Mindanao. It has been informally labeled as a “mini-Marshall Plan” for Mindanao, drawing support from international donors.

We desire not only to protect but also to empower our Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). We have entered into agreement with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to provide more opportunities for them to undertake studies for new skills or acquire new vocations or professions in other fields and to generate more savings to enrich their future.

The Overseas Filipino Workers have two major concerns: absentee voting and dual citizenship.  Both are feasible and the Department is doing what it can in coordination with Congress to come out with the proper response

The DFA has also pursued various diplomatic initiatives with renewed vigor.  We continued to enhance bilateral relations by concluding agreements with various countries.   These include the following: an agreement with Canada on Joint Naval Exercises, an agreement with Hong Kong SAR on mutual legal assistance, agreements with Chile, Argentina and Ecuador on agriculture, an agreement with Germany on financial cooperation, and agreements with the Netherlands on the export of social insurance benefits and on seafarers’ standards.     We have hosted two bilateral consultation meetings in Manila with Finland and Israel, and participated in two others in Switzerland and Pakistan.  More bilateral consultations are scheduled later this year.

Consistent with ASEAN tradition, we have personally visited Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore to further solidify our relations with some of our closest neighbors in the region.  We have also participated in a critical ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in April and the Third ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting in May.  The DFA is also preparing for the Philippines' attendance in the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the Post-Ministerial Conferences and the ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Hanoi later this month, as well as the President's participation in the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Shanghai in October, the ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Summits in Brunei Darussalam in November, and her official visits to selected countries before the end of the year.

We supported campaign efforts that led to the election of Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas for the Presidency of the 89th International Labor Conference; Atty. Romeo Capulong as judge ad litem of the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia; and Dr. Alberto Romualdez as Member of the WHO Executive Board.
 

3. How far has the DFA gone in carrying out its duties in promoting the country’s national security, development diplomacy and advancing the welfare and rights of Filipinos overseas?

Promoting national security depends in a large measure on developments in the external environment. While the region is relatively stable and peaceful, there are challenges that certainly have a bearing on the promotion and protection of our national security. Among these challenges include the new forms of security threat, which are transnational in nature, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration especially of women and children, piracy, small arms trafficking and money-laundering. The rapid spread of these transnational crimes are of growing concern not only for the Philippines but for the rest of the world. In addition, recent tensions in the relations of major powers are also of concern to the Philippines, because of our unique strategic geographical location, which makes us a frontline state in this part of the region.

The Department of Foreign Affairs continues to use diplomacy as a tool to promote national/regional security and political stability.  We attach great importance to constructive dialogue and active consultations with our neighboring countries, especially ASEAN and the key major powers in the region.  In my barely five months in this Office, I have paid visits to some ASEAN countries, China and some Middle East countries to demonstrate our commitment to these goals and our advocacy for peace and security.

As part of our commitment to regional security, we hosted the Third Philippines-China Experts Group Meeting on Confidence Building Measures, further laying the groundwork for the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea.  As Chair of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACOM), the Department ensured strict compliance with the VFA during bilateral military exercises between the Philippines and the United States.
 
In terms of development diplomacy, the DFA has stepped up efforts to promote trade, investment and tourism in bilateral, sub-regional, regional and multilateral fora.  It has placed emphasis on strengthening human resources development, promoting science and technology, developing agriculture, protecting the environment and enhancing basic development services.

The Department continues to enhance the Philippines’ economic ties with bilateral partners through the exchange of visits of officials and trade and investment missions.  The Philippines has also forged various bilateral agreements such as protection and promotion of investment agreements, as well as economic cooperation agreements with some of its partners.

Realizing that there is tremendous potential for growth in the region, the Philippines continues to strongly support ASEAN initiatives (such as the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) and the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation (AICO) scheme, and the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement) to enhance regional integration and promote trade and investment liberalization.  In fact, the Philippines’ trade with other ASEAN countries has considerably expanded in the past several years.

In APEC, the WTO and other international organizations, the Philippines has been at the forefront in calling for international cooperation on addressing the needs and interests of developing countries. In these organizations, we will strive to mitigate the negative effects of liberalization and ensure that our participation   will result in maximum benefits to Filipinos.  We will maximize Philippine participation in APEC in order to complement our participation in the next round of multilateral negotiations in the WTO. In the WTO, the Philippines will continue to work for developing country concerns, such as market access for developing country exports, and the elimination of export subsidies and domestic support in the agriculture sector.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has been working closely with other government agencies to generate Official Development Assistance (ODA) from partner countries and international financial institutions.  In the year 2000, the Philippines obtained new pledges from donors amounting to US$2.6 billion.

The Department has made significant inroads towards promoting and protecting the interests of Filipinos here and abroad.   We are continuously finding ways to further enhance the delivery of consular service to our nationals both in the Philippines and overseas.  We instituted the Passport Direct Project, a telephone-based system that provides door-to-door passport renewal services.  We are also preparing for the full implementation by February 2002 of the Machine Readable Passports and Visas (MRP/V) Project that aims to fully automate the processing and issuance of these important travel documents, thereby facilitating their release.

The Department, through our Embassies and Consulates, with the Office of the Legal Assistant for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OLAMWA) serving as the coordinating center, has continuously monitored the socio-political conditions in the countries of destination of OFWs and has made appropriate inspections of the job sites and contingency measures of their foreign employers to ensure their safety and security even before they are deployed.

The Department has increased its capacity to respond to distressed OFWs running to the Embassies/Consulates for help by providing stand-by Assistance-to-Nationals funds, especially in countries with large numbers of OFWs, to effect their immediate repatriation. The Department never tires of extending timely aid to OFWs, be they in prison, at the deportation center, or awaiting rulings on their death compensation or salary claims. In fact, the Department has turned almost impossible cases into triumphs for the OFWs through synergistic efforts with other government agencies and successful diplomatic representations with the concerned authorities just as we did in the publicized John Aquino and Melody Dass cases. In the first quarter of this year, we handled 1,501 new assistance-to-nationals cases and assisted in 18 legal cases involving 1,634 Filipinos overseas.  In coordination with the Office of Muslim Affairs, we also assisted an estimated seven thousand Muslim Filipinos who participated in this year's Hajj pilgrimage in March.

Aside from dealing with the individual problems and concerns of OFWs, the Department has also pursued policy-level measures for greater protection and promotion of OFWs’ welfare, examples of which are the RP-Japan Bilateral Consultation on Consular Matters (1999) and RP-Israel Joint Commission Meeting  (2000).  The Department continues to play an active role in combating the problem of illegal human trafficking through the Inter-agency Technical Coordinating Committee created through Executive Order 220. The Department also initiated the intensification of inter-agency cooperation in solving the problem of large-scale illegal recruitment in Jordan.

Moreover, the Department is advocating the prioritization of legislation in favor of the OFWs. In addition, it is also pushing for the amendment of R. A. 8042 in order to make the said law more responsive to the needs of the times.

Fruitful collaboration with civil society is one of the aspects that the Department continues to work on at present. It is the belief that involving them as partners in finding solutions to our migrants’ problems, a more dynamic, responsive and proactive relationship would be created for the benefit of the Filipino people. In this regard, periodic consultations and frequent referrals to this office by non-governmental organizations are made. Overseas, the Embassies and Consulates continue to build and foster relationships with Filipino expatriate communities. The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) is coordinating these developments in turn. The CFO is also active in counseling services and information dissemination to Filipinos (especially women) who are planning to emigrate with their foreign spouses. These things are being done in the context of an accommodating atmosphere.
 

4. What strategies have you initiated for DFA in order to improve operations responsive to the needs of government, the public and the country in general?

We are committed to strengthening the career foreign service.  With 87 career chiefs of mission, 75 career ministers and 218 foreign service officers, our missions overseas are assured of a sufficient number of competent, dedicated and highly motivated personnel.

In order to increase the level of efficiency and transparency in the Foreign Service, the DFA has requested technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank to modernize its information systems.  This will entail the installation of a global wide area network linking the DFA with its domestic consular offices and its eighty foreign service posts.  It will also make possible an integrated human resource planning and development system, a digital management system and information technology training for department personnel.

We are in the process of streamlining job descriptions and positions which will hopefully translate to higher salaries and more personnel benefits.  We are also undertaking a thorough review of the Department's performance monitoring and evaluation system, to reinforce meritocracy in the service.

We are proceeding to identify other training and knowledge-building measures with a view to boosting the Department's general competence, specialization and skills, so that it will confidently face the current and future challenges and be competitive vis-à-vis the foreign service of other countries.  We intend to work closely with the Foreign Service Institute in identifying the inventory of talent and skills at the DFA.

We have initiated the creation of the DFA Provident Fund, Inc., which would provide loans and retirement benefits for its members.  Steps are now being taken to broaden its financial sourcing.

We are working with the SSS for the establishment and/or expansion of the Provident Fund for the OFWs.

The formulation of an Office Operational Plan taking into consideration the thrusts of the present administration, the strategic plan of the Department, a frank assessment of strengths and weaknesses, targets and long-term objectives of offices and programs, and the new configuration of the world labor market and labor migration, are being factored in as part of its holistic approach in developing a Department that can truly respond to the challenges of the 21st century.

One particular project being developed by the Department (through OLAMWA) and already in its initial stage is the Shared Government Information System for Migration (SGISM). Its objective is to develop an information-sharing network that would enable government to process information that in turn, becomes the basis for policy-making. It is also envisioned to create a quick-reaction mechanism that would facilitate inter-agency cooperation in combating transnational crimes (i.e., illegal recruitment, illegal trafficking in persons, etc.). The modernization of its information system will enable government to deliver faster and more efficient service to the benefit of the public.

Information dissemination on certain migrant worker concerns is continuously being pushed as part of its proactive approach. One of the projects currently underway is a year-long national information drive organized by the CFO in coordination with other DFA offices and agencies that aims to reach out to Filipinos, especially in the provinces, as to the realities and problems facing Filipinos going abroad and the assistance that the Philippine government can render. It is hoped that by embarking on this initiative, the Filipino people would develop greater awareness about migration issues and contribute in minimizing incidences of discrimination, exploitation and abuse being suffered by our countrymen abroad by empowering them in making informed decisions.
 

5. What is your vision for the DFA?
 
The DFA is the country's first line of defense and therefore a critical arm of our national security infrastructure.  Its primary mission is to advance the interests of the Philippines and the Filipinos in the world community.  Our vision is to help uplift the OFWs abroad and to make the Philippines a respected nation in the international community.

Given this important and daunting task, it is essential that the Department and the Foreign Service continue to be staffed by competent, dedicated and highly motivated personnel who will implement the country's foreign policy with the highest standards of professionalism and commitment.  Hence, we must be able to provide ample opportunities for the personal, professional and career development of all our personnel.

It is equally important that we build partnerships with other national security and development agencies, think-tanks, the academe, the private sector, the media and civil society.  A country-team effort, with the DFA at the helm, will ensure that the Philippines and its people are effectively represented abroad.

Our missions abroad must continue to strengthen partnerships with Filipinos overseas in the pursuit of the national interest and in the promotion and protection of their rights and well-being.
 

6. How realizable is the implementation of the Department’s goal in increasing the number of passports being processed per day from 3,500 to 10,000? What  measures has the Department taken so far?

The long-term solution to the problem of passport processing backlog is the implementation of the Machine-readable Passports and Visas Project (MRP/V). With the implementation of the MRP/V by the first quarter of next year, the DFA will ensure the efficient and timely delivery of Philippine travel documents.  This project aims to fully automate the processing and issuance of Philippine passports and visas in accordance with international standards.  More important, the MRPV will eliminate passport fraud and other irregularities thereby increasing the integrity of Philippine travel documents.

Under the current manual processing of passports, the Manila office of the Department can only accommodate a maximum of 3,500 applicants in view of the limited facilities and personnel that we currently have.  When we implement the MRP/V next year, we will have new facilities and the automated processing will enable us to do away with the quota system, hence making it more convenient for the applying public.

However, in the interim, the DFA will continue to find ways and means to improve the system with the view to eliminating the long lines of passport applicants.    These measures will include the outreach program of the Department whereby mobile passport services will be provided to Metro Manila passport applicants on weekends, in coordination with local government units.

The DFA will also start with the production of machine-processed passports.  This interim solution, which will hopefully be operationalized within 30-45 days, is expected to shorten passport application queues, speed up processing, and significantly increase the passport production rate from 3,500 to 10,000 passports a day, thus reducing processing backlog.
 

7. Can you say something about the DFA’s anniversary?

The Department of Foreign Affairs marks its 103rd anniversary this year.  I am honored to share the joy of the Department for the very first time, as Foreign Affairs Secretary, as we celebrate this momentous occasion. I thank the 2000 men and women from the DFA Home Office, regional offices and 81 foreign service posts for their professionalism and steadfast dedication to their work in pursuit of our foreign policy objectives, which are: national security, development diplomacy, and assistance to Filipinos abroad.   It is my hope that in attaining our foreign policy objectives, we will be able to translate these into real and actual benefits for all our people.   I also salute the professional integrity of the men and women of the career corps, who have lent stability to the DFA as an institution.  Their efforts have tremendously contributed to the attainment of the Department’s aims and aspirations.

I wish to reiterate my priority concerns for the Department, which I have first articulated when I assumed my position in February this year.   These include the pursuit of stronger economic and political relationships with other countries, more responsive and enhanced frontline services to the public, the promotion of a mini-Marshall plan for Mindanao, and consistent support for the programs of the President.

Before the end of my term, we expect to eliminate the long lines of passport applicants at the DFA and ensure that the Philippine Passport has the integrity of the best passport in the world.

We wish to assure the public that the DFA remains committed in the pursuit of its goals, ensuring that the interests of this country and its people are preserved and protected at all times.