(Keynote address by Secretary
of Foreign Affairs Blas F. Ople at the opening of the Department of Foreign
Affairs strategic planning workshop, Saturday, November 16, 2002, at the
Holiday Inn, Clark Field, Pampanga.)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Undersecretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Ambassadors, my dear co-workers in the Department of Foreign Affairs, my friends:
I have called for this planning workshop of the Department of Foreign Affairs so that we may chart the direction of our department and develop a framework for Philippine foreign policy in the next ten years.
We have chosen as our central theme: “Building a World-Class Foreign Service for a Strong Republic.” That sketches our vision and lays down the framework for our current and future efforts as the department responsible for international affairs.
Strategic planning
There may be something presumptuous
in this statement which calls for environmental scanning on both a national
and international scale, covering a period of ten years. One may
ask: Will you still be here tomorrow, considering all this media hype about
a Cabinet revamp? But strategic planning has to cover a period of
sufficient length in the interest of continuity and sustainability, and
that is why even our President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo speaks of ten years
as the time horizon when this country can abolish the worst forms of mass
poverty in spite of the fact that her term extends to only 2004.
The uncertainties of
office
In the case of a serving
minister of foreign affairs, on the other hand, the uncertainty is greater:
his term can be either lengthened or abbreviated, and the recent record
is not very optimistic in this regard.
We are however, laying down policies supported by the Constitution and the laws, which have a certain degree of permanence, and when policies are institutionalized they also acquire a certain permanence and continuity, although not immutability.
My transition
As you all know, I have
been in office as Secretary of Foreign Affairs for only three and half
months. Before this I was a member of the Senate and at one time
served as Senate President. President Arroyo recruited me to be her
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, although we belonged to different political
parties, perhaps because she knew of my work as chairman of the Senate
foreign relations committee for over ten years when we both served in the
Senate. She also understood that we shared compatible views on major
issues of foreign policy, which may not have been the case with my immediate
predecessor.
No reporter has asked me whether I have tendered my courtesy resignation. I have been around long enough to know that courtesy resignations in the Cabinet mean nothing; they are intended for show. As the presidential spokesman, Rigoberto Tiglao, has said in a statement such resignations are irrelevant and unnecessary to the exercise by the President of her absolute prerogative to hire and fire members of her Cabinet each one of whom holds office at her pleasure.
Losing the fear of
unemployment
But some of you may still
recall what I said in my first staff meeting at the Department of Foreign
Affairs: “The first thing a Cabinet member must shed in assuming
office is the fear of unemployment. If you feel a chronic insecurity
in your job, you will not perform well.” A Cabinet member must be
loyal to the President, but in the first place he must be loyal to his
own job and its requirements.
To be thoroughly professional
This adage of course does
not apply to foreign service officers because the law gives you tenure
while the law also insulates you from the risks of political strife.
Your contributions to your country arise from the obligation to be thoroughly
professional, to be reliable and dependable pillars for the Department
in your respective areas of responsibility as career officers in the service
of the Republic of the Philippines.
Professionalism:
the essence of a world-class foreign service
Professionalism is the essence
of a world-class foreign service and this description applies to all those
appointed to all the posts in our foreign service regardless of whether
they are considered career or political, and to all the thousands of personnel
that belong to the support staffs in both the home office and the foreign
posts of the Department.
Professionalism of course means more than just technical expertise or a narrow specialist competence, although these too are important. Professionalism is above all, an attitude, a frame of mind, a commitment that summons all the talents, skills and dedication of an outstanding foreign service officer.
Peace, Freedom and
National Security
With the end of the Cold
War, the world has entered upon a new era of uncertainty, uncharted frontiers
and shifting balances of power. In this brave new world, nations
must see their way clear through the fog of rapid, developing events guided
firmly by the lodestar of the national interest and the mandates of the
Constitution.
True to our principles, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has steered the Philippines to a vanguard position in the global war against terrorism. We’re doing our fair share – and more – to eliminate the evil forces of international terrorism in both our country and in the larger world of Southeast Asia.
We have taken the initiative and the lead in forging bilateral and multilateral partnerships to deal with the modern scourge of terror.
In all international fora, we carry proudly the banner of anti-terrorism, freedom for all, peace, democracy and human rights. And in particular, the Department of Foreign Affairs is taking a leading role in the global fight against terrorism.
We have also taken cognizance
of the serious threat posed to our national security, peace and development
by the Communist movement which has killed thousands of Filipinos in an
insane war against the Philippine state for over three decades. We
have convinced the world’s leading nations and great powers from North
America to Europe, to declare the NPA and its founding chairman, Jose Ma.
Sison, as terrorists, as a result
of which their foreign funding
and access to new sanctuaries have been cut off. I myself as Secretary
of Foreign Affairs have led a special diplomatic mission sent by President
Arroyo to dialogue with the foreign and justice ministries of the countries
belonging to the European Union.
The purpose of this singular diplomacy is to hasten the advent of peace and solidarity in our own country. We would like to help the CPPC-NPA come to a rational decision to lay down their arms and to exercise their rights within the mainstream of our democratic political system, to forget the bloody past and join the rest of their countrymen in the peaceful pursuit of social justice and economic progress.
We would like to see Jose Ma. Sison and his NDF coterie to come home from abroad and participate in free and democratic elections under the Constitution of the Republic of Philippines.
We have already seen the global response to the initiatives for peace and against terrorism by the President of the Philippines and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Asian Group of the United Nations and all the nations for that matter are backing up the candidature of the Philippines for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. We are reaping the early rewards of our bold initiatives -- and new engagements -- in foreign policy. Closer home, we have also taken the lead in fostering a climate of peace and stability in the South China Sea, with China and ASEAN signing a framework agreement in the 8th ASEAN Summit on a Code of Conduct to forestall any dangerous misunderstandings and incidents in one of the world’s most vital sealanes.
The DFA will pursue with increasing vigor this foreign policy that defends and advances the cause of our national security, safety and freedom in a very uncertain world. We shall continue to gain an important voice in the search for a peaceful, free and democratic world in the community of nations.
Cultural literacy
A Filipino diplomat must
command the respect of his peers in both his country and abroad.
Professionalism is also based on a strict moral code characterized by an
unwavering self-discipline and strict compliance with the ethical rules
of one’s profession. A Filipino diplomat must be a leader, capable
of taking change especially when a crisis develops, exercising bold initiatives
as well as the necessary prudence. He must be able to execute instructions
from the President and the Department leadership with total faithfulness,
loyalty and courage. He must also be able to exercise leadership
as the head of the country team in each post and office, and be capable
of leading by precept and by example.
Living with scarcity
The Filipino diplomat must
possess a degree of cultural literacy and general cultivation that enables
him to share in the learned discourse that marks the life of the international
diplomatic community. The diplomat must nourish himself intellectually
by a lifetime of constant reading and diligent application of timeless
principles to his work. He must be capable of discerning and asserting
the national interest in the melee of issues and viewpoints in international
affairs. He must be familiar with the Constitution and the basic
laws and policies of his own country as well as of the countries to which
he is assigned.
The diplomats of a poor but aspiring country like the Philippines must learn to live with the reality of scarce resources and should not be unsettled or demoralized by the comparative luxuries and lifestyles of the foreign service of the most advanced countries. They must appreciate the fact that scarcity has a positive side, in that it challenges the professional diplomat to be more inventive, more innovative in discovering solutions to problems.
Having said that, we owe it to the men and women of the Department of Foreign Affairs to fight for a bigger share of the national budget to support our global mission.
Paradigm shifts and
budgetary lags
The truth is that there
is a time lag between paradigm shifts in the life of nations and the response
of national leaders to them, a mental and psychological gap that can be
bridged only with constant and patient effort. For example, the budget
makers and lawmakers have not yet caught up with the reality that there
are seven million Filipinos working and living abroad – scattered in 140
countries of all the continents and hemispheres – and that the nation touches
base with them only through the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Need for public diplomacy
While most everyone pays
lip service to this vast outflow of manpower – now referred to as the “Filipino
Diaspora” -- this concern is not reflected in the budget, where the
DFA share has remained at a pathetic level of less than one half per cent,
and therefore in critical situations the ability of the Philippine government
to help these countrymen of ours is seriously compromised. This appalling
state of ignorance between today’s realities and yesterday’s budgets, must
therefore be addressed through a program of public diplomacy that connects
our goals and responsibilities to the --consciousness – and conscience
-- of various policy-makers who determine the allocation of public funds,
including especially in the legislature.
In political terms we have become a global nation with a parochial culture and a shoe-string budget.
The overseas workers
But as foreign service officers,
we also need to accept the reality of a radical paradigm shift in our responsibilities.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has the responsibility to look after
the safety and welfare of seven million Filipinos abroad, representing
nearly 10 per cent of our total population. These Filipinos are generally
hardworking, enterprising and law-abiding. They remit inward $7 to
$8 million a year which makes them our most valuable source of foreign
exchange earnings and a vital prop to the economy especially in times of
adversity. They have built more low-cost houses than all the housing
programs of the government put together; they send more children to college
than all our scholarship programs combined, and they provide the mass purchasing
power that delivers a large market to the products of our industries.
And yet we tend to look down on them because many of them are household help and caregivers, although an increasing number of professionals, technicians and skilled workers have also gone abroad.
This is the reason I fulminated when I heard about one of our ambassadors in Paris, I believe, who reportedly said to our Secretary of Labor Patricia Santo Tomas, “Please stop sending maids and servants to Paris; they demean our government and our foreign service.”
I am not saying that this sort of social snobbery prevails everywhere in the foreign service. But where it exists, a radical change is indicated. Such forms of condescension must be totally uprooted.
Filipino domestics
Filipino domestics are the
toast of every country where they work. While they perform largely
mundane work, they excel in virtues which are widely admired by their host
employers and their host societies. They are honest, educated, civil
and responsible.
Filipino diplomats must not turn away from these countrymen who are engaged in an honest trade and are contributing in their own way to the social well-being of their host countries as well as their own homeland.
I therefore demand that the conduct of foreign service officers in all our foreign posts should be informed by a genuine sympathy, concern and respect for our compatriots, especially those engaged in humble but honest occupations. I demand that such ethical standards of conduct be built into the parameters of job performance for all foreign service officers. From now on I will not hesitate to fire any ambassador, consul or officer who is verified to have acted rudely and overbearingly towards our expatriate countrymen anywhere in foreign lands.
This is one of the earmarks
of a world-class foreign service: the ability to relate, to help
and protect our Filipino workers overseas. This mission surpasses
the scope of traditional consular services, but is a new paradigm by itself.
If this goal requires a radical culture change, or even a culture shock,
for our posts abroad, so be it.
The first economic
summit
On the economic diplomacy
front, our Department should be an effective instrument to create jobs,
improve labor skills, facilitate the transfer of technology so that our
industries may be more competitive in productivity, which in turn will
lead to higher real wages, accelerate economic growth and improve the living
standards of the entire nation.
As you will recall, I was instrumental as a Senate leader in the convening of the first economic summit to frame a strategic agenda for the conquest of mass poverty within a decade, as pledged by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. I believe this effort to consolidate the ranks of all economic sectors and actors behind a strategy of eliminating mass poverty within a decade, must be pursued with increasing vigor and a tougher resolve.
Raising our sights
I propose that in conjunction
with the other lead agencies of the government in economic development,
the NEDA, Department of Finance and the Department of Trade, and the Department
of Agriculture and the Department of Education we set more ambitious goals
in the next ten years, such as the following:
1. Double the rate of direct
foreign investments annually;
2. Accelerate economic growth
to 6-7 per cent of GNP in real terms
3. Reduce total unemployment
from four million to only one and half million
4. Raise revenue collection
by 60 per cent
5. Establish primary and
high schools in 7,000 barangays which are completely devoid of any public
or private school
6. Double the salaries of
public school teachers, the policemen and soldiers
7. complete the irrigation
of the country’s entire arable land areas.
Curiously, there is an unutilized pool of ODA funds amounting to $10 billion because of lack of absorptive capacity in our government institutions.
Improving ODA utilization;
economic diplomacy
In a recent Cabinet meeting,
the President fulminated because of a report that a Japanese-funded major
infrastructure project, the Clark-Subic-Tarlac Highway, which she personally
negotiated in a recent visit to Japan, had stalled because of procedural
delays.
That has prompted me to suggest that we build into the DFA a small unit to help the NEDA push the speedier implementation of all projects funded from Official Development Assistance, especially those coming from Japan which is now the leading donor nation to the Philippines.
I agree with Speaker Jose de Venecia and Senate President Franklin M. Drilon that we should push real GDP growth from the present respectable 4 per cent, to six to seven per cent a year because that is the only way we can catch up with our more dynamic neighbors such as China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. We should reshape and further intensify our economic diplomacy to help attain this objective.
Passport Reforms
We should continue to deliver more efficient and streamlines passport services to the Filipino people. We have recently established eight regional offices throughout the country to bring the services within closer reach of our people in the rural areas.
But unfortunately some passport irregularities remain. Therefore I intend to inaugurate on June 2, 2003 the Machine Readable Passport which I hope will eliminate all forms of passport fraud which stained the good name of the Republic. The new system, a BOT project, is temporarily stalled by disputes concerning fees which we consider unreasonably high but this difficulty will soon be overcomed. I expect the contractor and the DFA to implement the new system starting June 2003. This will deal the death blow to the syndicates of fraudulent passport syndicates and fixers deceiving unwary citizens in the premises of the Department of Foreign Affairs
It is also our aim to automate the various administrative processes in the Department to eliminate red tape and improve our services to the people.
Cultural diplomacy
You have to agree with me
that cultural diplomacy is a relatively underdeveloped sphere in our Department
of Foreign Affairs. Culture is universally recognized as the primordial
source of the solidarity of peoples or nations.
Culture and Nurture
There are many overseas
Filipinos who have told me that they sorely miss the essential elements
of culture and nurture that their children need to appreciate the roots
of their identity, their cultural heritage. We should address this
gap as the means allow. I was the author of the “Balik-Saya” program
that brought Filipino culture, through the performing arts, to millions
of our countrymen in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
I intend to revive this program and put it on a more sustainable basis.
We should now adopt a more permanent solution to this problem, by encouraging the establishment of more schools for the children of expatriate Filipinos that will teach Philippine history, language and our cultural heritage in general to our overseas communities. We should also foster more cultural exchanges between us and other friendly countries. The eclectic history and culture of the Filipino nation permits us to relate spiritually and viscerally to other cultures and civilizations. Culture should be an instrument of our foreign policy to link us closer to Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.
In building a world-class foreign service, we should not be oblivious of the need to improve the pay scale of not only our foreign service officers but also of our rank and file employees. We are therefore talking to the Department of Budget and Management to raise the pay grades of our employees within the framework of the Salary Standardization Law. We are also negotiating with DBM for the release of our savings so that we may be able to adjust post allowances and to grant a Christmas bonus of considerable scale to all employees before Christmas.
The improvement of the terms and conditions of work for all our personnel will be a constant endeavor of the new leadership in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
DFA as the topnotcher
In the most recent opinion
survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), perhaps the most credible
polling firm in the Philippines, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs was considered
the topnotcher among all Cabinet members in terms of public acceptance
of our work. This is a tribute not to me personally, but to all the
men and women who make up the career service of the Department of Foreign
Affairs. This is a sign that should warm the heart of every official,
every officer and every employee in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
This can only mean that our good work in building a world-class foreign
service for a strong republic is already being acknowledged and supported
by the Filipino people.
This may be one of the first
fruits of our collective effort to raise our Department to world-class
status and to make our contribution to the declared goal of our President
in building a strong republic.
I call on all of you to
recommit yourselves to this noble goal and patriotic ideal. As we
move forward, we shall be constantly guided by our charter enshrined in
no less than the Constitution itself: “The State shall pursue an
independent foreign policy. In its relations with other states, the
paramount consideration shall be national sovereignty, territorial integrity,
national interest and the right to self-determination.”
I expect that beginning this afternoon and until tomorrow, you will be engaged in inter-active dialogues and efforts to translate the vision of a world-class foreign service for a strong republic into more specific principles, mechanisms and modalities. The final outcome of this strategic planning workshop is a document that will chart our direction and forge a framework of action for the next ten years.
Conclusion
May I thank you all for
your support and wish you well as you go forward and deliver the desired
outcome of this plenary workshop, namely a strategic vision and plan of
action for the Department of Foreign Affairs under its new leadership and
under the overall direction of the Macapagal Arroyo Presidency.
Finally, may I invoke the
blessings of Almighty God to all these proceedings and to all the participants.