Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today said that decisions on where to establish DFA regional or extension offices is always based on the desire of the Department to best serve the interests of the traveling public and that political considerations should not stand in the way of serving the people.

Secretary Ople made this clarification in response to allegations that certain politicians are pressuring the Department to open regional and extension offices in their constituencies, even though such offices can best serve the people of the region or province elsewhere.

"It is understandable when politicians want to bring offices of the national government down to their constituencies in order to serve the legitimate needs of the public," the Secretary said.

"But when pressure is placed on us primarily in order for certain politician to score points in their constituencies, particularly when setting up an office there would not maximize the utility of the services we offer, then I must make the decision to favor setting up the office where it will best serve the needs of the most people," the Secretary added.

"We need to disassociate partisan politics from public service. This is a difficult thing to accomplish, but one that is indispensable to good governance," the Secretary said.

"I am confident that politicians who feel that they have been adversely affected by some of my decisions will understand that it is my desire to best serve the public, and not partisan politics, has always been my guide in making these decisions," Secretary Ople said. END.