26 February 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert on Monday articulated the Department of Foreign Affairs foreign policy thrusts under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during a lecture she delivered for the Third University of the Philippines Public Lecture Series on the Philippine Presidency and Administration at the University of the Philippines.

In her lecture, aptly entitled Relevance and Change:  Foreign Policy Under the Arroyo Administration, Secretary Albert emphasized that foreign policy under leadership of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has broken tradition.

“The President’s foreign policy has been driven by a desire to bring about change, change for what is truly better for our people, change that makes foreign policy work directly for the benefit of the Filipino people,” the
Secretary said.

The Secretary also mentioned the numerous direct results of President Arroyo’s foreign policy, saying that “These are changes that were brought about by mobilizing our diplomatic forces, harnessing the full potentials of our relations with other countries and responding to the potent challenges of an ever-changing global environment.”

“Foreign policy has little meaning unless it brings change that is relevant. Foreign policy is most relevant when it works for the people.  It is most relevant when it is shorn of its mystique and is better understood. And when it
is better understood, when there is greater national support and consensus behind it, Philippine foreign policy is at its most effective,” Secretary Albert added.

Secretary Albert addressed an audience composed of members of the academe, media, and civil society.  She expounded, among others, on the Department of Foreign Affairs’ efforts to assist in the country’s search for peace, the war against terror and transnational crime, the Philippines’ participation in the United Nations, particularly as a non-permanent member of the United Nations’ Security Council, the reconstruction of Iraq, and inter-regional political, economic and security cooperation.

The Secretary also emphasized the importance that the Department of Foreign Affairs places on preserving and protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers, servicing the travelling public, and ensuring the implementation of the Overseas Absentee Voting Law.

The Secretary thanked the University of the Philippines for its initiative in organizing the lecture saying that this provided the opportunity to accentuate the Department’s public diplomacy thrust.  “In doing our work, we value the importance of keeping the public informed of our actions and our policies.  A nation’s diplomacy is made more effective when it is better understood by the people and when there is greater public consensus behind it,” the Secretary said.
 
“The Department will continue to pursue a foreign policy that is responsive to the needs and circumstances of our country and its people while being attuned to the realities of our external environment,” the Secretary said to conclude her lecture.  END.