Retired envoys fishing for political posts — career officers

Envoys who have retired or are nearing the age of retirement have taken to lobbying for political appointments to prolong their stint in government, career diplomats at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) claimed. Two such envoys are Lauro Baja Jr., permanent representative to the United Nations, and retired consul general Antonio Villamor. The claim appeared in the May 9 entry of the blog of the Union of Filipino Foreign Service Officers (www.uniffors.com). The blog entry, titled "Retired envoys desperate to be recycled," said: "Baja, who should have retired about two years ago while serving as permanent representative to the UN in New York, is to be replaced soon by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. who has been recently confirmed by the Commission on Appointments ( CA ) as our permanent representative in New York." Baja, the entry said, has already spread word he will be appointed as DFA secretary, but when DFA secretary Alberto Romulo denied rumors he will be named ambassador to Washington, he "lowered the bar" and claimed he will be sent to Italy to replace Emily Lopez, who was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments. Uniffors scored Baja, a protege of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., for spreading "self-serving press releases." "What is clear, however, is that for him there is no life beyond the DFA, so he is trying his very best to wangle a political appointment to any high profile post," the blog said. As for Villamor, Uniffors said he wants to be recycled as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, though his talents "are more suited for the dance floor rather than the often rough and intellectually challenging field of diplomacy." On the other hand, Uniffors said it is high time the DFA reviewed the present practice of sending husbands and wives to the same post, particularly at the level of officers. It said the practice was discouraged until Ambassador Victoria Bataclan, while heading the Office of Personnel and Administrative Services (OPAS), opened the floodgates to the assignment of spouses to the same post. "Husbands and wives work as a team and by nature form a faction within the staff," Uniffors said. "Discipline suffers not only because of this built-in factionalism but also because the spouse with the higher rank does not correct the spouse with the lower rank. At worst, spouses form an informal conjugal dictatorship within an embassy or consulate." Among the posts where husband and wife teams have recently been posted are Hong Kong, Mexico City, Berlin, Washington, DC, and if present plans push through, Ankara, among others. The Ankara posting is particularly scandalous because the staff in that capital is small and the "No. 2" at that post would be joined by the spouse who will serve as administrative officer (AO). The alternative is to assign spouses to nearby posts in the way L. Cruz was assigned to Kuala Lumpur while his wife was posted to Singapore. - GMANews.TV