Professionalism in DFA career service in jeopardy

This has reference to the news article “Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario is MAP Management Man of the Year 2014” (Business, 11/3/14). The award was given to Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, according to one of the citations therein, for “Transforming the DFA into a strong professional and highly competent organization with full commitment to serve the Filipino people and the country.”

The insinuation is that Del Rosario inherited a flawed Department of Foreign Affairs career service which he transformed, in the brief period he has been its secretary, into a professional and competent corps of officers.

One must note that the DFA was able to screen out incompetents and hire only qualified foreign service officers (FSOs) because of the stringent provisions of Republic Act No. 7157 or The Foreign Service Act of 1991. From the time this law went into effect in 1991 until Del Rosario became foreign secretary in 2011, not a single FSO was appointed without passing the FSO examination.

This was not the case when RA 708 or The Foreign Service Act of 1952 was in effect; there were many political FSOs. The professionalization of the DFA career service, therefore, started long before Del Rosario became foreign secretary. Whatever accomplishment Del Rosario achieved is mainly due to RA 7157.

However, the professionalization of the DFA career service is now in jeopardy in view of the Supreme Court decision in Cruz vs Carpio Morales (GR 203688 ).

In the foregoing case, the Court dismantled the DFA career service by not recognizing its special status as a “closed career service” with its own rules on recruitment, promotion, etc., which are different from the less stringent rules in effect for the “open career service.” Unless Del Rosario takes steps to correct the ill effects of this Supreme Court decision by pushing for the enactment of remedial legislation to restore the status of the DFA as a closed career service, Del Rosario will go down in history as the cause of the downfall of the DFA career service.

Professional DFA career service became vulnerable again to dismantling under his watch. In short, the Management Association of the Philippines may have prematurely given its Management Man award to Del Rosario.

—HERMENEGILDO C. CRUZ,

retired ambassador,

hermieccruz@gmail.com