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Locsin: New overseas Filipinos office must be carved out of POEA, not created out of 'nothing and nobodies'
Locsin: New overseas Filipinos office must be carved out of POEA, not created out of 'nothing and nobodies'
By Roy Mabasa
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Thursday expressed his reservation over the possible composition of the proposed Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFil) that would dilute the dignity of real foreign service officers.
In a tweet, Locsin suggested that the creation of DOFil must be carved out of the existing structure of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) instead of mixing foreign service officers with political appointees who are “sure to abuse its privileges”.
POEA, an office created during the Marcos administration, is the agency tasked to promote and protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers.
“To spread around consular status is forbidden by diplomacy and dilutes the dignity of real foreign service officers by throwing in the mix political appointees sure to abuse its privileges. Plus DOF must be carved out of nothing & nobodies,” he said.
Several lawmakers, specifically Sen. Franklin Drilon, expressed apprehensions about creating new bureaucracies that tend to bloat and delay government’s work.
Instead, the lawmakers proposed “streamlining or rightsizing” of the bureaucracy to make it more efficient and less costly.
Shortly after the resumption of the Senate committee hearing on the proposed creation of DOFil in February this year, Locsin berated Presidential Adviser Abdullah Mama-o for suggesting that “consuls” be assigned under the new department in various Philippine posts worldwide instead of the title “attaché”.
“One thing sure, DOFW (DOFil) will have attaches but never consuls. So Mamao don’t you dare browbeat my DFA people on that issue. Who the f*** do you think you are? Be careful. I will not debase the consular status,” the DFA said in a tweet.
Sources said that Mama-o, a close ally of Duterte in Mindanao, and DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola, a protégé of Taguig Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano, are among those who are reportedly eyeing the top post of the soon-to-be-created department.
On December 15, 2020, President Duterte has certified as urgent a bill to create a Department of Overseas Filipinos, giving the Senate authority to hasten the approval of the proposed measure.
Sen. Christopher “Bong Go filed Senate Bill 1949, a measure that aims to consolidate government functions involving Filipinos overseas under one Cabinet agency
In last month’s hearing, Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, assuaged concerns that establishing DOFil would further bloat the government bureaucracy, saying that it was an opportunity to use rightsizing parameters in merging several offices and agencies involved in overseas employment into one efficient and effective agency.