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Sunday, February 19, 2012

No need to cry

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No need to cry
By Alejandro del Rosario

No need to cry over Argentine boxing fans rioting and attacking Filipino boxer Johnriel Casimero who defeated a hometown fighter in Mar del Plata.

Casimero, his trainer and another corner man were attacked by the Argentine mob that did not take too kindly to the hometown favorite’s loss by technical knockout. They took their ire on the Filipinos— throwing chairs at them, climbing the ring and punching the outnumbered Pinoys while police stood by.

Now, there’s really no need to raise the national colors over this abhorrent incident. The senators of the realm want to recall the Philippine ambassador, Reynaldo Carandang, to show our displeasure over the incident.

I personally know Rey Carandang who’s one of our more capable career diplomats. He is probably no boxing fan and most possibly did not even attend the fistic event. But I am sure he took action immediately to lodge a protest with the Argentine foreign ministry.

Our officials at the Home Office have already summoned the Argentine ambassador to Manila and made him explain the incident. Ambassador Joaquin Daniel Otero has expressed his country’s regrets over the incident. He could do no less. It was criminal behavior caught live on TV and beamed worldwide. Compare it to a local mugging caught on CCTV camera.

The Argentinians’ abysmal behavior is a cause for national shame; almost but not quite as low as its loss at the hands of the British in the battle over the Falklands, or Malvinas as the Argies want to call the disputed islands.

When the cooler heads have prevailed over this incident, it’s also about time our officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs took a cold, analytical look at the need to maintain bilateral relations with Argentina.

The DFA has long been talking about closing down some of the country’s embassies and consulates abroad. But so far, the plan has remained on the drawing board. Our inside track is that there’s a lot of wrangling and lobbying on which foreign mission to shut down. As usual, the snag is caused by the internecine rivalry among the heads of the DFA’s administrative department, the Office of Personnel and Administrative Service and the policy makers.

It seems some of the officials in these three key departments are protecting certain ambassadors from being recalled when their embassies are shuttered. I don’t think Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has any inkling about the pervasive office politics that go on at the DFA. I doubt he will ever be given the true picture of which embassies should be closed down if he is going to rely on the input of his undersecretary for administration, the undersecretary for policy and certainly not the chief of personnel. These people should have long been retired but they have been extended by political appointment.

A list of embassies and consulates for closure has been drawn up but its implementation is snagged by lobbying and jockeying by diplomats at the home office.

Aside from Argentina, which should be on top of the list of embassies we should shut down, the DFA should include Hungary, Denmark, Finland, and Chile.

It’s incredible how the Philippine Ambassador to Chile, Consuelo “Baby” Puyat Reyes is able to stay in her post in Santiago for more than 11 years. Baby is almost 80 years old. There are reports, she plans to retire in Chile and is probably already a Chilean resident. If true, the DFA should look into it because Philippine diplomats are not allowed to be residents or citizens of another country while still in the service.

It’s not Secretary Del Rosario’s fault Ambassador Reyes is overstaying. Early on before he took office he vowed to dramatically reduce the number of political appointees in the foreign service. But I guess this Baby Reyes is politically well connected and Del Rosario cannot do anything about it.

The foreign secretary has another problem on his hands—how to convince the President not to push the appointment of Domingo Lee as Philippine ambassador to China. Lee has been bypassed by the Commission on Appointments three times already and Senator Sergio Osmeña III has made it clear he will oppose the nominee as he is unqualified and does not know anything about the complex political, security and economic relations between Beijing and Manila.

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