THE Department of Foreign Affairs has agreed to close down 12 of its embassies and consulates and channel savings to embassies in countries that have more migrant Filipino workers.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario refused to identify which of the Philippines’ 94 embassies and consulates will be closed. He said, however, that the criteria for choosing which foreign posts to keep will be the “amount of investments, the amount of tourism, and the number of Filipinos in those posts.”
He added the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will still have to check which countries that the Philippines has trade and diplomatic relations with can “just as well be served by posts in other countries.”
Del Rosario has agreed to close down the 12 embassies by the end of
2012. The savings, estimated at P100 million to P150 million, will then be used by embassies serving larger communities of Filipino expatriates.
The decision was prompted by urging from Senator Franklin Drilon for the DFA to look for ways to give more help to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Since Congress is barred from raising appropriations to the DFA more than the P10.9 billion proposed by Malacañang, Drilon said the department could rationalize its foreign posts.
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