Solon wants RP consulate, embassies cut
By Angie M. Rosales 10/21/2010Some Philippine em-bassies and consulate offices may have to be shut down, unless the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) justifies their continued operations to help cut government expenditures.
Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday said he had recently asked DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo to review the existence of some consular offices and embassies, vis-à-vis the standards set in the establishment of such diplomatic posts abroad.
“We are not a rich country that can just keep on opening embassies all over the place… It is as if our finances are never ending,” the senator said during a hearing on the proposed P10.98 billion DFA budget for next year.
To maintain an embassy abroad, government spends about P57 million to P125 million annually. Currently, there are 67 embassies and 23 consular offices and four missions abroad..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101021hed6.html
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