DFA asked to explain envoys’ huge allowances

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was urged yesterday to explain the huge allowances that ambassadors were receiving.

Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan of party-list group Gabriela said that based on the COA’s report on salaries and allowances (ROSA) of government officials, 11 ambassadors and two consuls received P138.25 million in total compensation for 2014, yet the DFA often complains of lack of funds for distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“These bonuses are highly irregular and even scandalous. It is unconscionable, especially amid OFW neglect. They could not even secure decent shelters for OFWs or give those facing legal battles competent interpreters and lawyers,” she added.

Labor union Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) also slammed the huge salaries and allowances of ambassadors, saying this is unfair to workers that suffer from very low wages and poor working conditions.

KMU chairman Elmer Labog said the high salaries and bonuses of top officials show that the government has funds to increase the pay of its rank-and-file employees and improve education and health services.

“Their salaries are a slap in the face of Super Typhoon Yolanda victims and survivors,” he added.

Ilagan pointed out that Erlinda Basilio, the country’s ambassador to China, was the highest paid official in 2014, receiving total compensation amounting to P16.44 million.

Other diplomatic officers who are in the highest-paid list and the amounts they received are Enrique Manalo, ambassador to the United Kingdom, P12.34 million; Lourdes Yparraguirre, ambassador to Austria, P11.74 million; Esteban Conejos, representative to the World Trade Organization, P10.7 million; Philippe Lhuillier, ambassador to Portugal, P10.56 million; and Maria Teresa Taguiang, consul general in Tokyo, P10.9 million.

Also in the highest-paid list are Maria Cleofe Natividad, ambassador to Germany, P9.86 million; Mercedes Tuason, ambassador to the Vatican, P9.7 million; Grace Princesa, ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, P9.6 million; Cresente Relacion, ambassador to Qatar, P9.4 million; Victoria Bataclan, ambassador to Belgium, P9.1 million; Eduardo Menez, ambassador to Iran, P9.1 million; and Consul General Cecilia Rebong, P8.8 million.

In contrast to the envoys’ huge compensation, their boss Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario received only P1.7 million last year.

The COA report shows that ambassadors and consuls received less than P1 million in basic salary.

DFA: COA’s computation ‘misleading’

But the DFA said yesterday that rental fees for the official residences of ambassadors were erroneously included in the computation of allowances.

The DFA explained that diplomats are provided with official residences while they are assigned abroad and rental fees for their residences are paid by the government directly to the owner of the property, not to the personal account of an ambassador.

“Philippine ambassadors, like other members of the Philippine civil service, receive salaries that are based on the Salary Standardization Law,” the DFA said in a statement.

DFA spokesperson Charles Jose also reminded that allowances are provided in the regulations and are commensurate to one’s rank and position. – With Michael Punong- bayan, Mayen Jaymalin, Pia Lee-Brago