Embassies closure a ‘great disservice’ to Pinoys abroad

The government may be committing a “great disservice” to the Filipinos abroad by closing down at least 10 embassies and consulates mostly in Europe, a senator said on Thursday.
Sen. Ralph Recto, chair of the Senate committee on ways and means, pointed out that closing down embassies is a “wrong cost-cutting strategy.”
“Serving Filipinos abroad through the presence of embassies should not be treated as a budgetary expense but an investment or rather an obligatory ‘thank you’ note,” Recto said in a statement.
He noted that the estimated savings of P100 to P150 million is nothing compared to the contributions of the overseas Filipino workers working in Europe and other major cities in the world.
“I care for our Middle East OFWs who really need more help from the government but this does not preclude me from also caring for our OFWs in Europe and other parts of the globe,” Recto said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs announced that it is closing down 10 to 12 embassies and consulates around the world to save money to be channeled to missions in the Middle East, where OFWs are under threat from bloody civil uprisings.
Among the embassies and consulates marked for termination this July are in Koror, Palau; Caracas, Venezuela; Dublin, Ireland; Stockholm, Sweden; Havana, Cuba; Bucharest, Romania; and Helsinki, Finland, as well as the Consulates General in Barcelona, Spain; Frankfurt, Germany; and Saipan.