Article 23p. 23

ADMINISTRATIVE CODE AND LAW OF PUBLIC OFFICERS TEXT AND RULES

other

agencies

attached

to

the

Department

shall

continue to operate and function in accordance with

their respective charters or laws creating them, except as

otherwise provided in this Code.

CHAPTER 7 The Foreign Service

SECTION 20. Functions of Diplomatic Missions . — The

Diplomatic Missions shall:

(1) Represent the Philippines abroad and promote

friendly relations with other countries in all fields;

(2) Protect national interests and the interests of

Filipino nationals abroad;

(3)

Ascertain

and

evaluate

conditions

and

developments

abroad

and

report

thereon

to

the

Department Head;

(4) Serve as channels of communication between the

Government of the Philippines and foreign governments;

and

(5) Perform such other functions provided by law.

SECTION 21. Functions of Consular Establishments . —

The consular establishments shall:

(1) Protect national interests abroad and promote

foreign relations in all fields, particularly in the economic

and trade areas;

(2)

Ascertain

and

evaluate

conditions

and

developments

abroad

in

the

commercial, economic,

cultural and scientific fields and report thereon to the

Department Head;

(3) Issue passports and travel documents to Filipino

nationals, and visas or appropriate documents to foreign

nationals desiring to travel to the Philippines;

(4) Protect the interests of Filipino nationals abroad,

provide necessary services and assistance, and perform

notarial functions allowed by regulations;

(5) Transmit judicial and extra-judicial documents and

execute

letters

rogatory

or

commissions

to

receive

evidence abroad for Philippine courts;

(6) Supervise and inspect in accordance with laws and

regulations of the Philippines, vessels and aircrafts and

their crews; and

(7) Perform such other functions as may be provided

by law.

CHAPTER 8 Attaches and Representatives

SECTION 22. Attaches of the Department . — The

Department

Head

shall

designate

attaches

of

the

Department from the ranks of Foreign Service Officers

and Foreign Service Staff Officers.

SECTION 23. Attaches of Other Departments . — The

assignment abroad of personnel in any Department,

Bureau or office of the Philippine government as attaches

or representatives shall have the prior clearance of the

Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The clearance shall include

such matters as the actual need for opening particular

types of attache services, and the specific places where

these services will be made available.

SECTION

24.

Appointment

and

Accreditation

of

Attaches . — (1) The authority to appoint attaches shall be

vested

in

the

Head

of

the

Department

or

agency

maintaining the attache service, who shall consult with

the Secretary of Foreign Affairs on such appointments.

(2) A Department or agency shall have only one

attache accredited to it by the receiving government,

except military attaches.

(3) The designation of attaches shall apply only to

those serving in diplomatic missions. Those assigned to

consular

establishments

shall

be

designated

as

representatives.

Except in extraordinary cases, each foreign service

establishment shall have only military, labor, revenue,

tourism, information and commercial attaches.

In the event of the actual need for more than one

attache, as determined by the department or agency in

consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the

succeeding

attache

shall

be

accredited

as assistant

attache.

SECTION 25. Relationships Between the Chief of

Mission and Attaches . — The Chief of Mission shall be

responsible for the conduct of affairs of government at

the diplomatic posts. All attaches and representatives of

other departments, shall during their tour of duty, be

under

the

immediate

control

and

administrative

supervision

of

the Chief of Mission where they are

assigned. They shall be required to submit their reports to

their agencies through the Chief of Mission and the

Department of Foreign Affairs, except when national

security requires otherwise. They shall clear with the Chief

of

Mission

all

their

public

pronouncements

at

the

diplomatic post, and all the documents and materials

they send shall be transmitted through the diplomatic

pouch.

The supremacy of the Chief of Mission for the conduct

of foreign relations at the post is established. The Chief of

Mission shall have the authority to discipline attaches

within his Mission, including the authority to have them

recalled, if necessary.

SECTION 26. Assimilated Ranks . — (1) Except as the

President

may

appoint, no officer of the Philippine

government stationed abroad, outside the Department of

Foreign Affairs, shall be assigned assimilated ranks higher

than Foreign Service Officer Class I.

(2) The assignment of assimilated rank to personnel of

the Philippine government stationed abroad shall remain

with

the

President

who

shall

act

on

the

basis

of

recommendations of the Department of Foreign Affairs

and the Department of Budget and Management.

(3)

The

assimilated

ranks

are

for

purposes

of

compensation only and shall not confer diplomatic rank

for purposes of protocol. Civil attaches shall always rank

after the lowest ranking Foreign Service officer in the

post.

SECTION

27.

Relationship

Between

the

Consul-General or the Principal Officer at the Consulate

and

the

Representative .

— The relationship of the

Consul-General or the Principal Officer at the post and

the Representatives assigned to the said post shall be the

same as the relationship between the Chief of Mission

and the attaches.

SECTION 28. Uniform Rules for Attache Services . — A

uniform set of rules and regulations shall govern attache

and representative services. This shall be drafted by an

Inter-Department Committee to be composed of the

Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs as Chairman, and the

Undersecretaries,

or

equivalent

officials,

of

the

Departments

or

agencies

with

attaches

or

representatives abroad, as members.

CHAPTER 9 Personnel

SECTION 29. Policy . — To enable the Foreign Service to

effectively serve abroad the interests of the Republic of

the Philippines, it shall be the policy of the Department

that only persons who are competent, of good moral

character, and fully informed of the Philippine History and

current trends in Filipino life shall be appointed to the

service.

SECTION 30. Categories of Officers and Employees .

— The Service shall consist of the following categories of

officers and employees:

(1) Chiefs of Missions

(2) Counsellors

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