(Eagle News)–The Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, June 22, said it was canceling all “courtesy diplomatic passports.”
The DFA made the announcement after admitting it had “revalidated” former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario’s diplomatic passport, and it knew he would use the same in his business trip to Hong Kong.
The DFA said the revalidation was done on June 18 by the DFA Office of Consular Affairs (OCA) – Diplomatic and Official Passport Section “as provided by Section 14 of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 and in accordance with existing regulations.”
The issuance of the diplomatic passport, which is valid until December 19, 2021, was approved by then-Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. “by virtue of Department Order No. 12-1993,” the DFA said.
“Since the issuance of the 1993 Department Order, diplomatic passports have been issued to former DFA secretaries as well as ambassadors as a matter of courtesy, not to confer them with diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention, but only to accord them the usual port courtesies at immigration points abroad,” the DFA said.
It said it would issue an order making the cancellation.
