Title of Act.
Section 1
SECTION 1. Title of Act.—This Act shall be known as the "Foreign Service Act of the Philippines."
RA 708 (Foreign Service Act of the Philippines) TITLE 1.—General Provisions
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Objectives.
Section 2
SEC. 2. Objectives.—The Congress hereby declares that the objectives of this Act are to reorganize and strengthen the Foreign Service of the Philippines so as: To enable the Foreign Service effectively to serve abroad the interests of the Republic of the Philippines; To insure that the officers and employees of the Foreign Service are broadly representative of the Filipino people and are aware of and fully informed in respect of current trends in Philippine life; To provide improvements in the selection and training of personnel to insure that only competent persons of good moral character are recruited into the service; To provide that promotions in the service shall be on the basis of merit; To provide guarantees that career personnel of the service shall be permanent and secure in their positions during good behavior and satisfactory performance of duty; To provide salaries, allowances, and benefits that will permit the service to draw its personnel from all walks of Philippine life and to appoint persons to the highest positions in the service solely on the basis of their demonstrated ability; To provide a flexible and comprehensive framework for the direction of the Foreign Service in accordance with modern practices in public administration; and To codify into one Act all provisions of law relating to the administration of the Foreign Service.
Definitions.
Section 3
SEC. 3. Definitions.—When used in this Act, the term— "Government" means the Government of the Philippines. "President" means the President of the Philippines. "Department" means the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines. "Secretary" means the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines. "Service" means the Foreign Service of the Philippines. "Government agency" means any executive department, bureau, board, commission, or other agency in the executive branch of the Philippine Government, or any corporation owned or controlled by the Government of the Philippines. "Abroad" means all areas outside the territory of the Philippines. "Principal officer" means the officer in charge of an embassy, legation, or other diplomatic mission, or of a consulate general, consulate, or vice consulate of the Philippines. "Chief of mission" means a principal officer appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, to be in charge of an embassy or legation or other diplomatic mission of the Philippines, or any other person assigned under the terms of this Act to be minister resident, charge d' affaires, commissioner, or diplomatic agent.
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Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).