Tags: Department of Foreign Affairs, departmental issuances

Kagawaran ng Ugnayang Panlabas

Department of Foreign Affairs

 

DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 23-12

Subject: Establishing the Diplomatic Security Unit

Under the Office of Intelligence and Security

Section 1. Legal Basis and Justification

Article XXII, section 2 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states that, “The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity”;
Pursuant to Article XXIX of the same Convention, the Philippines as the receiving state is mandated to take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on the person, freedom and dignity of a diplomatic agent;
The Department of Foreign Affairs is the agency in government primarily responsible in managing the state’s foreign relations and maintaining Philippine representation with foreign governments through their embassies in the country;
Pursuant to Section 24 of Republic Act No. 6975 as amended by Republic Act No. 855, the Philippine National Police, mandated to maintain peace and order and take all necessary steps to ensure public safety, has organized itself to specifically address diplomatic security issues through its Letter of Instruction (LOI) 56/2011 revising the Task Force Diplomatic Security;
The Office of Intelligence and Security is the Department’s primary point of contact with the Philippine National Police and other Philippine law enforcement agencies as well as with the intelligence community on matters related to intelligence and security;
It is critical for the Department to have an institutional mechanism to adequately respond to requests for security coverage from the accredited foreign missions and international organizations;
Section 9 of the Philippine Foreign Service Act authorizes the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to review and periodically realign the principal offices of the Department in order to effectively meet the requirements of the service;
Section 83 of the Philippine Foreign Service Act further authorizes the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to effect the organization of the Department and the Foreign Service and to allot funds provided for the Department in the General Appropriations Act;

Section 2. Creation, Mandate and Composition

The Diplomatic Security Unit (DSU) is hereby created as part of the Diplomatic Security and Foreign Liaison Section of the Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Division in the Office of Intelligence and Security (OIS). The DSU shall have the following mandate and composition:

A. Mandate – The Diplomatic Security Unit shall serve as the focal point in coordinating with responsible units of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in fulfilling the Philippines’ obligations in accordance with the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations with regard to the security of the diplomatic missions and their personnel in the country.

The DSU shall also be the responsible unit in the Department in processing   requests from diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited to   the Philippines for security coverage and assistance.

The DSU shall also address other security matters and concerns of the diplomatic missions and international organizations and perform other related functions as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Head of the OIS may direct.

B. Composition – The DSU shall be under the control and supervision of the Head of the Office of Intelligence and Security (OIS). It shall be a component of the Intelligence and Counter-intelligence Division, which is headed by a Special Assistant, as part of the Diplomatic Security and Foreign Liaison Section. It will be staffed by two (2) assistants for technical and administrative support.

Section 3. Functions

The DSU shall perform the following functions:

a)     Conduct periodic assessment of threats on foreign missions and their personnel in coordination with the National Intelligence Committee (NIC) and other law enforcement agencies and maintain a database of threat assessments and post-operation reports for security operations;

b)     Recommend to the PNP Task Force Diplomatic Security, the degree of protection warranted by such threat assessment;

c)      Process requests for security coverage and assistance from accredited foreign missions/international organization and coordinate with the PNP TF Diplomatic Security on the degree of protection to address the said requests;

d)     Monitor the conduct of security coverage by the responsible PNP units for the duration of each engagement as indicated in the request and act as liaison between the operating units and the requesting party;

e)     Monitor and espouse, in cooperation with the Office of Protocol, proper compliance with Articles 22, 29 and 30 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Articles 31, 40, 41 and 42 of the Vienna Convention oh Consular Relations among law enforcement agencies in dealing with the diplomatic corps;

Section 4. Reporting

The DSU will accomplish a post-operation report to be submitted to the Head of the OIS after the termination of each engagement on the conduct of the security operations and all other related security matters and issues. Other relevant/responsible offices shall be furnished with copies of the said reports.

Section 5. Funding

For 2013, the funding requirements for the DSU shall be sourced from the existing funds of the Department. Thereafter, such amounts as may be deemed necessary for the operations of the unit shall be incorporated and included in the annual budget appropriations of the Department.

Section 6. Separability Clause

If any part of this Department Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional by competent authority, the other parts that are not covered by such declaration shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 7. Repealing Clause

All Department Orders, Circulars, and Regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Order are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Section 8. Effectivity

This Department Order shall take effect after fifteen (15) days from the date of its deposit with the Office of the National Administrative Register (ONAR) and publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation.

(Sgd.) ALBERT F. DEL ROSARIO

Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Pasay City, 18 September, 2012


Resources

[PDF] DFA Department Order No. 23-12, November 27, 2012

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