The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) completed Batch 04 of this year’s Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS). The Course, conducted from 09 to 20 November 2020, aims to prepare personnel of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and other government agencies who are due for assignment in Philippine diplomatic and consular posts abroad.

Thirty-five (35) personnel participated in PDOS Batch 04, which was conducted through synchronous sessions via Google Meet and Zoom and asynchronous sessions through the Crisis Management and Assistance-to-Nationals (CMAN) and Gender Sensitivity Training (GST). Seven (7) of the participants were from the Department of National Defense, Philippine National Police, Department of Labor and Employment, and Department of Social Welfare and Development.

FSI is mandated to conduct PDOS to help prepare and orient the participants on the functions of Foreign Service establishments, relocation to a foreign environment, need for cross-cultural adaptation and awareness, and to provide them requisite basic information about work in the Foreign Service.

PDOS Batch 04’s Resource Persons introduced the participants to the structure and operations in the Foreign Service Posts, the One-Country Team Approach, the principles of good representation in the context of protocol and social graces, diplomatic immunities and privileges, and cultural diplomacy. There were also various briefings on the regions of Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa, and international organizations, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the United Nations.

Topics on how to be resilient and flexible in balancing work and life abroad, managing and organizing events at Post, reminders on practical management of financial resources, and re-entry planning from tour of duty were discussed as well.

As part of the Course’s requirements, the participants applied the knowledge and skills they learned in event planning by crafting event plan proposals at Posts. PDOS Batch 04 also employed live and interactive Q&A.

Acting Director Glenn Joseph Obach (third row, last tile) of the DFA Human Resource Management Office gives an overview of the dynamics of advancing Philippine foreign policy through the One-Country Team Approach.
Ms. Monika Kamille Limpo (sixth row, second tile) from the DFA Office of Policy Planning and Coordination explains the process in organizing and managing events at Post.