Senator pushes for Philippine Trade Representative Office

SENATOR Manuel Roxas III on Thursday pushed for the creation of a Philippine Trade Representative Office, saying foreign service officers cannot properly negotiate in behalf of the country because of the "go-along to get-along" nature of their office. At the policy forum sponsored by the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc. (PLCPD), the former trade secretary said, "The battle I found is not necessarily so much trade [officials] versus agriculture [officials], it's really trade-agri-NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority), doing the work for services, versus the foreign service." (Inq7)