DFA’s old, historic building to undergo major retrofitting

Department of Foreign Affairs original building. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) headquarters in Pasay City will undergo major retrofitting, which will take three to four years, its chief Enrique Manalo said on Thursday.

Manalo made the update during the Senate subcommittee hearing, which tackled the DFA’s proposed budget of P27.4 billion.

“It will be a major retrofit of the old building,” Manalo told Senators.

“It is a listed historic building now in Pasay City,” he continued. “I think it does need a major overhaul especially the foundation and the wiring including a number of hazards.”

READ: 6 new DFA consular offices eyed, TOPS’ security risks raised

In the meantime, Manalo said the DFA headquarters will be moved to the Double Dragon building also in Pasay City, few blocks away from the Mall of Asia.

“Some offices have already begun moving out,” he said. “So we hope to be fully there in the new building before the end of the year, maybe by November.”

Asked by subcommittee chair Senator Loren Legarda how long the retrofitting will last, Manalo said: “They told us three to four years.”

The new DFA building was the old Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) old headquarters. It was inaugurated on November 18, 1972.

With the ADB’s transfer to its new headquarters in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City in the 1990s, the old ADB Building became the new home office of the DFA.