Dear Mr. Dumaual:

Please refer to your column of January 14th in which you reminded me that Mrs. Boots Ansor-Roa is in fact a press attaché at our embassy in Washington, contrary to what I had written in a letter published in the People’s Forum.

You are, of course, correct. Mrs. Roa’s official designation as that of a press attaché. But as I pointed out in my letter, a press attaché is properly a careerist; Mrs. Roa is not.

While I understand the desire of Ambassador Benjamin Romouldez (another non-careerist) to have someone in his confidence act as his spokesman, I can also understand the discouragement of those careerists in the foreign service who might otherwise have been tapped for the position in Washington.

My regard for Mrs. Roa as an actress cannot overcome my deep disappointment over her being party to another blow against careerism in the foreign service.

I acknowledge that I shouldn’t have said you had erred. If at all, I should have said that I disagreed with your identifying Mrs. Roa as a press attaché and pointed out that while she does not hold that designation, it would have been more proper for a career person to hold it.

Please accept my apologies for any embarrassment my letter may have caused you . . . and thank you for being very decent about my failure to realize that my letter would be interpreted by most people as questioning your professionalism.

JORDAN DY