PH Diplomats in Middle East Assured of More Funding to Better Assist Distressed OFWs
22 August 2017 - Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano has assured Filipino diplomats, especially in the Middle East, that they would be provided with the resources they would need to allow them to more effectively assist Filipinos in distress.
"Our diplomats cannot be expected to quickly respond to any request for assistance from our kababayans in the Middle East and in other parts of the world if they cannot be provided with the resources they need to be able to do so," Secretary Cayetano said.
The Secretary gave the assurance after he was briefed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola about the recent consultations she conducted with officials of the country's diplomatic missions in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
"I commend our diplomats in the Middle East for all the hard work that they have been doing for our people," Secretary Cayetano said.
"I would like to assure them that they will have all the support they would need to let them accomplish the instructions of the President for them to better serve and protect our kababayans there," the Secretary added.
Secretary Cayetano said he expects the response time of embassies and consulates general to improve significantly beginning next year as a result of the approval by President Rodrigo Duterte of his request for a P1 billion budget to assist distressed Filipinos abroad in 2018.
In her consultations, Undersecretary Arriola assured the ambassadors and consuls general of funding for their assistance to nationals (ATN) programs after she was told that some foreign service posts could not effectively respond to ATN cases due to budget constraints.
"Our ATN budget will be utilized to the fullest to allow our posts to respond more quickly and more effectively," Undersecretary Arriola said.
According to her, the DFA has already spent almost 60 percent of the P400-million that was allocated by Congress to support ATN operations abroad in 2017.
Undersecretary Arriola said diplomats she met with have requested additional budgetary support from Manila to allow them to effectively respond to ATN cases and extend prompt consular services to their constituents.
"With the increase in ATN funding, we should be able to accommodate more overseas Filipinos who would need our assistance," Undersecretary Arriola said.
"We will use those funds to cover not just the usual rescues and repatriations but also to open new shelters, hire more translators, interpreters and other personnel and purchase equipment needed by our posts," she said. END