PH Embassies, Consulates in Americas Assured of Support in Delivery of Services, Protection of Rights of Filipinos
NEW YORK 26 June 2018 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano has assured Filipino diplomats in the Americas they will get all the support they need in further improving the delivery of consular services and in promoting and protecting the rights of Filipinos in their areas of jurisdiction.
“We assure our Philippine embassies and consulates in the Americas and the rest of the world that they shall have all the support and resources they need to allow them to serve our people quicker and better," Secretary Cayetano told diplomats who attended the recent two-day command conference in New York.
Also discussed during the conference the Secretary presided over at the Philippine Center in Manhattan were issues related to migration, security, and politico-economic developments in the Americas.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. also gave a briefing on the situation in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea for the participating ambassadors and consuls general from Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Guam, Chicago in the United States; Ottawa and Vancouver in Canada; Mexico; Chile; and Argentina.
In his remarks, Secretary Cayetano emphasized to continue improving the delivery of consular services and in extending assistance to nationals in distress abroad. The Secretary said this is in line with President Rodrigo R. Duterte's directive to ensure that all government agencies are able to provide quick, efficient and enhanced services to Filipinos all over the world.
“With the holding of this command conference, we would want our embassies and consulates to more effectively serve our kababayans abroad and for them to become centers of excellence in the delivery of ATN services to distressed overseas Filipinos,” Secretary Cayetano said.
He assured embassies and consulates in the Americas that they will continue to receive support and resources for them to effectively assist all Filipinos in their respective jurisdictions.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said the envoys were briefed on the implementation of new rules on the Assistance to Nationals and Legal Assistance Funds for overseas Filipinos, and in maximizing the use of social media in advancing Philippine interests in the region, among others.
Undersecretary Arriola said the command conference is the latest of several regional consultations organized by the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs to update Filipino diplomats on the efforts to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos abroad.
Similar regional conferences were conducted in Milan for Middle East, African, and European posts in January, and in Manila in April for Asia-Pacific posts. END
