10 March 2014 - The Philippine Embassy in Mexico reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Mexico-Philippines Friendship Group, created under the current 62nd (LXII) Legislature of the Mexican Federal Congress, was formally inaugurated on February 25 at the facilities of the Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro, in Mexico City, seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the bicameral Mexican Congress.
Present at the installation ceremony were the officers and members of the said parliamentary friendship group together with Philippine Ambassador to Mexico Catalino R. Dilem, Jr. as guest, other Embassy officials, Foreign Ministry representatives, Mexican lawmakers and the congressional press corps.
As organized under the Organic Law of the Mexican Federal Congress and the pertinent resolution on the establishment of parliamentary friendship groups in the LXII National Legislature, the Mexico-Philippines Friendship Group or Grupo de Amistad México-Filipinas serves as a platform to generate and deliberate on measures that will enhance our two countries´ bilateral relations as well as a mechanism to strengthen bilateral dialogue and cooperation through parliamentary diplomacy.
The current roster of the group consists of the following legislators from the Mexican Camara de Diputados, counterpart of the Philippine House of Representatives:
President: Dip. Rocío Esmeralda Reza Gallegos, Partido de Acción Nacional (PAN) / National Action Party, State of Chihuahua
Vice Presidents: Dip. Aurora Denisse Ugalde Alegría, Partido de la Revolución Institucional (PRI) / Institutional Revolutionary Party, State of Mexico and Dip. Vicario Portillo Martínez, Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) / Party of the Democratic Revolution, State of Guerrero
Members: Dip. Rubén Acosta Montoya, Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM) / Green Party, State of Chihuahua; Dip. Abel Guerra Garza, PRI State of Nuevo León; Dip. Gloria Elizabeth Núñez Sánchez, PRI, State of Nayarit
Parliamentary friendship groups are commonly set up upon the initiative of Members of Congress, and are coterminous with the particular Congress during which they are formed, to be revived upon the request of Members of the next Congress. The groups´ membership is modified as Members cease to hold office or when new Members join such groups.
In her address at the formal launching of the Mexico-Philippines Friendship Group, Dip. Reza Gallegos, the group President, cited the historic and enduring links that bind our two countries. She said that the parliamentary friendship group will serve as a forum to identify and develop areas of cooperation where there is synergy between the respective potentials and needs of Mexico and the Philippines which are both strong emerging economies situated in the most dynamic regions of the world today. She conveyed the group´s sincere appreciation to Ambassador Dilem for honoring them with his presence and to the Embassy for its active support for the group.
The Ambassador congratulated the officers and members of the Grupo de Amistad for their efforts and dedication in constituting the friendship group, taking the occasion to convey the Filipino people´s deep appreciation to the Mexican Government for its invaluable assistance in contributing to the relief and rehabilitation of the communities devastated by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
The Ambassador also noted that the Philippines and Mexico have a close affinity with each other because we have a shared history, language and culture fostered by the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade between 1565 and 1815 which planted the seeds of PHL-Mexico relations.
Ambassador Dilem emphasized that our bilateral relations should be further enhanced for our mutual benefit in areas such as trade, tourism, educational and technological cooperation, cultural exchanges, people-to-people contacts and other collaborative endeavors, in the same manner that the galleons served as transpacific vehicles for economic, cultural and social exchanges.
For his part, Dip. Eloy Cantú Segovia, the Chairman of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Relations, expressed his solidarity with the Mexico-Philippines Friendship Group and expressed confidence that the parliamentary group will bring the fraternal relations between Mexico and the Philippines to a higher level.
The occasion reached a high note with the signing of the parliamentary group´s Articles of Incorporation by its members, as attested to by the Ambassador who served as honorary witness. The program concluded with the signing of the guest book and the traditional exchange of gifts. END
