Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. Pays First Official Visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr.  (third from left) and Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Adnan V. Alonto (second from left) meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (fourth from left) at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 27 February 2020. (Riyadh PE photo)

RIYADH 05 March 2020 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. paid an Official Visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 26-28 February 2020, marking his first visit to the Kingdom as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He was accompanied by his wife, Madame Maria Lourdes B. Locsin, and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which includes Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns Brigido D. Dulay, and Assistant Secretary for Middle East and African Affairs Leslie J. Baja.

During his visit, Secretary Locsin met with his counterpart, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, with whom he discussed the strong bilateral relationship between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. During their meeting, Secretary Locsin underscored the need to maintain and strengthen the friendship between the two countries as they observe 50 years of diplomatic relations.

The Secretary also paid a visit to the Official Chancery of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, where he and Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Adnan V. Alonto led the groundbreaking rites for the Embassy’s Multi-purpose Hall.

DFA and Embassy officials, as well as the all-Filipino members of the Technical Committee for the Construction of the Embassy Multi-purpose Hall joined the Secretary and Ambassador Alonto during the groundbreaking ceremony, while Saudi-based Filipino social media groups covered the event.

In his remarks during the groundbreaking event, Secretary Locsin lauded the construction of the Multi-purpose Hall, saying that its completion would benefit many Overseas Filipinos based in the Kingdom by giving them a venue for many of their activities, such as training, skills-upgrading and the holding of licensure examinations. He commended Ambassador Alonto for managing to secure the funding for the Hall’s construction, despite it not being included in the initial budget of the DFA as approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Ambassador Alonto for his part, said that the funding for the Multi-purpose Hall would not have been secured without the representations made by former Secretary of Foreign Affairs and now Speaker of the House of Representatives Alan Peter S. Cayetano, who added the budget for the Hall’s construction as a congressional insertion in the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Secretary Locsin also paid a visit to the Embassy’s shelters for distressed female Overseas Filipino Workers, where he took the time to listen to the concerns of the female wards, and assuring them of the Philippine Government’s full support in addressing their problems.

Finally, the Secretary met with representatives of the various Filipino community organizations in Riyadh during a luncheon meeting held at the Marriot Hotel in the Diplomatic Quarter. In his remarks during the event, the Secretary shared with the Filipino community the mandate he received from President Rodrigo Roa Duterte when the latter appointed him as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which was to take care of the interests and wellbeing of overseas Filipinos. He said that many Filipinos are forced to work overseas because of the lack of opportunities back home in the Philippines, and that he regularly emphasizes this during the President’s Cabinet Meetings.

The Secretary also entertained questions from the Filipino community, answering queries on the DFA’s various initiatives and programs, such as the ongoing repatriation of Filipino workers from Iraq and China, as well as upcoming efforts to improve the delivery of consular and Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) services in the Kingdom.

Before leaving, the Secretary thanked the Filipino community leaders for taking the time to meet with him and air their concerns. He once again gave his assurances of the Philippine Government’s full support for the Filipino Workers in Saudi Arabia, in order to protect and promote their rights and welfare in the Kingdom. END

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. and Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Adnan V. Alonto prepare for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Embassy multipurpose Hall at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh. (Riyadh PE photo)

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. is joined by Madame Maria Lourdes B. Locsin, Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns Brigido D. Dulay, Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Adnan V. Alonto and Embassy Officials as they listen to the concerns of the wards housed at the Bahay Kalinga shelter managed by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh. (Riyadh PE photo)

Secretary Locsin distributes hygiene kits to the wards at the Philippine Embassy’s shelter for distressed female OFWs at Lotuston Hotel. (Riyadh PE photo)

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. answers questions from the Filipino Community during a lunch meeting held at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel, Diplomatic Quarter on 28 February 2020. (Riyadh PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.riyadhpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinKSA or https://twitter.com/PHLinKSA.