Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Conducts a Town Hall Meeting with Representatives from Filipino Community in Qatar
Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola fields questions from and updates the Filipino community during a Town Hall meeting at the Embassy on 16 December 2019. (Doha PE photo)

QATAR 02 January 2019 — Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola met with the Filipino community in Qatar during a Town Hall meeting at the Philippine Embassy in Qatar on 16 December 2019, which was attended by 114 participants, representing 49 Filipino community organizations.

Undersecretary Arriola and Embassy officials fielded questions raised during the meeting, ranging from Embassy and Host Country policies affecting the conduct of activities of community organizations in Qatar, developments on the creation of the “Department of OFWs,” the OFW Bank, trafficking, general cases, Polio vaccination, etc.

On the creation of the new Department, Undersecretary Arriola shared some updates from Manila, including the ongoing budget deliberation in Congress, its timeline and possible resulting structure. Undersecretary Arriola stated that the President is keen on fulfilling his campaign promise to establish a new Department that will exclusively cater to Overseas Filipino Workers and other Overseas Filipinos before his term expires.

As the capstone activity during her two-day visit to Qatar from 15 to 16 December 2019, the Town Hall meeting provided Undersecretary Arriola with the opportunity to also share with the attendees the results of her meetings with Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, and the International Labor Organization. END

For more information, visit https://www.dohape.dfa.gov.ph  or https://www.facebook.com/PHinQatar/.