05 May 2014 - Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James (United Kingdom) Enrique A. Manalo undertook his first-ever visit to the Isle of Man from April 27 to 29.
The visit was arranged in coordination with the External Relations Division, Cabinet Office of the Isle of Man, with Lieutenant Governor and HM The Queen’s personal representative to the island Adam Wood hosting Ambassador Manalo and his delegation at the Government House, the official residence.
The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, with a population of 84,497 (2011 census). It is not part of the United Kingdom, but is a member of the British Commonwealth. Its Head of State is HM Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann.
The island’s parliament is Tynwald, which is reckoned to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world. Tynwald is a bicameral legislature comprising of the House of Keys, whose members are directly elected by universal suffrage and would be the equivalent of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, and the Legislative Council, which consists of indirectly-elected and ex-officio members. These two bodies meet together in a joint session as Tynwald.
The executive branch of the government is the Council of Ministers, which is composed of the members of Tynwald and headed by the Chief Minister, currently Alan Bell MHK.
The Isle of Man is one of the fastest growing economies of Europe in recent years and is in its 26th year of continuous growth. Despite the challenges of the current global economy, it enjoys current growth at 2.5% p.a. in real terms and GDP exceeds £2bn.
Aside from the Lieutenant Governor, Ambassador Manalo was able to meet and engage with the top officials across the Manx Government, among them: Chief Minister Alan Bell MHK; Tynwald President Clare Christian; and House of Keys Speaker Steve Roddan SHK.
The meetings enabled Ambassador Manalo to increase the profile of the Philippines in the Isle of Man and potentially broaden areas of cooperation such as in trade and investment, education and culture, and environmental projects.
The Ambassador also took the opportunity to meet with the members of the Filipino community in the Isle of Man and praised them for their contribution to the national development of the Philippines as well as their significant contribution to the Manx economy and society.
Forming one of the largest foreign communities in the Isle of Man, about 3,000 Filipinos are estimated to live there. Majority of them are nurses and caregivers with their family members working in retail and the hotel services industries. END