13 January 2015 - The Philippine Embassy in Berne held its Annual Meeting with leaders of the various Filipino organizations in Switzerland on January 10.
Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland Leslie Baja welcomed those present and expressed his gratitude for the leaders’ continued support for the projects and activities of the Philippine Embassy. Ambassador Baja reiterated his rallying call for Filipinos across Switzerland to maintain unity and stressed the importance of successfully integrating into the Swiss society. He reminded them of the importance of keeping abreast with local developments, especially on new policies that affect Filipino migrants, such as the effect of the 9th February initiative which proposes the imposition of quotas on the number of migrants into the country. Similarly, he stressed the contributions made by the Filipinos to the Swiss society and expressed hope for the current crop of Filipino migrants to continue to uphold the good reputation that Filipinos have earned and made in Switzerland. He also expressed gratitude to the organizations that have continued to organize projects and activities that complement those done by the Embassy in promoting awareness of the Philippines in Switzerland.
He assured the Filipino community that their officials at the Embassy stand ready anytime to provide assistance should they need one.
Ambassador Baja also briefed those present of the list of activities that the Embassy plans to embark on for 2015, including the conduct of several consular outreach activities in selected cantons and of registration for overseas voters. The occasion also served as a platform for Filipino leaders to inform those present of the activities of their organizations, and for others, changes in their organizations’ leadership.
As is the usual practice, past and present organizers of Philippine Independence Day celebrations briefed the leaders on the results of the recent past Independence Day celebration and the ongoing preparations for the one to be held in the current year.
The event was the fourth under Ambassador Baja’s term. Also present during the meeting were officials from the Philippine Mission and the Philippine Labor Office in Geneva. END