22 September 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Wilfredo C. Santos made a courtesy call on Qatari Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Dr. Abdullah Saleh Al-Khulaifi on September 21 to reaffirm his commitment to further strengthen labor cooperation between the Philippine Embassy and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) on the protection of the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos in Qatar.
Ambassador Santos and the rest of his delegation – Labor Attaché Leopoldo B. de Jesus, Attaché for Political and Economic Affairs Sorhaya P. Dilabakun, and Cultural Attaché John Danilo Jiao – were received warmly by the Minister and Mr. Saleh Saeed Al-Shawi, Head of the Ministry’s Legal Affairs Department.
The Ambassador acknowledged Qatar’s efforts to amend its labor laws, which include the amendments to the kafala system that will benefit migrant workers in the country. He also congratulated MoLSA for its successful hosting of the 2nd Philippine-Qatar Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) on Labor Matters held from February 04 to 05 and expressed the hope that the 3rd JCM be convened in Manila soon.
Before leaving a token of appreciation, Ambassador Santos conveyed the hope that Qatar would remain open to further discussing and exploring initiatives that would improve the welfare of the thousands of Filipino workers in the country. END