MANILA, Philippines - The government of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was ready to receive Vice President Jejomar Binay during his Middle East visit, but the latter said "pressing duties at home" forced him to postpone the meeting.
"Pressing official duties at home did not allow me to extend my week-long absence from the country. So I had to request that my visit be reset for a mutually convenient date for the parties," the vice president said in a statement when he arrived in Manila on Mar. 4.
He said he received the news in the afternoon of Mar. 3, Friday. "On my arrival in Dubai from Abu Dhabi, hours before my flight home to Manila, I received word that the Saudi Arabian government was now ready to receive me and my small delegation."
Previously, Binay, through his spokesperson, expressed disappointment over the failure of the Philippine embassy in Saudi Arabia to secure an audience with the Saudi king and a visa for him.
The Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Eduardo Malaya had explained that “It’s not easy to get an audience with the Saudi king on short notice. It takes months, not weeks to get one.”
On Saturday, a separate statement by the Office of the Vice President on Saturday said Binay will join President Aquino at the graduation rites of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sunday and set to hold a housing caravan in Baguio.
Binay is also Aquino's housing czar.
Libya evacuations
Binay said he wanted to meet with the Saudi king to make arrangements regarding the Filipinos who were evacuating from strife-torn Libya.
"I had wanted to proceed to Saudi Arabia to meet with our OFWs, who had long been waiting for my visit, and to pursue a request I had earlier put to the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Manila, to provide a safe haven for our OFWs who may not be able to fly all the way to Manila after getting out of Libya. But the circumstances prevailing at the time did not allow me to proceed to Saudi Arabia," he said.
"In any case, my original request for a safe haven for our OFWs in Saudi Arabia may have been overtaken by the government’s decision to fly our evacuees directly to Manila," he added.
Newly appointed Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario had also proceeded to Tunisia to oversee the evacuation efforts. Aside from chartered flights, the Philippines has also chartered a ship to bring Filipinos out of Tripoli.
"While in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, I had the opportunity to monitor the rapidly deteriorating situation in Libya, which is home to 26,000 OFWs, and to provide the needed executive leadership to the work being done by our hard-working diplomats and labor attaches in the area, charged with the repatriation of OFWs crossing the Libyan border to Tunisia and Egypt," Binay said.
He said he was also able to connect with Foreign Affairs Secretary del Rosario when the latter was in Tunisia.
OFW groups
The Vice President had also wanted to include Saudi in his Middle East trip to meet with OFW groups in Riyadh.
The groups had wanted to discuss concerns of and protection for Filipinos working there.
On top of his duties as vice president and housing czar, Binay has been named the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers' Concerns.
Binay was in the Middle East to represent President Aquino in Kuwait's celebration of its 50th year of Independence, the 20th anniversary of its Liberation from Saddam's occupation forces, and the 5th anniversary of the ascension to power of its present Amir, Sheik Sabah Al-Ahmed A-Jaber Al Sabah.
He said he was able to secure amnesty for Filipinos with minor offenses in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Some of them will be repatriated soon.
"I have never been more proud of our OFWs. And our people have every reason to feel the same," he said in his arrival statement.
Other trips
While in the United Arab Emirates, Binay said he was able to visit the emirate of Ajman.
"I had an unscheduled meeting with the ruler, Sheik Humaid bin Rashid Al-Nuaimi, who invited my delegation to his residence at Kafer Palace and expressed a real interest in our investment policies and the areas of development open to foreign investors," he said in the statement.
He said he talked about "our need for increased investments in energy development and housing, among others."
In Dubai, he said he "met a major Kuwaiti investor in Clark and Mindanao, and one huge potential investor in any number of projects in the country"
He met them at the 4-day Dubai food fair where a participating Philippine trade delegation reported a sale of $35 million.
source: abscbn
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment