IKOT.PH
As the easing of COVID-19 cases prompts OFWs to job-hunt again, the government should open more off-site passport processing centers in malls outside of Metro Manila, Senator Joel Villanueva said. Villanueva said the move of the Department of Foreign Affairs to open six Temporary Off-Site Passport Services (DFA-TOPS) in NCR last month is “a great […]
The fund intended for helping Filipinos overseas, including over 10 million overseas Filipinos, in the 2022 national budget should be augmented to reflect how the government values the welfare of overseas Filipinos, Senator Joel Villanueva said. According to the National Expenditure Program for next year released by the DBM recently, Villanueva said the Assistance to […]
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson took the cudgels for retired career officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as he pushed for an increase in their monthly pension and disability benefits, in exchange for their long years of looking after the welfare of Filipinos and the interests of the Philippines abroad. Lacson, in filing Senate […]
Senator Dick Gordon commended Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. for filing diplomatic complaints against China’s aggression at the disputed West Philippine Sea. “I commend Secretary Locsin for taking a very important and valiant action by standing up for our rights. He did right by our country, and we support him wholeheartedly,” Gordon said. “He did right […]
“Philippine diplomats abroad who are duty-bound to come to the defense of abused and mistreated overseas Filipino workers in their areas of jurisdiction should be above reproach and must treat their workers in the manner by which we want our OFWs to be treated by their own employers.” This was the reaction of Manila 6th […]
Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Generoso DG Calonge has been appointed Commodore of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Auxiliary. A Commodore is the Coast Guard or Navy rank equivalent of a Brigadier General in the Army. Assistant Secretary Calonge also served as an officer in the Philippine Army for […]
Senator Koko Pimentel III lauded the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for its successful efforts and continued assistance to Filipinos abroad amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Pimentel, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, noted that the repatriation program for displaced Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and the daily tracking of […]
The Department of Foreign Affairs breached the 16,000 mark of repatriated seafarers on Sunday, April 19, 2020, as two consecutive flights carrying a total of 571 Filipino crew of the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship of the Norwegian Cruise Line were brought home from Orlando, Florida to Manila.Implementing the stringent quarantine protocol, the repatriates underwent a health […]
The House of Representatives has commended the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) emergency repatriation teams for successfully bringing home 30 Filipinos from Wuhan City in China’s Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. The chamber adopted House Resolution 711 honoring the heroism, courage, and great compassion of the 10-member […]
Senator Dick Gordon said Hong Kong authorities acted with disrespect and exhibited lack of good judgment in the manner they have treated former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, who was detained for hours at the Hong Kong airport for undisclosed reasons. Gordon pointed out that with Del Rosario’s pronouncements, too, on the abandonment of […]