The Official Website of the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, Canada

Explanation of Vote of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. on the Global Compact for Migration

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TLL UNGA New York

[Delivered during the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City on 19 December 2018]

Madame President, my good friend Foreign Minister Peter Szijjärtó.

The Philippines will vote in favor of and strongly supports this resolution endorsing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

Some of our friends in this endeavor have withdrawn under pressure from political constituencies. Others opposed it from the start for the same reason. And that is only right; we should respond to our constituencies for we are all democracies. Still others have reasons with which we agree or with which we do not completely disagree; but where we do disagree we must not leave them unanswered.

Statement of HON. TEODORO L. LOCSIN JR., Secretary of Foreign Affairs, at the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

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Delivered at Bab Ighli, Blue Zone in Marrakesh, Morocco on 10 December 2018]

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. We thank the Kingdom of Morocco for its warm and generous hospitality.

These are days of fear, fury and confusion. Some of our friends in today’s endeavor have withdrawn under pressure from their constituencies. And they must indeed respond to them for we are democracies. But while some of the lights are going out in the West as once they did, the bright shining lights of the likes of Germany, France and Spain continue to push back the darkness enveloping the migrant experience. The Philippines is not discouraged. The GCM enjoys near universal support and those not yet ready to commit recognize the clear need to discuss migration.

We have defeated the notion that migration is bad; quite the opposite. And we did this with facts and not frightful fantasies of losses of jobs no Westerner would take. We did it with reason by showing that migrants have been useful additions to host countries. Not fear but facts shaped our perception; reason not passion distinguished discussion at the UN if nowhere else, and we should be proud to acknowledge that a decent regard for the opinion of mankind dictated our decision to adopt the Global Compact today.

FILIPINOS KEEP CHRISTMAS NOVENA TRADITION

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SIMBANG GABI

Filipino participants receive communion from Rev. Fr. Dominic Lim, OFM.

The Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, led by Chargé d’Affaires, a.i Francisco Noel Fernandez III, sponsored and participated in the first Simbang Gabi mass last Saturday, 15 December, at the Assumption Parish Church in Ottawa. The mass was officiated by Rev. Fr. Dominic Lim, OFM.

The Simbang Gabi masses provide an opportunity for the Filipino diaspora in Ottawa to keep the Filipino Christmas novena tradition alive. The Philippine Embassy sponsors its first mass each year.

A salo-salo followed the mass where participants shared traditional Christmas fares, including pansit, lumpiang Shanghai, hamon, and cassava cake.

The Philippine Embassy in Ottawa Conducts Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Seminars in Kingston, Ontario

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Kingston

Clockwise from the top: First Secretaries and Consuls Eric Aquino and Jeffrey Salik listen to the presentations of Filipino entrepreneurs from Kingston, Toronto, and Montreal regarding their respective businesses on 05 December 2018 in Kingston; Mr. Salik talks about the Embassy’s Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy programs as well as economic diplomacy plans for next year; Ms. Lucita Abinuman-Mariano, President of Philippine Business Council in Kingston (7th from left), pose with Consuls Aquino and Salik and Filipino entrepreneurs. (Photo credits: Mr. Norberto R. Mandin, Jr. of Canadian Pinoy Radio – Montreal)