NextGen Day

With an intensified fight against kafala in 2021 and continuing repatriation of distressed nationals back home, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) continued to advance the rights and welfare of Filipino workers abroad despite the pandemic.

Last year, Saudi Arabia was added to DFA’s growing list of partners as the newest country to adopt labor reform initiatives, benefiting thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom.

“In 2021, lalong umigting iyong kafala campaign natin.” (Our battle against kafala became stronger in 2021, thanks to our new ally, Saudi Arabia.) We have Saudi Arabia as a new partner) because of their labor reform program, and we are quite fortunate and grateful that they trust us, the country of origin,” said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola.

“Of course, the Philippines’ leadership is well-known around the world because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s strong push for the Filipino people’s freedom and labor rights (because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s strong push for the Filipino people’s freedom and labor rights).” And I believe that the manner we repatriated our kababayans and cared for them when they returned to the Philippines is the gold standard for migrant protection,” she added.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began in February 2020, the DFA has supported the repatriation of 454,796 distressed Filipinos, according to the most recent data as of December 31, 2021.

Repatriates from Syria who had been trafficked and sexually abused were among them.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. pledged at the start of the year to return the stranded Filipinas as soon as possible, a commitment he kept in June 2021. That month, the Philippine Embassy’s refuge in Syria was completely empty for the “first time in history.”

In the United States, DFA’s foreign service posts kept a careful eye on the situation and worked closely with local authorities to protect Filipinos as attacks on Asian Americans increased as a result of Covid-19.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. addressed a note verbale to the US State Department and Senate, requesting that Asian descents, especially Filipinos and Filipino-Americans, be better protected.

Last year, Filipino-American Noel Quintana was one of the victims, his face sliced with a boxcutter knife while commuting in New York.

Another attack in New York in March 2021 on 65-year-old Filipin Vilma Kari aroused outrage among Filipinos, with Locsin himself claiming that the incident will “affect Philippine foreign policy.” Kari was seriously injured at the time after her assailant slammed her to the ground and repeatedly trampled her head while making anti-Asian slurs.

According to data from the Stop AAPI Hate coalition, Filipinos rank third among nationalities who face hate crimes. Between March 2020 and September 2021, at least 933 Filipinos are said to have been victims of hate crimes in the United States.

The DFA also launched a Herculean effort to repatriate Filipinos in the second half of 2021, as the crisis in Afghanistan forced countries of origin, including the Philippines, to scramble to repatriate their nationals who wanted to flee the Taliban’s rule after the group successfully seized Kabul’s capital.

Images of tourists and residents fleeing the country at the time were all over social media, with some of them dying as they desperately clung to a moving plane to get out of the country, plummeting mid-air as the plane took off.

A total of 191 Filipinos were able to depart Afghanistan as of September 2021, while 18 others chose to remain.

Some of the repatriates who boarded US military jets landed in Qatar and stayed there until they were flown back to their home countries.

This, according to Philippine Consul General to Qatar Roussel Reyes, demonstrates the country’s foreign service posts, the DFA, and its partners’ effective coordination.

“If you recall, many Filipinos were evacuated from Afghanistan, and sila nakarating dahil po nga may US military installation po dito and again in Qatar” (there were many Filipinos who were evacuated from Afghanistan and landed here in Qatar). We were able to repatriate them from Qatar to the Philippines with the department’s full cooperation and in coordination with the US armed troops and the concerned Qatar authorities,” he said.

Apart from defending its citizens, the Philippines welcomed Afghan refugees, the first of whom came in September 2021–a move that, according to Locsin, demonstrated Manila’s “steadiness while others waver.”

‘Promoting PH interest’ is a phrase that means “promoting PH interest.”

The Philippines’ commitment to pursue an independent foreign policy in which it engages with other governments while promoting the country’s national interests was again stressed in 2021.

“The DFA’s responsibility to defend our territories, contribute to national economic development, protect Filipinos’ rights and welfare, promote Filipino culture, and uphold our nation’s standing in the global community has not wavered,” Locsin said.

“Under President Duterte’s guidance and direction, the DFA has plowed ahead, resolute and resilient.” “We have followed an autonomous foreign policy for the first time in the Republic’s history, and we have done well by it,” he continued.

More than a year after the chief executive announced its abrogation, the government agreed to keep the Visiting Forces Agreement in 2021.

The DFA promised the public that the Philippines will respond to any invasion into its jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.

In fact, China’s illegal presence and actions in Philippine waters prompted a flurry of diplomatic protests in 2021.

The DFA issued a strong statement in April, condemning Beijing for blatantly infringing on Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.

At the time, Philippine maritime law enforcement agencies observed more than a hundred Chinese fishing vessels and “Chinese Maritime Militia vessels” continuing to operate illegally within the country’s exclusive economic zone, in the waters of the Kalayaan Island Group, and in and around the territorial waters of Bajo de Masinloc.

Manila also disputed China’s rights in the Ayungin Shoal, where the latter’s coast guard stopped two Philippine boats en way to resupply the garrison of Filipino troops in the Ayungin last November and discharged water cannon at them.

In his 2021 State of the Nation Address, President Duterte announced that the administration had “clearly and in no uncertain terms” asserted the 2016 South China Sea arbitration verdict bilaterally, at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and lastly at the United Nations General Assembly.”

Despite the pandemic’s limits, DFA was able to move forward with the Code of Conduct (COC) negotiations, with parties achieving a “provisional agreement” on the preamble.

“Our goal remains a functional and substantial COC; it goes without saying that it must respect UNCLOS and the arbitral ruling, not undermine it,” Locsin added.

Duterte stated in 2021 that “gone are the days when the Philippines decides and acts in the shadows of great powers.” We will reclaim what is truly ours and battle for what the Filipino people are owed.”

Save/Share this story with QR CODE

---

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement of any specific technologies or methodologies and financial advice or endorsement of any specific products or services.

📩 Need to get in touch?

Feel free to Email Us for comments, suggestions, reviews, or anything else.

---

We appreciate your reading. 😊Simple Ways To Say Thanks & Support Us:
1.) ❤️GIVE A TIP. Send a small donation thru Paypal😊❤️
Your DONATION will be used to fund and maintain NEXTGENDAY.com
Subscribers in the Philippines can make donations to mobile number 0917 906 3081, thru GCash.
3.) 🛒 BUY or SIGN UP to our AFFILIATE PARTNERS.
4.) 👍 Give this news article a THUMBS UP, and Leave a Comment (at Least Five Words).

---

AFFILIATE PARTNERS

World Class Nutritional Supplements - Buy Highest Quality Products, Purest Most Healthy Ingredients, Direct to your Door! Up to 90% OFF.
Join LiveGood Today - A company created to satisfy the world's most demanding leaders and entrepreneurs, with the best compensation plan today.

---