Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter S. Cayetano held a dinner meeting with select members of the Filipino community at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel, during his official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on May 9-10. The Secretary was joined by the Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority, Datu Haji Abul Khayr D. Alonto, and his wife Mrs. Bai Norhata Alonto.

Officials from the Philippine Embassy here, as well as the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah were also present during the dinner meeting.

Philippine Ambassador Adnan V. Alonto, in his welcome remarks, said that the official visit of Secretary Cayetano to the Kingdom marks his first as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

He said that the visit of the Secretary was very timely and offers a good opportunity for the Philippines to reaffirm its strong bilateral relations with the Kingdom, as well as to ensure the continued promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of close to one million Filipino workers who are residing in the Kingdom.

In his speech, Secretary Cayetano said that the Philippine government, under the leadership of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, is committed to ensuring the welfare and protection of Filipino Workers in the Middle East.

He said that the Department of Foreign Affairs is currently working on projects that will improve on the services that it renders to the public, particularly passport application and renewal. The Secretary said that he is in favor of leveraging technology to improve the Department’s services, adding that with the use of technology, passport renewal will eventually be a fully-online process.

Secretary Cayetano held an open forum with the Filipino community, answering questions on a variety of topics, such as the security situation in KSA, the Philippines bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East, as well as consular and other Embassy services.

During the event, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh also launched its Assistance to Nationals Shared Information Administration (ATNSIA), which is another project leveraging technology in order to manage the Embassy’s cases involving distressed Overseas Filipinos in the Kingdom.

First Secretary and Consul General Christopher Patrick T. Aro said that the ATNSIA will greatly ease case monitoring and management as it will act as a central repository of information on cases being handled by the Embassy, Consulate and their attached agencies. Information on cases will also be readily available to officials and case officers, since the ATNSIA is a web-based application that can be accessed real-time via live Internet connection.

A live demonstration of the ATNSIA was given by Third Secretary and Vice-Consul Von Ryan Ferrera, head of the Embassy’s Assistance to Nationals Section.

The dinner meeting was attended by over 100 Filipino community members, representing various Filipino organizations from different parts of the Kingdom.