28 January 2005 – Philippine Ambassador to Canberra, Australia Cristina Ortega traveled more than 4580 kilometers from Canberra to Tuvalu, a remote island in the South Pacific, and to her surprise, found a Philippine-made jeepney being used by the local people for public transport and the private internet facility put up by a Filipino.

Ambassador Ortega was on her first official visit from 14 to 23 January 2005 for the presentation of her credentials as non-resident Ambassador to Tuvalu to HE. Faimalaga Luka, Governor-General of Tuvalu and representative of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Head of State.

Tuvalu, the former Ellice Islands, gained its independence from the United Kingdom in October 1978. It is a member of the United Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum. On its second term, Tuvalu was elected as the representative of the Alliance of Small Island States to the Bureau of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In September 2003, Ambassador Willy Gaa made a historic visit to Tuvalu for the full establishment of the Philippine’s diplomatic relations with the island.

Apart from the Philippine-made jeepney, the only air-conditioned public transport in Tuvalu, Ambassador Ortega also learned that Tuvalu’s private internet connection to the outside world was made possible by Filipino IT Specialist Alan Loristo. OFW Loristo used to work with Mr. Afelee Pita, a Tuvaluan national, at the Asian Development Bank in Manila. Mr. Pita put up the only internet bar in Tuvalu with Mr. Loristo’s help and imported a dozen computers and the jeepney in July 2004. He also operated a store selling a whole range of Philippine-made products.

“We certainly have ties with Tuvalu,” Ambassador Ortega articulated during an informal dinner she hosted for the three OFWs in Tuvalu, the two others being Dr. Inocencio Oballo, a consultant surgeon at the Princess Margaret Hospital, the only hospital in the country and Mr. Fredo Abacajin, a project advisor and volunteer of the Volunteer Service Organization, a non-government organization. The three Filipinos eagerly exchanged views with the Ambassador on Philippine developments and their working conditions in Tuvalu.

“We share many things in common with Tuvaluans for we came from one Polynesian race thousands of years ago,” the Ambassador noted.

The Ambassador also met with the Acting Prime Minister Hon. Saufatu Sopoanga and other Tuvaluan officials and discussed areas of mutual interest, including health care, higher education, the coconut industry, aquaculture, SMEs development, and local planning.  END
 

/jay