DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                 2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                               Tel. No. 834-4000 

SFA-AGR-455-05                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      03 July  2005
FILIPINO COMMUNITY IN SAUDI ARABIA UNITES BEHIND PGMA’S CONTINUED LEADERSHIP
2 July 2005, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo today personally received the joint manifesto of Overseas Filipino Workers groups welcoming the admission of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on her taped phone conversation and saying that this should put the matter to rest and that the nation should now unite behind the President. The Secretary today also received two other letters of support, one from another large coalition of Filipino workers and the other from a group of Muslim community leaders. Saudi Arabia is home to over 900,000 Filipinos, the largest overseas Filipino migrant community.

“Now that the President has admitted that the voice is hers, let us close this chapter and join hands in pursuing a constructive program for our country.  It is time for us to close ranks and cooperate with the leaders of our government to hasten our development and progress.  We must unite for the common good and help upgrade our living conditions,” the Filipino Community said in their joint manifesto which was handed to Secretary Romulo by Mr. Alex Veloso Bello, the President of the OFW-Congress.

The joint manifesto was signed by 34 Filipino community leaders.  In addition to their signature, the Filipino community leaders listed the names of their organizations, their positions and their contact numbers.

The OFW leaders also asked that all actions to be taken on this issue should be done by legal and constitutional means and condemned any attempts at destabilization, saying “the FilCom leaders in Riyadh strongly denounces and condemns any attempts by any groups or individuals to resolve the impasse through unconstitutional and undemocratic means since this will only destabilize our fragile economy and bring more hardships to the Filipino people.”

In their manifesto, the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia hailed “the unprecedented act of public contrition when the president asked for forgiveness.”

They also expressed the strong belief “that such gesture of statesmanship should put the wiretapping issue to rest, the lapse of judgment on the part of the president is readily forgivable.”

In addition to the signed joint manifesto, the Secretary also received letters of support from the Chairmen of the United Overseas Filipino Workers (United OFW) and the Council of Unified Muslim Community Leaders in Riyadh.

In his letter to Secretary Romulo, United OFW National Chairman Engr. Frank G. Naval said that their organization supported the mandate of President Arroyo. “In behalf of the Executive Board and Leaders of United OFW, we stand to be united and we support the mandate of your administration as vested upon by the constitution and the people of the Republic of the Philippines.” Chairman Naval also emphasized that while the United OFW is non-partisan being “neither on the side of the administration nor opposition,” their organization asks that the “law prevail for the sake of peace and unity.”

On his part, Mr. Saidali M. Malic, the Chairman of the Council of Unified Muslim Community Leaders in Riyadh in his letter said “While we have been doing our great shares as OFWS, we would like to express our stand that our trust and confidence is still with the government of her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and rested upon the strong bondage and indubitable force of the different hierarchies and branches of our government especially our cabinet members.

Secretary Romulo thanked the Filipino community leaders for their manifesto and letters of support and said that he was profoundly touched by how the Filipino overseas community remains deeply concerned for their country. “I am always profoundly touched when overseas Filipinos show how dearly they continue to love their country.  They always say that even though they are busy and hard at work and though they are far from home, the good of the Filipino people and the future of our nation are always in their hearts,” the Secretary said.

“In this particular instance, I was moved by the sentiments of the Filipino community, that of forgiveness and of moving on,” the Secretary added.

Secretary Romulo received the manifesto and letters of support during a Filipino community gathering at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.

“In all my travels, I always make it a point to meet with the Filipino community,” the Secretary said.  “This is always a part of my official schedule that I eagerly look forward to,” he added.

Secretary Romulo flew to Saudi Arabia from Yemen yesterday, where he attended the 32nd Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers. The Secretary is in the Saudi capital on an official visit to discuss issues of particular concern to the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. END