|
|
DEPARTMENT
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
|
|---|
|
|
DEPARTMENT
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
|
|---|
|
|
|
SFA-AGR-264-08 |
|
|
|
AMBASSADOR TORRES MEETS JORDAN'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER TO BID FOR SUPPORT FOR SENATOR PIA CAYETANO'S IPU CANDIDATURE |
|
17 April 2008 – Philippine Ambassador to Jordan Julius D. Torres personally handed over the letter of Senate President Manny Villar, requesting the Jordanian Government's support for the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) candidature of Senator Pia Cayetano, to Jordan’s National Assembly Speaker Abdul Hadi Majal on 08 April.
Senator Cayetano is vying for the Presidency of the IPU's Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians at elections to be held on 13-18 April 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa during the 118th IPU Assembly.
Speaker Majali said the Jordanian delegation to the IPU would "consider very seriously" the Philippine request for support in light of the existing good relations between Jordan and the Philippines.
The Speaker said he was in the Philippines 3 years ago to attend an IPU conference and he was very impressed by the Filipinos' hospitality.
Ambassador Torres earlier met Senate President Zaid Rifai to personally hand over a similar letter from Senate President Villar. Senate President Rifai said he would urge the Jordanian delegation to support Senator Cayetano's candidature.
On other concerns, Ambassador Torres and Speaker Majali agreed that it is high time to include migrant household service workers "under the umbrella of the Jordanian labor law."
Speaker Majali noted the influence of domestic workers "to transform culture" and change habits, saying that he and his family have had Filipinas in their households for a long time.
Speaker Majali has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1993, having been elected to Jordan's 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Parliament. His parliamentary service was interrupted only by his stint as Minister of Public Works from 1996 to 1997.
A Civil Engineering graduate at Baghdad University, he became chief of the general staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces in 1981 and Director of the Public Security Department from 1985 to 1989. END |
|
|
