DFA Mourns The Passing of Former President Corazon C. Aquino
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The men and women of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G.
Romulo, mourn the passing of a great and esteemed leader – former President Corazon C. Aquino.
With her profound love for country and her deep faith, President Aquino carried the torch of democracy for the
Filipino People. Through her relentless efforts, the light of Philippine democracy continues to shine to this day
and inspire other nations.
The officers and staff of the DFA are deeply indebted to President Aquino for being instrumental in
strengthening the Philippine Foreign Service under her leadership.
President Aquino will remain an inspiration to those whose lives she positively touched and influenced in
working diligently for our country and people.
The DFA conveys its sincerest condolences to the family of President Aquino, and shares their grief over a loss
so irreplaceable.
In light of her passing, books of condolences will be opened at all Philippine Embassies and Consulates
General to allow foreign friends and Filipinos overseas to pay their respect to President Aquino.
The DFA will receive message of condolences from members of the Diplomatic Corps in Manila while the
Philippine flag at the DFA grounds will be at half mast during the 10-day period of national mourning. END
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Reports from Philippine Embassies and Consulates (As of 31 July 2009)
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The Hague PE
* The Ministry of the Interior and Health provided all employers, organizations and businesses a letter
enclosing information on measures and recommendations on the flu pandemic. Diplomatic and Consular
Missions were also appropriately advised of the necessary steps.
* Said information will be disseminated by Post to the Filipino community. There are currently 145 confirmed A
(H1N1) cases in the Netherlands.
Amman PE
* Post reported that there are a total of 75 A(H1N1) flu cases in Jordan and no recorded deaths related to the
virus.
* In light of the increase in the number of A(H1N1) cases the government has strictly implemented the closure
of pig farms in the south of Jordan.
Agana PCG
* The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services reported 24 cases of A(H1N1) in the island.
Shanghai PCG
* Post reported that two (2) Filipinos are under quarantine.
Hong Kong SAR PCG
* Post reported that on 27 July another Filipino died due to complications and positive of A(H1N1). Assistance
to the victim had been extended by Post.
Sydney PCG
* The Ministry of Health of South Wales confirmed that there are 19,026 confirmed A(H1N1) cases and 50 A
(H1N1)-related deaths in Australia.
Kuala Lumpur PE
* There are a total of 574 confirmed A(H1N1) cases and 4 reported deaths in Malaysia.
Beijing PE
* One (1) Filipino is under quarantine for being in close contact with an A(H1N1) patient.
Chicago PCG
* Under Post’s jurisdiction, there are 12,960 confirmed and probable cases of A(H1N1) and 39 reported
deaths in the Midwestern states.
* Post has not received report on any Filipino being afflicted with the virus.
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DFA to Assist Filipino Workers in Maldives
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The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has instructed the Philippine Embassy in Dhaka to ascertain the
condition and extend assistance to Filipinos deployed in Maldives who have allegedly complained of sub-
standard working conditions.
The DFA also directed the Embassy to immediately contact their employer and their manning agency on the
matter.
The Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has consular jurisdiction over Filipinos residing and working in Maldives.
In a letter to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the manning agency said that this is
the first time that they have received such complaint after having deployed more than 300 construction workers
in Maldives.
The manning agency admitted that there was a delay in the payment of the workers only for the month of June,
but these are now being prepared and will be remitted to their designated beneficiaries in the Philippines
within two weeks.
It added that the employer in Maldives assured that the salaries will be updated within the same period.
The manning agency also clarified reports that the workers drink rainwater and bathe using unsafe water.
“Since (the construction site) is in an island, they are using desalinated water and rain water duly treated and
for their cooking and drinking,” it wrote.”
The Philippines is represented in Maldives by an Honorary Consul. Embassy officials regularly visit Maldives to
check on the welfare and work condition of Filipino workers in the islands. END
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The DFA press corps is invited to cover the following events of the 42ND ASEAN
FOUNDATION DAY on 10 August 2009 at the Department of Foreign Affairs:
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9:00 A.M. – ASEAN Flag Raising Ceremony (DFA grounds)
9: 30 A.M. - Ribbon Cutting of the ASEAN Exhibit with the theme “One Vision, One Identity and One Caring and
Sharing Community” (DFA Lobby)
10:00 A.M. - Launching of the ASEAN Coffee Table Book and Cultural Show (DFA Auditorium)
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Yanbu & Khamis OAV Field Registrations Net Hundreds
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Overseas absentee voting (OAV) registrants in Jeddah have significantly increased in number in the past two
weeks as the 31 August deadline to register approaches, the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah
reported.
In the Yanbu field registration conducted last July 16 and 17, 507 Filipinos flocked to the Al- Tawhid
International School (ATIS) to register.
On July 23 and 24, Filipinos came to enlist for the May 2010 national elections in Khamis Mushayt bringing the
total number of new OAV voters in the Abha-Khamis Mushayt region to 750. These included registrants from
the nearby cities of Najran and Jizan.
The Consulate also reported that during weekends in July, registrants in the Consulate have markedly
swelled. This has been attributed by Consul General Ezzedin Tago to the efforts of employers like the
International Medical Center (IMC), which did not only permit their Filipino employees to come and register, but
also provided transportation service to them.
Consul General Tago further noted that civic-minded organizations like the United Filipino Muslims for Peace
and Development (UFMPAD) and the “Pinoy sa Jeddah” internet group have also been instrumental as they
campaigned hard to their members on the need for them to exercise their right of suffrage even if they are away
from the Philippines.
With three more local field registrations scheduled to be held in Philippine curriculum schools in Jeddah on
July 30 (Al Hekma International School), August 7 (International Philippine School in Jeddah) and August 14
(Pearl of the Orient International School), the Consulate expects a further increase in the number registrants in
the final stretch of the registration period.
Meanwhile, the Consulate wishes to remind the Filipino community in Jeddah and the Western Region that
OAV registration continues at the Consulate on a seven-day a week basis from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. END
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Remarks by President Obama and President Arroyo of the Philippines in Joint Press
Availability, Oval Office, 3:47 P.M. EDT
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PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, let me express my thanks and appreciation for the visit from President Arroyo. As
we discussed during our meeting here and our delegations, the relationship between the United States and
the Philippines dates back many years. It is a friendship that is forged not only in treaties and trade
relationships and military relationships, but it is also strengthened by very personal ties that exist between our
two countries. We are proud to have 4 million persons of Filipino ancestry contributing to our country each and
every day, in all walks of life. The fact that we have Filipino veterans who have fought side by side with
American soldiers on behalf of freedom — all those things have strengthened the relationship between our
two countries.
I am very pleased that President Arroyo has made such good progress on dealing with counterterrorism
issues. She has initiated a peace process in Mindanao that we think is — has the potential to bring peace and
stability to a part of the Philippines that has been wracked by unrest for too long. We are very grateful of the
strong voice that the Philippines has provided in dealing with issues in Asia ranging from the human rights
violations that have for too long existed in Burma to the problems that we’re seeing with respect to nuclear
proliferation in North Korea.
I am looking forward to my travels to Southeast Asia, and the Philippines will be the coordinating country in the
U.S. relationship with ASEAN, the primary organization — strategic organization for Southeast Asian countries.
And in addition, the Philippines will be sharing the Non-Proliferation Treaty conference that will be taking next
— place next year.
And so we’re going to have a busy agenda together working to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons,
improving the multilateral partnerships in Asia that can create greater security and greater prosperity for all
countries. And in addition, we continue to be grateful for the outstanding contributions that the Philippines has
made with respect to U.N. peacekeeping around the world.
So although the Philippines is not the largest of countries, it, in using a phrase from boxing, punches above its
weight in the international arena, and we are very grateful that President Arroyo has visited us here today, and
we are looking forward to using this meeting as a way of launching even greater cooperation between our two
countries in the years to come.
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you for inviting me to have this very important
conversation here in the White House.
The U.S. is very essential to the economic, diplomatic, and national security of our country. We are very thankful
for the U.S. as an important ally in helping to professionalize our military and making it more effective.
Just as important, we are thankful to the U.S. for being such a good ally in our — working on soft power by
helping us build bridges, roads, schools, not only in Mindanao but across the nation. And this assistance of
the U.S. has gone a long way in helping us to achieve what we have been able to achieve in the peace process
in Mindanao in southern Philippines, and also in our fight against terrorism.
I was very happy to let President Obama know that the Muslim secessionists have agreed, together with a
Philippine government panel, to work towards a resumption of formal peace talks, and we’re very thankful for
the international community, including the U.S., for their assistance in bringing us to this stage.
Internationally, we stand foursquare behind the United States on the position that it has taken with regard to
Burma and with regard to North Korea’s nuclear adventurism.
We also applaud President Obama for his leadership on climate change, which is so important to the
Philippines because we are an archipelagic country and severe climate change is going to be disastrous for
our country. We are already feeling the weather pattern changes in the rising seas.
We are also — finally, may I say that I bring the thanks also of our Filipino veterans for the inclusion of the
veterans’ benefits in the fiscal stimulus package, something that we have all waited for as a country for the last
60 years.
So I’m very grateful for this opportunity. We thank the Obama administration for the new engagement in our
part of the world, and we look forward to a stronger relationship between the U.S. and ASEAN and, bilaterally, a
stronger relationship with our two countries.
Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you so much.
Okay, we’re going to take two questions, one from a Filipino reporter.
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yes. This gentleman right here. Is this a good — (laughter.)
Go ahead.
Q Thank you very much, Mr. President, and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. I am from the Philippine media,
sir. It’s noted that you’re the first Asian head of state to be afforded by President Obama this — such an
invitation. As much as this is your first time to see President Obama in person and you have talked to him,
could you kindly share to us, Madam President, your impressions of the American President? (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’m sure she thinks I’m much younger looking than she expected. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Well, as a person, President Obama is very cordial, warm, and welcoming. And I’m
really very impressed about — of his deep understanding and knowledge of the Philippines and the Filipino
people — the understanding of the close relationship within the Filipino people and the American people.
And we — I think we connected very well also on our position with regard to Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi, with
regard to North Korea and nuclear proliferation, with regard to human rights and terrorism. And we welcome
President Obama’s reaching out to the Muslim world, and also we are very pleased about his — the
importance that he accords to engagement with our part of the world.
Q Is it considered to be ungrateful if I will not get your reaction? It will be greatly appreciated if you can also give
your impression of our President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, obviously, President Arroyo has done outstanding work on a whole range of issues.
She mentioned the areas where the United States and the Philippines are of one accord, but as evidenced
here today, she’s somebody who knows the issues. She has experience leading the Philippines through
some very difficult times. She has expressed a great friendship towards the United States, and aside from her
great personal charm — (laughter) — we are very appreciative of the concrete ways in which her administration
has pursued strengthening ties with the United States. So I’m very grateful for that.
Okay, Jeff Mason.
Q Yes, sir. A double-barreled question for you. First of all, what do you expect to be the main message of the
GDP figures that come out tomorrow? And second of all, what do you think will be the main message of your
meeting tonight in the Rose Garden?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: On GDP, I don’t have a crystal ball and I haven’t received the figures yet, but I think if you
look at the consensus of economists right now, it confirms that we have seen a significant slowing down of the
contraction over the last several months. There are a lot of indicators out there that tell us that job losses,
although still way too high, are not at the pace that we were seeing in January or February. Housing prices
went up for the first time in three years. The credit system, the banking system, the financial markets generally
have settled down. You’re not seeing the huge volatility or panic that you were seeing.
And so all of that is a sign that we have stepped away from the precipice. As Ben Bernanke and others across
the ideological spectrum have indicated, we were in a position where we could have gone into a Great
Depression. I think those fears have abated.
But I suspect that the GDP numbers will still show that the economy contracted in the second quarter, that job
loss is still a huge problem. And you don’t have to read GDP numbers to see that; all you got to do is talk to the
American people who are still losing jobs, losing homes, and worried about their ability to keep their health
care and finance their child’s college educations. So we’re not going to rest until we have seen not just a
technical improvement in GDP but until the American people’s job prospects, their incomes have rebounded
— and that’s going to take some time.
With respect to tonight, you know, I am, I have to say, fascinated with the fascination about this evening. As you
know, this idea was prompted when I was talking to Sergeant Crowley, and he said, well, maybe I’ll have a
beer in the White House someday, and I said, well, you know, I’m sure that can be arranged.
I notice this had been called the “beer summit.” It’s a clever term, but this is not a summit, guys. This is three
folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. And
that’s really all it is.
This is not a — this is not a university seminar. It is not a summit. It’s an attempt to have some personal
interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you lose sight of just the fact that these
are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect. And hopefully instead of ginning up anger and
hyperbole, everybody can just spend a little bit of time with some self-reflection and recognizing that other
people have different points of view. And that’s all it is.
And so I will be surprised if you guys all make this the lead as opposed to a very important meeting that we just
had with one of our most important partners in the world, but the press has surprised me before. (Laughter.)
Thank you very much.
END
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