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Ailyn Agonia
DOHA
PHILIPPINE Ambassador to Qatar HE Wilfredo C Santos has said that the Philippine mission in Doha is gearing up to receive President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who is likely to pay an official visit to Qatar in the first half of 2017.
Talking to Qatar Tribune on the sidelines of the envoy's first appearance in the online talk show hosted by the United Filipino Organizations in Qatar (UFOQ) on Monday, Santos said they have received instructions last month to prepare for the likely visit of Secretary of the Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Perfecto Yasay which will lay the groundwork for the visit of Duterte in Qatar either in the first or second quarter of next year.
"There is a plan for the Philippine President to visit Qatar. Last time a Philippine president visited Qatar was in December 2008 while the counterpart high-profile visit made by Qatar to the Philippines was in 2012. It has been four years since the last high-level visit between the two countries. It is time for the president of the Philippines to visit Qatar which is an economic powerhouse," said Santos.
Duterte, who had a landslide victory in Qatar as majority of expats voted for him during the overseas absentee polling conducted by the Embassy early this year, is expected to meet first with the Filipino community in Qatar prior to attending to other matters including meeting with the Qatari officials and the local business community. Santos said it has been the pattern of official visits of Duterte abroad to have a dialogue first with the Filipino community.
He added that given the case, the more than 220,000-Filipinos in Qatar will be mobilised through the various community leaders to attend the event. Currently, there are already more than 200 Filipino groups recognised by the Philippine Embassy and under the community's umbrella organisation UFOQ.
"President Duterte's visit to Doha will definitely reinvigorate and strengthen the bilateral relations between Qatar and the Philippines. In fact, our two governments are already negotiating in certain areas such as education, culture, investment, health and tourism and we do expect signing of agreements during the visit. The embassy is preparing for that," the envoy said.
He added,"The Middle East is important for the Philippines as we look to the region as a new frontier in our foreign policy while the countries in the GCC including Qatar look at the East for opportunities. Duterte's visit will create opportunities for the mutual benefit of our two countries."
Santos also mentioned the preparations being made by the embassy for shifting the mission to a bigger and more accessible place. He said they are seriously considering moving to a new building together with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) which has always been situated in a different location soon.
