Pinoys in Jeddah welcome new PHL Ambassador to KSA


By RONALDO Z. CONCHA
JEDDAH –Filipinos in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last Monday welcomed the new Philippine ambassador to KSA Adnan V. Alonto.
Representatives of various Filipino organizations in the western region of the Kingdom greeted Alonto and his wife Jo with warm welcome at a dinner program hosted by the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah last Monday evening.

Photo by RZ Concha
Filipino had long awaited Alonto's appointment as the ambassador post had been vacant for more than a year, after the departure of the previous ambassador Ezzedine H. Tago.
In his speech, Alonto thanked the Filipino community for the warm welcome and assured them of the governments support for all the Filipinos working in KSA. 
Alonto said, “Kung wala kayo, wala kami. We are here because of you.” 
He also expressed his satisfaction in the performance of Consulate officials for their good teamwork in providing services to OFWs.
“It only shows that your presence (Filcom) in this meeting expressed your deep respect to the consulate officials headed by former Consul General Imelda Panolong and Consul Rj Sumague.”  
With an estimated 900,000 to 1. 2 Million OFWs and their dependents, Alonto said, the Filipino community in the Kingdom is the biggest concentration of OFWs outside America. —LBG, GMA News

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