'HELP!': Pinoys in Barcelona want consular office reopened


Sandra Sotelo Aboy, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Posted at Apr 12 2018 08:39 PM
Filipinos affected by the closure of the consulate rally in front of the Silken Hotel where the Philippine Embassy was holding a consular mission outreach in Barcelona, Spain. Sandra Sotelo Aboy, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
BARCELONA, Spain - Several Filipinos, representing various groups and organizations in Barcelo, held a rally in front of the Consular Mission Outreach by the Philippine embassy at Silken Hotel, on April 7, 2018.
A huge sign with the word “HELP!” expressed the main agenda of the gathering. A petition letter addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte also made the rounds for signature campaign.
“We are here to appeal to the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] to speed up the process because 2 day-consular services is not enough for all the Filipinos in Cataluña,” said Marc Malapitan, president of Kalayaan group and one of the organizers of the event.
The consulate closed down when the term of its honorary consul, Jordi Puig, was cut short after he allegedly violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. 
Puig had posted a photo of himself on social media at a protest rally against police violence and repression during the Catalonia referendum on independence.
“We´re here not against the Filipino government, not against the central government of Spain. We’re here in favor of public service. We´re here to look for solutions and especially to get a date. We want to know when this office is going to open. And during this gap, we need public service. It could be in the form of the City Hall lending a space and the Embassy lending personnel from Madrid to process papers. It could be in any other form. We’re here to collaborate,” said Malapitan.
At the dialogue meet-up at the hotel entrance, Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General Emmanuel Fernandez disclosed the circumstances that led to the closure of the office and reiterated the speedy action of the embassy in looking for a new appointee.
“The name of the replacement has already been submitted since 5th February to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain and Philippine DFA for signature and approval. But everything has to undergo a process such as candidate scrutiny and background check. These steps cannot be bypassed. But it’s already on the desk of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It’s a matter of waiting,” explained Fernandez.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more