The Philippines and Saudi Arabia are riding the crest of excellent bilateral ties as the Filipinos in the Kingdom celebrate their 117th Independence Day anniversary today.
Philippine independence was declared in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898 by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo at the veranda of his house which has become a shrine.
As contemporary history and events have shown, the two countries have not seen their diplomatic relations any better in the past since diplomatic ties started in 1947.
They eventually agreed to establish diplomatic relations in 1969, with their respective people enjoying altruism and goodwill for each other like brothers.
The Philippines continues to send manpower to the Kingdom which has played a benevolent host to hundreds of thousands of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), reaching out to the Philippines whenever the opportunity presents itself.
As of last year, it was estimated that there were some 674,000 Filipinos working in Saudi Arabia’s various regions, holding down different jobs that are key and important to the Kingdom’s development.
Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago called on the then Riyadh Gov. Prince Khaled bin Bandar who lauded OFWs for their well-earned reputation as efficient workers.
“For decades, the Saudi people have known Filipinos who have contributed to the national development of the Kingdom. They have shown respect for the culture and laws of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The Filipino envoy also met with then labor and acting health minister and now Planning and Economy Minister Adel Fakeih, who said that Filipinos are among the most peaceful and least problematic communities in the Kingdom.
As proof of their strong ties, the two countries signed a landmark labor agreement on May 19, 2013, under which the Philippines would send Filipino manpower with much more and improved benefits.
Philippine Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapiliz-Baldoz traveled all the way to Riyadh to sign the landmark agreement for the country while then deputy and now Labor Minister Mufarrej bin Saad Al-Haqbani signed for the Kingdom.
And as they say as far as the labor agreement is concerned, the rest is history.
Filipinos continue to come to the Kingdom, drawing kudos from local employers for their efficiency and reliability.
The agreement contained provisions which aimed to promote the welfare of OFWs, particularly the so-called household service workers (HSWs) who include nannies, baby sitters, cooks, gardeners, family drivers and farm workers. The agreement set the minimum salary at SR1,500.
But the Kingdom has not merely played a good host to Filipino workers but has also shown its generosity in various ways, causing many OFWs to stay in the Kingdom instead of going to other countries to seek the proverbial greener pasture.
The late King Abdullah, much admired and loved like his successor Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, ordered a $10 million donation to relief and rehabilitation efforts for the victims of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
Conditions of the victims and their families stand improvement but the numerous beneficiaries in the affected provinces of Leyte and Samar remain thankful to the humanitarian gesture.
Moreover, the Kingdom has reached out to the Philippines in other ways. Through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), Saudi Arabia has extended aid for developmental projects in Mindanao island, southern Philippines.
The aid is for infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges to speed up delivery of agricultural and poultry products from farm to market.
This helps in no uncertain terms in developmental projects in southern Philippines.
In trade, the Kingdom ranked 10th as the Philippines’ biggest trading partner in 2012, 31st as export market, up four inches from 2011 when it was 35th and 8th as import supplier.
During the same period, Saudi Arabia both ranked first as the Philippines trading partner and import supplier and ranked second as export market in the Middle East.
In investment, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) invested $200 million for the Fairmont Hotel in 2007 in Makati City.
In the Kingdom, Filipinos have set up various establishments in cargo forwarding, restaurants, among others.
In the cultural sector, thousands of Filipino pilgrims have been traveling to the Kingdom for Haj. In 2013, 8,000 Filipino pilgrims performed Haj, up from 6,000 the previous year.
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