Ambassador Constancio R. Vingno, Jr. is joined by his wife, Madame Yoko Ramos-Vingno, as he cuts the cake on his birthday.
Gusto ko naman ng much more excellent relationship between UAE and the Philippines and that this expand and grow in the years to come.
DUBAI: Ambassador Constancio R. Vingno, Jr. who was set to retire on Dec.9, will stay on for at least two more months to work on “unfinished business,” he told The Filipino Times.
“After retirement, I’ll stay for a couple of months to bring all those unfinished business into fruition,” he said in a phone interview from his office in Abu Dhabi.
These, he said, include the signing of more agreements between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Philippines in the field of commerce and cultural exchanges, among others.
Vingno, who celebrated his 65th birthday on Dec. 8, said he will also work on lifting visa requirements for holders of official and diplomatic passports “to encourage more visits of ranking officials between the two countries.”
“Gusto ko naman ng much more excellent relationship between UAE and the Philippines and that this expand and grow in the years to come,” he said.
Vingno, who rose from the ranks at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), having had his first tour of duty in 1980 being posted in Germany, said his current post, which he assumed on Oct. 28, 2015, has been the “most challenging.”
“With the mere presence of close to 700,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) – that’s a challenge by itself. You have to protect their welfare; see to it that by being the father of all Filipinos in the UAE, you should take care of your children; promote and protect their welfare,” he said.
During his term, the UAE saw an increasing number of official visits by Philippine Cabinet members and other ranking officials among them acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr., DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.
A number of agreements have also been inked, the most of recent of which was in September this year involving bilateral cooperation in the field of labor and the introduction and operation of domestic help workers in the country, signed by Minister of Human Resources and Localization Saqr Ghobash and Bello held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi.
In November, the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) sat down with a delegation led by the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry with the two parties vowing to expand ties through fresh bilateral business ventures. UAE officials had also been in the Philippines for economic consultation which created a committee of cooperation.
Vingno said he has been receiving offers for consultancy and teaching jobs in the Philippines. Malacanang is reportedly working on his replacement. Aside from Germany, Vingno, who entered government service at 24, was also posted in Romania, Austria, Japan, Greece and South Africa in that order prior to his UAE tour of duty.
