DUBAI: Ambassador Hjayceelyn M. Quintana said she will follow and support President Duterte’s initiative to create a separate department for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) even as Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes vowed to implement a year-long financial literacy campaign for OFWs which runs in synch with the president’s calls for inclusive development in his State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Moreover, the ambassador said she will actively be seeking partnership with UAE in terms of renewable energy projects, a move that jibes with Duterte’s renewable energy thrust.
“The underlying principle in the creation of the Department for OFWs is to be the umbrella department to address all issues and concerns of Filipinos abroad. It will also streamline relevant processes for OFWs. We will follow and support this initiative once enacted,” Quintana said.
On Duterte’s push for faster government services, the ambassador said: “Even before the SONA, we have been heeding the call of the President for faster government services, particularly for overseas Filipinos in UAE.
“We have improved our processes for consular services and continue to assist our distressed kababayans in the most efficient manner. We constantly review our systems to better serve our clients,” she said.
Lastly, Quintana said that as Philippines’ Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the headquarters of which is in Abu Dhabi, “I welcome the emphasis on renewable energy by the President.”
“The Philippines is endowed with rich and diverse renewable energy resources from geothermal and hydropower resources to solar, wind, biomass and ocean energy.
“Hence, it is important that we explore these untapped renewable energy resources in the most sustainable way. With the fast innovation of renewable technologies, with their continuing price reduction, with increasing efficiency of renewable energy systems, the country should focus on renewables to meet its energy needs,” Quintana said.
“I am actively seeking partnership with UAE in terms of renewable energy projects. As Filipinos in UAE may be aware, UAE is a leader in renewable energy and sustainability, and is playing a big role in the global energy transformation,” she added.
Meantime, Cortes said his office has mapped out a year-long program meant to educate OFWs on the values of entrepreneurship.
He said he finds the president’s calls for “inclusive development” fitting in way that “we must take development to encompass all sectors of society especially those in the rural communities, our farmers and fisherfolk.”
