Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano revealed that an unnamed senior diplomat is manning the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait at present, following the return of former Ambassador to Kuwait Renato to the Philippines last night, May 2, a week after he was declared persona non grata in the Gulf state.
“We have a senior official there now, and then Ambassador will be advising us from here now,” Cayetano said.
He also confirmed that talks are on-going but refused to go into details when asked if he will be meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart soon.
“We don’t want to go into the details. As the President said, he already made his statement, the Kuwaitis already said na mapag-usapan.So nag-uusap na ngayon (We are talking now),” he said.
“We’re taking multiple routes, so parallel ang efforts ng Department of Labor and Department of Foreign Affairs but nagkakaisa kami sa direksyon,” the foreign affairs secretary added.
In the next few days, the DFA will be focused on a list of priority items, including the repatriation of around 800 distressed Filipinos at the shelter.
Cayetano said they will also negotiate with Kuwait to allow diplomats served with warrants of arrest to come home.
“As we continue with our engagement with our Kuwaiti counterparts, we would like to ask for the kind patience and understanding of our people, most especially those who have been affected by the recent misunderstanding,” Cayetano said.
