Filipinos in Saudi Arabia urged President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to visit the kingdom soon because of three “Os” — oil, OFW (overseas Filipino workers), and OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference).
“President Aquino has been getting good publicity in the Kingdom and Saudi authorities have been following up the good developments in the Philippines under his leadership,” Francisco Naval, chairman of the United Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) said in an article posted on
Saudi-based news site Arab News.
Naval, an engineer, made the statement ahead of a meeting on Tuesday between Mr. Aquino and another OFW representative, Elmer Aquino.
He said Elmer, chairman of the United OFW Cooperative, will try to convince Mr. Aquino to visit Saudi Arabia, where some 1.4 million OFWs are working.
Naval said Mr. Aquino’s visit to the kingdom will be favorable to the country because Saudi Arabia supplies much of the oil needed by the Philippines.
Naval added that Saudi might be able to help Philippines’ bid for observer status in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
United OFW president Eli Mua said Mr. Aquino should visit Saudi Arabia ahead of other countries because of its importance in the world community.
“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah made a six-week tour of seven countries recently to mobilize international support to achieve progress and restore Arab rights, especially the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent Palestinian state,” Mua said.
Mua added that if Aquino visits Saudi Arabia, he can establish goodwill and rapport with the Saudi leadership.
“It would be good for OFWs if a high-level talk on their behalf could be made by President Aquino,” he said.
“We could gauge his commitments to OFWs, paving the way for constructive partnership in nation building and maximize mutual benefits in our relationships,” he added.
Mua noted that Mr. Aquino garnered 80 percent of OFW votes in the Kingdom during the last elections. – VVP, GMANews.TV
No Responses to “Pinoys want Aquino to visit Saudi soon”
Please Wait
Leave a Reply