President Arroyo flying to Qatar Saturday morning
MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will depart Manila for Qatar at 7:40 a.m. Saturday on a three-day mission to seek the Mideastern state’s support in the quest for lasting peace in Mindanao, Malacaňang said on Friday.
President Arroyo will also meet with top Qatari businessmen and Filipino overseas workers (OFWs) in the Qatari capital, Doha, said the Palace in a press statement.
The President’s entourage is expected to arrive in Doha at 12:30 p.m. Qatari time is five hours behind Philippine time.
According to the statement, Mrs. Arroyo will stay at the Sheraton Doha Hotel and Resort, where she will also have lunch with chief executive officers of companies employing Filipinos.
She will cap the day with a Mass at a Catholic Church in Doha and a meeting with the Filipino community.
“A not-so-subliminal message of this trip is the President ‘s solidarity with, and concern for the Filipino expatriate workers amid the deepening global economic crisis that has already chopped off thousands of jobs worldwide, especially in the countries hardest-hit by the financial squeeze.
“Also scheduled on Day 1 of her Doha trip is a meeting with Philippine ambassadors in the Middle East countries, the home of thousands of OFWs. The President’s session with the Philippine envoys is expected to touch on the impact of the global economic debacle on Filipino job placements abroad," the statement said.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), meanwhile, has ruled out the possibility of massive displacements of Filipino workers overseas. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said there were indications as cited in the reports from overseas destinations with heavy OFW concentrations of an impending massive lay-offs of Filipino workers.
On the government’s Mindanao peace initiative, President Arroyo said that the Philippines could learn something from Qatar which brokered the settlement of the Lebanese internal conflict mounted by Muslem separatists, the statement said.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (PAPP) Hermogenes Esperon Jr. was quoted in the same Palace news release as saying the Philippines views Qatar as an “international guarantor" in the peace negotiations between the government and the MILF.
Esperon noted that the MILF has been calling for international guarantors in the peace process and Qatar could be one of them.
Early this month, the President appointed Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis as chief of the reconstituted government’s Mindanao peace panel preparatory to the resumption of the stalled government-MILF peace negotiations.
Informal talks between the government and the MILF are expected to start shortly after the President ‘s official visit to Qatar, possibly by Dec. 22.
On Sunday, she will receive a briefing from possible investors before meeting the Emir of Qatar for expanded bilaterals, signing of some agreements, and lunch. She will also meet with officials of the Qatar Investment Authority and the Qatar Business Association.
On Monday, Presidet Arroyo will visit the Qatar Museum of Islamic Arts before departing Doha for Manila. She is expected to be back in the country at 1:40 p.m.
here's the link:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/139156/Arroyo-flying-to-Qatar-Saturday-morning
