Would this make up the 200 Fiilipino workers Mr. Valencia claims protested against Tiglao at the Embassy?

The  demonstration  by some 30 people   10 October at the embassy in Athens was actually part of a smear  campaign against me  by Marcos “refugee” Jose Valencia – a professional anti-government agitator — and  the operator of an  unauthorized school for Filipino children ,  so that they can continue fooling  OFWs in Athens, and  bullying the Embassy through black propaganda.

Mr. Jose Valencia in fact has made it a career, and a profession, to use OFWs  to undertake demonstrations against  nearly all Philippine ambassadors in his wish to force  them to recognize him as the sole representative of  OFWs in Athens.  He even undertook  a demonstration against President Fidel Ramos, during his state visit in Athens in 1997, which unfairly portrayed the country as a nation ruled by dictators.

While Mr. Valencia, who led the group, raised ridiculous, totally false issues against me, they couldn’t hide one of its major unscrupulous aims.   One Mrs. Imelda Goutas,  married to a well-off Greek lawyer and her relatives were the most vitriolic during the protest,  even hurling curses against Embassy personnel.  Mrs.Goutas owns and operates the so-called PCEA “school”, which has been operating since 2006 without any permit from both the Philippine and Greek government.   Mrs. Goutas has been lobbying to take me out as ambassador, because she thinks she can pressure a new envoy to recognize PCEA. She refuses to believe that an ambassador has no authority to do so.

Mr. Valencia heads Kasapi Hellas, which unfortunately has degenerated into his own personal gang, which only he commands.  Mr. Valencia has been claiming to Greeks that he represents all Filipinos in Greece, even if his Kasapi has declined to just two dozen members. There is a confederation of Filipino associations in Greece, representing about 10,000 OFWs, with which the Embassy holds monthly meetings.

Mr.Valencia has been able to live in Greece and enjoy European standards of living since 1985 by telling Greek authorities to this day that he is a refugee from the Marcos dictatorship – which ended 24 years ago.  That is a very unpatriotic excuse for insisting to live in comfort in a foreign country, as that portrays our country as still under military dictatorship. He has effectively denounced being a Filipino by refusing to secure a Philippine passport, offered to him by all Philippine ambassadors here.

In contrast to OFWs whom he claims he represents, Valencia has never had a regular job all his life. He cannot explain how he can live in Athens without a job or a business.  It appears therefore that his income in Greece is coming  from membership fees in Kasapi, donations by European NGOs to Kasapi,  earnings from the events like the May ‘Santacruzan’ he organizes, and to his kindergarten school his wife runs.  These funds are not audited by anyone else except the Valencia couple.

Mrs. Goutas threw all her support and resources for Mr. Valencia’s  demo, as only the “recognition” of the school by a new ambassador could reverse the school sharp drop in enrollment in this schoolyear that started last month, as Filipinos here have realized that because it does not have the permits to operate as a school,  their children’s grades will not be recognized in the Philippines nor in Greece.  Mr. Valencia’s kindergarten similarly was determined by authorities in January this year  as not meeting safety requirements. Mr. Valencia however has been exploiting this problem by telling charitable Greeks and organizations,  that the school needs €180,000, and that they should deposit funds into his bank account.

There is only one school for Filipinos in Athens recognized by both Philippine and Greek authorities, the Katipunan Philippines Cultural Academy (Kaphilca) , which President Ramos himself ordered set up in 1997.( Click here for Education Department’s categorical statement  that Mrs. Goutas school, PCEA, is not authorized to operate as a Philippine school.)

Mrs. Goutas’ PCEA has been unable to get the necessary permits since  its poor facilities and personnel could not meet the minimum standards  set by either our Education Department or by the Greek government’s Ministry of Education. Mrs. Thalia Dragona, the official who only recently took the post in charge of foreign schools in the Ministry of Education, in a meeting with me 12 October informed me that the Ministry’s inspectors had recommended that the school be closed in 2008, and that she was surprised that the school is still operating.

Mrs. Goutas is calculating that the school can be made ”legal” if the Philippine ambassador recognizes the school as a legitimate one. However, I have repeatedly told Mrs. Goutas that I cannot do this, as it is our Department of Education and Greece’s Ministry of Education that have this authority.

The ambassador had been resisting her  pressure, especially as parents of the school’s children had been angrily complaining that when they returned to the Philippines, they find that their children’s schooling are not recognized by any Philippine school.

A school can generate a lot of money for its owners if run unscrupulously.   Students of PCEA are charged a minimum of €120 to €170 (roughly P6,000 to P9,000)  per month, so the school’s revenues could reach a minimum of €12,000, for huge net profit for its operators  – if it scrimps on  facilities and pay the teachers  only €700, which is below the required minimum in Greece.

Because they couldn’t stomach any longer the Mrs. Goutas’ questionable  practices, all of the nine teachers who originally made up PCEA’s staff have left it, even if  she  threatened  them that her husband lawyer holds all the documentation for their stay in Greece.

A key officer of PCEA, Mrs. Chari Bataan, left PCEA this year in disgust over the fact that Mrs. Goutas totally disregarded the vote of the parent-teachers’ association for her to replace Mrs. Goutas as PCEA chairman. Another key member, the auditor Mrs. Ida Herico, left the school as she couldn’t stomach Mrs. Goutas’ insistence that she sign PCEA’s financial report, even as she was not given any information on where its income was going to.

(There have been other projects of Mrs. Goutas that are questionable. .  Last year, she conducted a ‘Popularity Contest’ by which the student for each grade who can give the most money to the school will be the winner. The school’s former auditor claimed Mrs. Goutas generated more than €10,000 from this project, but has not reported how the proceeds were disbursed.)

An OFW protester? An amiga of Valencia's wife, has a money-remittance business in Athens, married to a British.

A corrupt lawyer in Manila, which claims to be with DepEd, had told Mrs. Goutas that he would be able to get DepEd recognition of the school, only if the ambassador is taken out of his post. “I can bribe or threaten any ambassador there, except Tiglao,” the DepEd official said.  Mrs. Goutas, according to a former board member of the school, has a two-year contract with this official that  started 2008 for P20,000 a month to secure the DepEd recognition. The contract ends this year, so it is imperative that I be removed.

Other issues raised in Mr. Valencia’s press release (download his press release here):

That the ambassador’s residence has “a swimming pool in a posh village in a suburb of Athens.”

This is a total lie.

There is no swimming pool in the residence. The residence is located five minutes away from the Embassy, the smallest ambassador’s residences in the area. I moved there only to take advantage of the adjacent garden (not a part of the residence, but the landlord’s) for our reception for Independence Day, in order reduce the Embassy’s costs for hotel facilities.  I often drive the embassy car or my motorcycle to skimp on gasoline costs and reduce the car’s rate of depreciation.

“He has been spotted by OFWs touring the fabulous islands of Greece like Corfu.”

I was in Corfu a month ago in order to interview a candidate for a position of Honorary Consul for Corfu.   I have a program to setting up Honorary Consulates all over Greece as this is the most effective way to provide assistance to OFWs in these far-flung areas.

So far, I have succeeded in establishing honorary consulates in Patra, Crete, and soon, Piraeus.  Not only as a person keenly interested in Western civilization,  but as an envoy who should  know his assigned territory, I indeed have visited several islands – but all, except Corfu, on my vacation leave and my expense.

“He has nothing to show in terms of performance after more than 4 years.”

This is a total lie.

Barely six months after I arrived in 2006, I managed to convince the Greek government to set up its Embassy in Manila, an accomplishment which eluded my four predecessors’ efforts for nearly twenty year. It corrected a diplomatically anomalous situation in which our country has an Embassy in Athens, but Greece didn’t in Manila.

The embassy has been a big boon to our OFWs. Before it was set up in Manila, OFWs had to spend a lot to get their visas not only for the plane fare to Jakarta, where Greece had its embassy covering our country. They were victimized the minute they landed in Jakarta by fixers and even taxi-drivers.

How did I manage to do so? By establishing friendships with the Greek officialdom and its elite, which after all still often determine government decisions.  Now Mr. Valencia condemns me for “hobnobbing with social elites.”

Consular services have been improved vastly, with the consular offices open regularly on certain Sundays.  Two major Independence Day celebrations, one a formal one in the evening and one a whole-day fiesta style for the Filipino community.  For many years, the fiesta was held in a basketball court under the searing summer heat. Since I arrived, I managed to convince Greek ship-owners to provide us with huge tents to shade our countrymen. There are regular monthly meetings with the Filipino community, which Mr. Valencia and his organization have totally snubbed.

My performance in fact is an open book,  as I have posted documentation of these in our website www.athenspe.net.

I “snub Filipinos with problems. A case in point is a Filipina who has been detained in the national state penitentiary since March 2010, who has not received even a visit from any of his embassy staff.”

This is a total lie.

My staff as well as the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) has actually been complaining that I have been too “accommodating” in helping all Filipinos with problems. A case in point: We rescued just last month a 22-year old Filipina prostituted in a town (Glyfada) near Athens, after she sent us an SOS through our website (which I set up).  My staff risked their lives in undertaking surveillance work.  We could not publicize this, especially its details, as the girl’s father begged us not to do so as it would be embarrassing to their family.

The Filipina Mr. Valencia is referring to who has been in a national penitentiary since March 2010 is in fact the mother of a locally-hired staff, who is very close to me.  This staff expressly told me that their lawyer expressly requested that she not be helped by the Embassy as “this might complicate matters.”  After the lawyer failed to release her mother, I disregarded my staff’s request, and ordered the Embassyt to throw all out support for his mother. They have visited the lady several times already. It is sensitive, complicated case as the complainants are Filipinas who claim they had been swindled in an illegal recruitment scheme.  The lady though has denied the charges.

That I and the Embassy “did not help 12 Filipino seafarers marooned in their floating prison for almost a year from July 2009 to first quarter of 2010, their salaries unpaid…because of the help of Filipino  migrants led by KASAPI HELLAS the organization of Filipino migrants in Greece.”

This is a total lie.

The case he is referring to is that of Filipino crewman of the ship Aeta Sierra, and the complete account of this case has been posted in our website, particularly at http://www.athenspe.net/?s=Aeta+Sierra.  The Embassy, particularly the Philippine Overseas Labor Office gave all out support for the crew, and even provided a lawyer for a few of the crewman. Mr. Valencia in fact endangered the crewmen’s case when he convinced one crewman to reject the legal services by the International Confederation of Transport Unions, the most powerful federation for seamen in the world. The ICTFU felt insulted and threatened to entirely pull out of the case if not for the POLO’s intervention.  My staff several times visited the ship – docked in the open sea to save costs – to provide foodstuffs and drinks to the crew to check on their situation.

I have not moved “against the proliferation of illegal drugs like shabu from the Philippines that is victimizing mostly innocent young Filipinos.”

This is a total lie.

In fact, it was I who initiated the campaign against illegal drugs among Filipinos in Athens early this year, despite fears expressed by some in the Filipino community that this would  risk even our lives, as the drug-pushers are connected to ruthless, organized crime.  The Filipino community can attest to this as I devoted several meetings with them solely for this purpose, and even an entire issue of our newsletter. I sent a letter to our National Bureau of Investigation asking it to send an official to Athens help embassy deal with the problem. We have determined who the identities of a few of the pushers. Unfortunately we still building up a case, necessary to convince the Greek police to act against these pushers.

I am challenging Mr. Valencia to debate before the Filipino community on these issues before I leave Athens. He did not accept a similar challenge I made in 2006 when he first started criticizing my person and the Embassy. I hope he has the guts to do so now for the sake of truth.

I will answer any questions you might have. Contact me through my email tiglao.inquirer@gmail.com

Our kababayans exercising their democratic right and duty

Voter turnout  for the 2010 National Elections appeared strong in Athens, based on the first days of balloting at the Embassy’s premises.

“Our kababayans in Athens are demonstrating their strong sense of patriotism by voting in the 2010 elections, “ Philippine Ambassador to  Greece Rigoberto Tiglao said.  “It is in deeds such as taking the trouble to register and then vote, that one’s love for country is demonstrated,” Tiglao said.

Voting for the 2010 elections started April 10 and will continue up to May 10, the balloting day in the Philippines.  The voting precincts are open 9AM up to 5 PM, except for May 10 during which voting will be undertaken only until  1PM. Positions overseas workers will vote on are for President, Vice President, twelve Senators of the Republic, and for one Party for the “Party list” voting.

Voters must have registered at the Embassy in Athens,  the Embassy’s “outreach”  registration centers,  or the our consulate in Nicosia, Cyprus  during the registration period 1 February 2009 to 31 August 2009.

Based on the rules promulgated by the Commission on Elections, overseas workers who are registered voters in the Philippines were required to register in the Embassy closest to their residence abroad in the prescribed period for them to vote.

The list of registered voters are prominently displayed right at the entrance of the Embassy (see photo).

In the first four days of voting, there were 131 voters in Athens making it the 9^th European post with the most voters.

Ballots will be counted immediately and continuously at the  Embassy as soon as voting period ends  1PM May 10, complying with the strict regulations and procedures of the Comelec.

As soon as all ballots are counted and the proper documentations are made, the voting results will be delivered physically to the National Board of Canvassers in Manila by the Embassy representative designated by the Comelec.

Embassy staff explaining voting procedure to a voter

The list of registered voters at the Embassy's entrance

Somali pirate with Filitsa in the background

Nearly three months after it was hijacked, the Greek-owned cargo ship Filitsa, with 19 Filipino and three Greek seamen on board, was released by Somali pirates in the afternoon of 1 February, its manager  Order Shipping Co. Ltd.  reported  to the labor  office of the Phileppine embassy in Athens.

The ship headed for Mombasa, Kenya where the crew will disembark.

The bulk carrier, with a Marshall Islands flag,  was hijacked by Somali pirates on November 11, 2009,  513 nautical miles northeast of Seychelles. The ship was enroute to Durban, South Africa  from Kuwait.  The Filipino crewmen were recruited by Bright Maritime Co., a Philippine manning agency.

Filitsa’s Filipino crew are as follows:

1. Honorato Cuadrasal, 2^nd Mate
2. Raul Labitad, 3^rd Mate
3. Julio Alpaya Sangre, 2^nd Engr
4. Reuben Campos, 3^rd Engr
5. Rolan Gadian, 4thEngr
6. Lucian Jipa, Electrician
7. Kenneth Paul De Gracia, Bosun
8. Edgar Halas, AB
9. Romeo Pamplona Jr. AB

10.  Melecio D. Abellera, AB

11.  Arnold Retana, Oiler

12.  Wilfredo Abuloc, Oiler

13.  Jenifer Espia, Oiler

14.  Roy Anthony Rosell, Cook

15.  Rodante Calamba, Galley Boy

16.  Carmelo Bongay, Jr., DTrainee

17.  Rafael Flaminiano, DTrainee

18.  Ronald Nicor, C/Trainee

19.  Robert Pozon, C/Trainee

NEWS REPORT FROM BBC.COM:

Pirates in Somalia have released the Greek-owned cargo ship Filitsa and its crew of 22 after a ransom was paid, Greek officials said.

The crew of three Greek officers and 19 Filipino sailors are reported to be in good condition.

The vessel was seized off the Seychelles on 11 November as it carried chemicals to South Africa.

The ransom was paid earlier on Monday but the ship’s owner, Order Shipping, refused to say how much was paid.

A Greek coast guard statement said the Filitsa was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa, Associated Press reported.

The waters around Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world, despite patrols from the naval forces of the US, Nato, the European Union and China.

In recent months, pirates have begun to take ships further out to sea from the coast of Somalia.

The war-torn country has had no functioning government since 1991, allowing pirates to operate along the lawless coast, almost with impunity.

]]> http://www.athenspe.net/uncategorized/pirates-release-cargo-ship-filitsa-with-19-filipino-crewmen/feed/ 0 http://www.athenspe.net/uncategorized/greek-ship-fire-kills-six-filipino-sailors/ http://www.athenspe.net/uncategorized/greek-ship-fire-kills-six-filipino-sailors/#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:45:19 +0000 staff http://www.athenspe.net/?p=1046

Aegean Wind on fire (photo by www.newsbizarre.com)

(29 Dec. 2009) The Philppine Embassy in Athens and in Venezuela  are now arranging for the remains of  the six Filipino crewmembers of the ill-fated Aegean Wind to be transported to Athens enroute to Manila,  Ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao reported.  While no firm schedule for the transport could be determined, as the required clearances from the Greek and Venezuelan authorities need to be acquired, Tiglao estimated that the remains of the Filipino crew will be home within the next several days.

The six Filipinos killed in the fire on board the Greek bulk carrier ships are as follows:

• Bonifacio Vallescas, Jr.
• Danilo Esparagoza;
• Jerry Espanola;
• Bryan Rey Pragamac;
• Noel Lagamon; and
• Reo Aria

 The Philippine Embassy in Athnes extends its deepest condolences to the families of the six Filipino crewmen killed in this most tragic event.

(26 Dec. 2009) The Embassy reported today to Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo that the Greek-flagged bulk carrier ship Aegean Wind caught fire off the coast of Venezuela at dawn on 25 December 2009, resulting in the deaths of six Filipino and three Greek sailors.

 The ship had 24 sailors on board, 15 of which are Filipinos. From information provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard and Venezuelan authorities, three Filipino sailors were immediately found dead, together with three Greek seamen.  

Three other Filipino sailors earlier reported as missing were presumed dead by representatives of the ship’s management a few hours ago. There were earlier hopes that these crew members may have gone overboard to escape the fire

The Embassy explained that the Department of Foreign Affairs ,  the Philippine Overseas Employment Authority, and the ship’s manning agency in Manila,  Sea Power Shipping Enterprises Inc. are in the process of communicating with the immediate relatives of those killed.

Two other Filipino sailors, suffered burns and have been transferred by helicopter to the Margarita Island in Venezuela for treatment.

The fire had been extinguished and the rest of the Filipinos are safe on board waiting to be transferred to safe harbour.

Rafael Lugo, commander of Venezuela’s maritime support and rescue agency said the fire began in the engine room and spread to the crew’s cabins on the bridge of the Aegean Wind.

Atlantic Bulk Carrier Management spokeswoman Elise Goonen said the crew members were in the mess hall when the fire started.  The bodies of the dead sailors were found by their crewmates “in various sections” of the ship.

The Aegean Wind, built in 1983, has a 24-member crew made up of 15 Filipinos and nine Greeks. It is owned by Atlantic Bulk Carriers, based in the Greek port of Piraeus, near Athens, and run by the shipping magnate George Koumantarou. Its Philippine manning agent is Sea Power Shipping Enterprises, Inc.

The ship was carrying more than 37,000 tons of iron ore from Brazil to Houston when a blaze broke out in the mess hall before dawn, according to the vessel’s owner, Piraeus-based Atlantic Bulk Carrier Management, Ltd.

The ship was about 100 miles north of Venezuela at the time of the incident and about 55 kilometers from Margarita island.

Contact details in the Philippines:

Sea Power Shipping Enterprises Inc. , GF, 2/F, 3/F & U3896 J & T Bildg., R. Magsaysay Blvd., Sta. Mesa, Manila

Tel:  716 7821 713 0122 715 7189    Fax: 715 4341     7160912

Email: SEAPOWER@PACIFIC.NET.PH Website: SEAPOWER_SHIPPING.COM

Official Rep: Antoniette A. Guerrero, President

The book-launching was practically a jampacked reunion of anti-Marcos dictatorship activists – including President Corazon Aquino, Senator Joker Arroyo, and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona – representing the entire political spectrum.
Mr. Psinakis’ ancestors were from Crete, although they settled in the greater area of Sparta. As fate would have it, he ended up in the Philippines in the 1950s working for Meralco, and marrying Precy Lopez, the only daughter of the tycoon Eugenio Lopez. With the Marcos dictatorship persecuting the Lopez family starting 1972, with the Lopez scion Eugenio II put in prison, Psinakis, in exile in the US with his wife, became a key figure in the anti-Marcos movement to the extent that the dictator Marcos labeled him a ‘terrorist’. Mr. Psinakis’ book is both a personal memoir and an account of the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship. The book’s title, “A Country Not Even His Own,” is actually President Corazon Aquino’s words as inscribed in her formal citation to Mr. Psinakis in 1986 for his “Outstanding Service to Philippine Democracy.”

A Greek edition of Mr. Psinakis book is scheduled to be launched this October in Athens, published by the prestigious publishing company, Publications Fereniki. Mr. Psinakis has two nephews living in Athens, businessman Mr. Yorgos Psinakis, who has been very supportive of the Philippine Embassy, and the entertainment-industry executive, Mr. Ilias Psinakis.

Following is Ambassador Tiglao’s speech:

It is my honor and pleasure to speak on a book I and my wife Getsy enjoyed very much reading in the past few days, written by somebody whom I respect very much.

When Yorgos Psinakis, Steve’s nephew, who has become a dear friend of ours in Athens asked me to be one of the speakers tonight, there was no way for me to excuse myself. Steve probably doesn’t know that this but I owe him.

I had used Steve’s name without permission in Athens.

You see, when an ambassador presents his credential to the head of state of the host government, it is customary to have an audience with the head of state. This usually lasts at the most only 10 minutes, with the conversation really a ritual of sorts involving general statements, with each party trying hard not to appear bored.

I presented my credentials to President Karolos Papoulias in May 2006, and I was one of four ambassadors who did so in that mornnig.

When I remarked to him that there is a Greek who played a major role in our revolution against a dictatorship, his face brightened, and that was the start of a very lively conversation, with the President becoming keenly interested in the Philippines. This Greek of course is none other than Stavros Psinakis.

To appreciate Papoulias’ delight in hearing a Greek’s role in a revolution against a dictatorship, you have to remember that and Greece and the Philippines share parallel histories.

Both countries were under colonial masters for four centuries. We, by the Christian Spanish. Greece, by the Muslim Turks. This is one reason why both Greeks and Filipinos are passionate about freedom, why Filipinos and Greeks, I would say, are soul-brothers.

In modern times, Greece was under martial law for seven years under a junta of colonels, which were overthrown in 1974. We had our martial law era, about which Stavros’ book tells about.

Greek President Papoulias was a well-known socialist and an activist against the Junta. Similar to Stavros’ experience when he campaigned against the Marcos dictatorship in the US, Papoulias was abroad, in Germany, when the colonels grabbed power and he campaigned against the junta all over Europe.

So when I told President Papoulias that somehow there has been a strong Philippine Greek conection through Mr. Psinakis here, he was delighted and told me to get in touch with him if there is anything the Philippine embassy needs.

One big reason I found reading Stavros book extremely interesting is that I discovered something I didn’t know before, which is of personal interest to me.

In chapter 5 of Steve’s book, he relates the hunger strike in November 1974 of Mr. Geny Lopez and Senator Osmena after two years in a Marcos prison, and how Marcos broke his word when the two political prisoners ended their strike and the dictatorship, instead of freeing them, accused them of attempts to kill him.

To counteract the negative political impact to the regime of Mr. Lopez and Senator Osmena’s hunger strike, Marcos released 622 political prisoners to project an image that his was a humane dictatorship. To quote Steve’s book:

“The hunger strike of the two prisoners did not result in their own release, but it was not in vain. It resulted in the release of 622 other political prisoners”

One of those prisoners was my late wife, Raquel, who was released that December. The other one was yours truly, although I was released months later, in March the next year – nearly two years after I was imprisoned.

So it’s never too late to express gratitude: thank you, Senator Osmena, and I thank the late Geny’s family, and of course I thank Steve, the man who planned the Great Escape.

This brings me to why I think Steve’s book is important to our national consciousness, that it is not merely your ordinary memoir.

I had lived through much of the political turmoil Steve described in the book, and I spent two years of my life in Marcos prisons.

Many lives were lost, many lives were destroyed during those years, many of whom in the prime of their youth, really teen-agers or in their early twenties dreaming of creating a prosperous society of justice and freedom.

It is said that many of the best and the brightest of that generation of youth in the 70s were either killed or imprisoned by the regime, went underground to fight the dictatorship, or escaped abroad in a move that started the phenomenon of massive Filipino migration abroad.

And I find it extremely revolting that some who were propagandists or officials of that dictatorship claim that we have martial law today, or a version of it.

The reason for such rather falsehoods is that we have started to forget what Steve called in his book as the Dark Years. We have forgotten how ugly a martial law regime is, so much that some even taunt adventurists in the military to take over our democratic system.

Steve’s book indeed is a major contribution to our collective memory. His chapter on the assassination of Ninoy Aquino is a manifesto demanding for our nation to finally solve that murder that sparked a revolution.

But Steve’s book is also an account of a truly authentic life, how a human being can celebrate life in all its facets, from enjoying the magical days with one’s beloved, children, and friends to struggling for a noble ideal. What more in life can you ask for?
Thank you, and congratulations again to Steve, to Precy, and also to their daughter, Geni and their nephew, Yorgos.

After inspecting the FWRC, the lawmakers met with leaders of the Filipino community at a meeting organized by Ambassador Tiglao at the Philippine Embassy. At the meeting, Deputy Speaker del Mar lauded Ambassador Tiglao and the Philippine Embassy for their efforts in protecting and ensuring the welfare of overseas Filipinos in Greece.

The lawmakers also commended the overseas Filipino workers for their sacrifices in improving the lot of their families left in the Philippines. They assured the Filipino community leaders that they will endeavor to enact legislation that would be beneficial to OFWs, not only in Greece, but those in other parts of the world. An open forum followed the meeting where the lawmakers addressed the various concerns raised by the Filipino community leaders. Thereafter, the guests were treated to a buffet dinner consisting of pancit, bopis, longganiza, spring rolls, beef with broccoli, spare ribs, steamed rice, Greek salad, and fresh fruits. During their stay in Greece, the lawmakers were assisted by Philippine Embassy Administrative Officer Hermogenes Garcia, Labor Attaché Eduvala, Labor Administrative Assistant Tito Baldago Jr., and PAG-Ibig Representative Jean Santos.