MANILA, Philippines – Nais ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. na palalimin pa ang bilateral relations sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Saudi Arabia, kung saan nagtatrabaho at naninirahan ang milyon-milyong Filipino.
Sa kanyang farewell call kay Saudi Arabia Ambassador Hisham Sultan Abdullah Alqahtani nitong Huwebes, sinabi ni Marcos na ang tour of duty ni Alqahtani sa Pilipinas ay naging ”very productive.”
“I know your time here is very productive. Our [relationship] with your country is as strong as ever been, and I think we will continue. We keep going, and we have begun many things as well just during my time here as President,” ani Marcos.
“We would like to continue and [become] even deeper and more involved together with the kingdom, and hopefully we can expand on all of the things that we’re already doing. This all happened under your watch,” dagdag pa niya.
Iginiit ni Marcos ang “very good partnership” na nalikha sa pagitan ng dalawang bansa.
Kinilala rin niya ang posisyon ng Saudi Arabia sa Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), na may malaking ambag sa peace effort sa Mindanao.
“We are now getting closer and closer to actually having an autonomous region with elective parliament members. And we’re working very hard to make sure that it will be a successful effort. It’s so important now that we do that. But again, not just the OIC but also Saudi Arabia has been so supportive of everything that we have been trying to do,” ani Marcos.
Kinilala ni Alqahtani na ang mga Filipino ay naging malaking bahagi ng pag-unlad ng Saudi Arabia sa nakalipas na 40 taon.
“We will not forget them,” pahayag ni Alqahtani.
Bilang paghahanda sa FIFA World Cup sa 2034 kung saan magiging host ang Saudi Arabia, sinabi ni Alqahtani na mangangailangan ang bansa ng mga manggagawang Pinoy para sa rail projects maging sa large-scale projects sa Jeddah at hilagang rehiyon ng bansa.
Ani Marcos, maaaring magpadala ng skilled workers ang Pilipinas basta’t mayroong mga available na manggagawa. RNT/JGC
