MANILA — The Philippine government is taking “multiple routes” to repair diplomatic ties with Kuwait following the embassy-led rescue operations of distressed Filipinos that angered the Gulf nation, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said.
At around past 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Cayetano, together with DFA officials including Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, accompanied former Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa upon his arrival in Manila.
The envoy arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on board Philippine Airlines Flight PR 669 around 10:40 p.m., a week after the Kuwaiti government declared him persona non grata from the country.
Cayetano said the country will move forward after Villa’s departure as the Philippines’ top envoy to Kuwait.
“You cannot take the relationship with one country away from how we’re taking care of the Filipinos. It goes together. So as they show us that they will take care of Filipino workers and they’re helping us with the things, we’re also taking care of ‘yung mga sa kanila. We’re talking,” Cayetano said.
While he confirmed talks are on-going, Cayetano 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.
He continued: “The who, when, how, leave that to us muna because we don’t want to box anyone. We’re taking multiple routes, so parallel ang efforts ng Department of Labor and Department of Foreign Affairs but nagkakaisa kami sa direksyon.”
At present, an unnamed senior diplomat is manning the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait.
“We have a senior official there now, and then Ambassador will be advising us from here now,” Cayetano said.
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.
“We assure everyone that the Philippine government will remain guided by the national interest in seeking solutions that would be beneficial to all concerned.”
The official guaranteed that the agency is following an objective — to ensure the welfare of overseas Filipinos abroad.
“We will get to that objective while repairing any damage or restoring the strength of our relationship with Kuwait,” he said.