MANILA – Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has praised all medical and non-medical front-liners for their services and sacrifices here and abroad as the country and the rest of the world continue to battle the effects of the pandemic.
“This pandemic reminded us that Filipino workers are deployed all over the world; and their services are as crucial at this time as they are highly valued everywhere,” Locsin said in his Christmas message.
He said this gives the DFA a “greater impetus” to strengthen its ranks in the frontlines to support the Filipino global worker.
Locsin added the pandemic has also put a spotlight on the value of essential workers, including drivers, delivery crew, sales personnel, gasoline station attendants, and many others barely noticed, but who continue to provide services on the frontline despite the risks of contracting Covid-19.
“This crisis has forced us to turn inwards; and in so doing look outwards with fresh and grateful eyes to our fellowmen,” he said.
But while the crisis upended life as everyone knows it, the Filipino top diplomat said it has not ground the world to a halt.
“We have carried on; cleverly, safely, and never forsaking grace under all the pressures. While we wait for the light to break through the dark like in the nativity story, we continue to make do,” he said.
Locsin also thanked the men and women of the DFA for working round-the-clock to assist distressed Filipino nationals abroad and to repatriate those who want to return home.
“You did not shut your doors on the baby from the manger, the mother clasping it to her breast–as I saw and cannot forget. Back in the office you went on working to bring the father home as well,” he added. “You stepped out of your comfort, nay more your safety zone, to attend to the needs of others before your own.”
He also remembered the late Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Bernardita Catalla, who died of Covid-19 in April 2020.
“Ambassador Catalla, this is for you: we love and miss you. I am in awe and I salute you all standing in the sand of the Colosseum– morituri te salutamus (we who are about to die salute you),” he said.
This Christmas season, he urged the public to disburden themselves of worries, frustrations, and fears even for this brief moment.
After Christ was born, he said “something bright and warm” has been spreading out of Bethlehem to the rest of the world.
“The challenges of this year dimmed that light but did not put it out. We’ve scissored off the burnt wick, and pulled up a fresh segment; the lamp will burn cleaner and brighter,” he added.