PH AMBASSADOR TANG PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME OF RWANDA

Philippine Ambassador Marie Charlotte G. Tang and H.E. President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda (Photo: Office of the President, Rwanda)

KIGALI, 25 April 2022 - Philippine non-resident Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda Marie Charlotte G. Tang presented her credentials to Rwandan President Paul Kagame on 25 April 2022 at the Village Urugwiro - Office of the President in Kigali.

Ambassador Tang conveyed the good wishes of President Rodrigo Duterte to President Kagame and the people of Rwanda. She commended Rwanda’s successful efforts to contain COVID-19 and promote a post-pandemic economic recovery. She shared that the Philippines has recently enacted new landmark policies conducive for business and investments and expressed the hope for increased economic and people-to-people collaboration with Rwanda.  

Ambassador Tang also congratulated Rwanda for co-initiating the resolution on creating an internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution adopted at fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) in March 2022 in Nairobi. Ambassador Tang cited the landmark resolution, which the Philippines also co-sponsored, as a necessary step to end plastic pollution.

President Kagame called the Philippines “a friend of Rwanda” and noted the considerable degree of familiarity between the two countries owing to the long years of people-to-people exchanges. He reaffirmed Rwanda’s interest to further strengthen its relations with the Philippines. 

At the ceremony, President Kagame also received the credentials of four other envoys from Chad, Namibia, Brazil, and Jamaica.  

During her visit to Kigali, Ambassador Tang also held meetings with Permanent Secretary Clementine Mukeka and Director General for Asia and Pacific Affairs Phillip Karenzi of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MINAFFET) of Rwanda. Ambassador Tang and the Rwandan officials discussed potential cooperation in the areas of tourism, culture, skills development, migration, and closer collaboration in the multilateral front.

Ambassador Tang also met with the Filipino community based in Rwanda, a number of them already in the country since the 1990s and had supported the rebuilding of the Rwandan society in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. Ambassador Tang assured the community that the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi, in close coordination with Philippine Honorary Consul-designate to Rwanda Ms. Rachel Lynn Pineda Zirimwabagabo, stands ready to assist the 55 Filipino nationals in Rwanda. END

Ambassador Tang met with Permanent Secretary Clementine Mukeka of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda (MINAFFET) (Photo: MINAFFET Rwanda).

Ambassador Tang gave MINAFFET Director for General Asia and Pacific Affairs Phillip Karenzi a box of premium Philippine-made chocolates. 

Ambassador Tang (back row, sixth from the left), joined by Philippine Honorary Consul Rachel Lynn Pineda Zirimwabagabo (back row, eighth from left), met with Filipinos based in Kigali, Rwanda. 

PH EMBASSY IN NAIROBI PROVIDES CONSULAR SERVICES AND MOBILE VOTING IN SEYCHELLES

Victoria, 17 April 2022 - The Philippine Embassy in Nairobi successfully conducted a consular outreach mission and mobile voting in Seychelles on 17 April 2022.

The Embassy's team composed of Second Secretary and Consul Maria Rosanna O. Josue and Consular Assistant Jose D. Aguilera, Jr., in coordination with PH Honorary Consul in Seychelles Ms. Rosita Parcou, provided passport, notarial, and other consular services to Filipinos in Seychelles. 

Mobile voting for the 2022 Presidential elections was also available to qualified registered Filipino overseas voters.

The Embassy team also encouraged the Filipino community to register in its overseas Filipino mapping project and informed them about Republic Act 11313 or the Safe Spaces Act of 2019.

Seychelles, a 115-Island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, is host to around three hundred Overseas Filipinos, who mostly work in the tourism industry or are affiliated with Indian Ocean Tuna Ltd.

Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Seychelles were established in 1987.

The Philippine Embassy in Nairobi participated in this year’s “International Day of Reflection on the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda” held at the UN Office in Nairobi on 14 April 2022.