The Philippines and the United Kingdom convened the first Philippines – United Kingdom consular dialogue on 16 February 2022.
The virtual dialogue was attended by Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Jaime Victor Ledda, British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils, and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Director for Consular Affairs Jennifer Anderson. Representatives from the Philippine Embassy in London also participated in the event.
The meeting welcomed initial exchanges between both sides on the proposed Philippines-UK Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement.
According to the Philippine Embassy, the consular dialogue is “one of the five pillars of the ‘enhanced partnership’ between the Philippines and UK, which aside from consular, include political, economic, climate, and defense matters.
Under this enhanced partnership, both countries aim to drive forward joint activities in pursuit of shared priorities leading towards prosperity, security and people-to-people exchanges in the future.”
The two governments said that in the light of the continuing challenges caused by Covid-19, they are “committed to providing the best possible help and consular assistance to their respective nationals in close collaboration with the concerned authorities in their respective countries.”
DFA Assistant Secretary Ledda said, “The importance of regular consular exchanges between our two countries cannot be overemphasized, given that the protection of the rights and promotion of the welfare and interests of overseas Filipinos, such as Filipinos in the UK, including health professionals, is one of the three fundamental pillars of Philippine foreign policy.”
Meanwhile, Ambassador Beaufils and FDCO Director for Consular Affairs Jennifer Anderson welcomed the proposed Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement and said they are “grateful to the Philippines government for their continuing cooperation, in particular as we strive to do more to support those British Nationals in the Philippines who are most in need.”
The Enhanced Partnership was officially launched in London in November 2020 by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin and UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss in celebration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
