RP to open more embassies & consulates

The Philippines is set to open this year four more embassies and two consulates to attend to the concerns and needs of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and strengthen bilateral ties, particularly in trade and investment with the host countries.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced the embassies will be put up in Dublin, Ireland; Lisbon, Portugal; Helsinki, Finland; and Warsaw, Poland, and the two consulates general will be opened in China -- Chong Qing and Macau.

The DFA described the opening of the new posts as a leeway for the Philippines to deepen strategic partnership with the European and Asian countries and to further promote and safeguard the welfare of the Filipino workers in these places.

The DFA said the consulate general in Chong Qing would help the Philippine government reach its P30-billion trade and investment target with China by 2010. It has proposed a P10.53-billion budget for this year, part of which will be channeled to the establishment of the new foreign posts and to its assistance-to-nationals (ATN) fund, used for the repatriation of undocumented OFWs.