(PNA photo)
MANILA – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. led on Thursday the inauguration of the Philippine Embassy in Morocco, almost 30 years since it was closed down in the 1990s.
Locsin said the re-opening reflects Manila's commitment to strengthening its bilateral relations with Morocco.
"After being closed for nearly 30 years, the opening of the Philippine Embassy in the Kingdom of Morocco comes at an opportune moment where both countries can optimally benefit by exploring opportunities for growth in various areas of cooperation, including people-to-people exchange," he said in a speech.
Locsin was joined by Director-General Ambassador Fouad Yazourh of Morocco.
The Embassy's reopening comes within the framework of the Philippine government's Africa policy, which is aimed at engaging more African countries and exploring potential cooperation on trade and politics, among others.
Philippine Ambassador Leslie Baja admitted that resuming operations in Rabat was challenging as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had to start from scratch.
"The challenge is we really have to start from scratch. Wala kaming (We don't have) records, Morocco was covered by (the Philippines Embassy) in Tripoli, but Tripoli doesn't have all the records about Morocco," he told the Philippine News Agency.
"Manipis (ang engagement with Morocco) and wala rin kasi silang Embassy in Manila they only opened in 2017 (The engagement was scarce because they did not have an Embassy until 2017), fortunately after that, we decided to open in Rabat. So doon lang talaga medyo nagpick-up 'yong relations (That is when relations started to pick up)," he said.
The chancery was only opened in September 2020 but Embassy operations started in December 2019, with Deputy Chief of Mission Maria Agnes Cervantes and Finance Officer Alexander Cruz as the first Embassy personnel. Their initial office at that time was Cervantes' pad in Rabat until the chancery was leased in September 2020.
Before the reopening, Morocco was under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli. An Honorary Consulate General was also established in Casablanca in the 1990s and is headed by Maria Elena Tantoco as the honorary consul general.
In the bilateral sphere, Baja is hoping the two nations could soon hold the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation, which shall involve different Filipino and Moroccan agencies.
"In the bilateral sphere the priority is trying to increase engagement, we have several more agreements in the pipeline, including tourism, labor, higher education and exchange of students, and trade," he said.
"Secretary (Locsin) was saying if both countries are stable and secure then business will follow, hopefully with that perspective and the awareness that we will try to create regarding the business opportunities in both countries then we can have better trade between Philippines and Morocco," he added.
The Philippines and Morocco established diplomatic relations on April 10, 1975. The Philippines established an embassy in Rabat thereafter but closed it in 1986.
It reopened again in 1990 but was shut down in 1996 due to budgetary constraints. (PNA)
