Filipino community in Jordan welcomes Philippine President’s visit to the Kingdom

Jordan

Published: 2018-08-30 15:33

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 06:49


Duterte is expected to hold talks with His Majesty King Abdullah II during his trip. (The Indian Express)
Duterte is expected to hold talks with His Majesty King Abdullah II during his trip. (The Indian Express)

The Filipino community in Jordan has welcomed with open arms news of the Philippines President’s visit to the Kingdom on September 5, 2018.

The Roya News English article announcing the news on Wednesday, August 29, was shared hundreds of times on Facebook, with many Filipinos showing excitement and feeling gratitude for Duterte’s decision to visit the region.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit is a historic one: he will be the first sitting Philippine President to make an official trip to Jordan.

Official state relations between the two countries were first established when the late King Hussein paid a visit to the South Asian country in 1976.

“With Jordan, it would be an opportunity to return the visit of the late King Hussein, who visited the Philippines 42 years ago,” a tweet on the Philippines Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (DFA) official Twitter account read.

There are currently an estimated 40,000 Filipino expats residing in Jordan, as of 2017.

Filipino workers in the Kingdom largely take up jobs as nail technicians in beauty salons, as part-time or full-time domestic workers in homes and offices, as waiting staff in hotels, or in other professional jobs at one of the country’s various NGOs.

While Duterte is expected to hold talks with His Majesty King Abdullah II to discuss expanding ties between the two nations, the DFA tweeted:

“Areas of cooperation to be enhanced with Jordan are labor via an agreement on the employment of Filipino domestic workers. We expect improvements in the working conditions of Filipino domestic workers bound for Jordan.”

Tackling the subject of Filipino workers' rights, especially domestic workers, is of the utmost importance; many domestic workers complain that they are mistreated, and sometimes even abused, by their employers, causing them to either run away from home or to break their contracts before they've ended.