Phl seeks Iran's support on OIC bid

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has requested Iran’s support for the country’s bid for observer status in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, who headed the Philippine delegation to the bilateral meeting on 4th Philippine-Iran Joint Consular Consultation Meeting in Tehran, requested Iran’s support for the Philippines’ observer status bid during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sept. 15.

Seguis also followed up on Vice President Jejomar Binay’s earlier request for the transfer of Filipino prisoners from faraway provincial jails to Tehran to allow Philippine embassy officials to visit them more frequently.

The DFA said Salehi responded positively to the Philippine government’s requests and told one of his assistants to see to it that Filipino inmates in the remote provinces are transferred to prisons near Tehran.

Salehi also expressed his desire to meet Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario in the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York later this month.

The Philippines continued to pursue observer status with the influential Islamic union, hopeful that this would facilitate its peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and provide the government more influence for the protection of the millions of overseas Filipino workers in OIC countries.