Senate President, First Lady headline Consular Corps meeting

MANILA, Philippines — It is not every day that two of the most outstanding and prominent personalities in the country share centerstage of a gathering of equally important standing.

This is exactly what transpired when Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos graced a recent meeting of the Consular Corps of the Philippines.

Zubiri underlined the key role the consular and diplomatic community has in promoting labor mobility, tourism, investments, technology, innovation and educational and economic exchanges.

He urged the consular corps to support the facilitation of efficient processes in travel as well as to remove Mindanao provinces from adverse travel advisories and red warning areas by some countries.

The First Lady was presented with a high-grade porcelain plate of the Manansala painting of the “Mother and Child,” wherein the rights to print and reproduce it were donated to a school for bright but underprivileged public elementary school students.

It was a fitting token to Araneta-Marcos who, as an educator, teaches law in educational institutions in various parts of the country.

Both Zubiri and Araneta-Marcos are ardent advocates of women empowerment, with the former facilitating and sponsoring the Magna Carta for Women and the latter upholding and asserting women’s rights and empowerment.

The Consular Corps of the Philippines is the umbrella organization of all ambassadors, heads of missions and consuls of countries operating in the Philippines.

Under the leadership of Jesus Pineda, the new officers of the 2024 Consular Corps of the Philippines are consul general Fausto Preysler, consul Ma. Agnes Huibonhoa and consul Betty Ang.