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Filipinos mark PH Independence Day declaration
Mangibin to leave post in July
In advance of the 116th anniversary of the Philippines’ declaration of independence on June 12, the Filipino community on Saipan held a flag-raising ceremony early yesterday morning at the Coral Ocean Point Resort.
Gov. Eloy S. Inos, Guam Consul General Bayani V. Mangibin, CNMI honorary consul designate Glicerio Arago, and leaders of Saipan and Tinian Filipino groups led close to a hundred in attendance at the event, which also marked the signing of the CNMI-Philippines friendship proclamation.
“I congratulate all Filipinos for having celebrated the 116th Independence Day proclamation event and I congratulate the local community as well for being able to work in partnership with Filipino workers, friends, and family out here,” said Inos after the event.
He said the event was very moving and that he saw a lot of camaraderie and expressions of partnership and support and working as one community.
“I hope we can continue to do that for as long as they love here and I ask our local community to do the same and reciprocate,” he added.
Mangibin echoed Inos’ call for Filipinos and residents to continue their decades-long partnership and cooperation. He also touched on the five-year extension of the CW program by U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez.
“I will use what Gov. Inos said, that Filipinos in the CNMI continue to be a strong partner to their local brethren toward a stable and fruitful change. I’m hoping that with this five-year extension that is being given to us, there’s a better future,” he said during the open forum following the event.
Mangibin added that he’s hoping that immigration reform will finally push through in the next couple of years.
“Let us hope that immigration reform will pass so all of you will have a greener pasture…As much as we want you to continue to be a part of us, many of you have American children already and we don’t want your families to be separated,” he said in mix of English and Tagalog.
Mangibin bids adieu
Mangibin dropped a bombshell of sorts when he revealed that he will be vacating his post as consul general of the Philippine Consulate General in Agana, Guam, next month.
“I will be the ambassador to Nairobi, Kenya, together with 13 other countries in East Africa. I will also be the permanent representative of the United Nations for environment program and human settlement. These are very important programs because it deals with climate change and housing,” he told reporters.
Mangibin will be leaving Guam in July 21, 2014. He will be replaced by Marc De Borja, a young scholar and writer of several books. Mangibin said the incoming consul general is fluent in Spanish and Nihonggo and it will his first time to head a post.
He said his tour of duty in Micronesia will be unforgettable, simply because his previous posts were troubled hotspots.
“You have to take into account that in the past I was ambassador to Kuwait at the height of the second invasion and then they sent me to Gadhafi’s Libya as ambassador and also in Baghdad, Iraq, so you would see the big difference between that and coming into the CNMI and Guam. To me Saipan and Guam is paradise compared to these previous posts. It’s a big relief, really. Now, they’re asking me to go to another challenging post.”
Mangibin said his attendance at yesterday’s function will be his last to visit the Commonwealth as he is also set to fly to the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Republic Palau before he leaves his post.
Mangibin said mobile consular services will continue even after he leaves “because it’s a necessity and a requirement.” He said his office is also waiting for additional passport machines.
On the appointment of Arago as honorary consul to the CNMI, he said Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) has already asked the Office of Foreign Missions to expedite the process.
“It has become a never-ending submission of documents and I’m already leaving and Arago’s appointment is not there yet…the FSM honorary consul is already in place because it didn’t have to go through the State Department. With Kilili’s intervention, hopefully the Office of Foreign Missions will finally act on this.”
United Filipino Organization president Annamae Adaza and United Filipinos Association on Tinian president Rodney Cabarles were also in attendance and both thanked Mangibin for his service to the people of the Marianas.
