10 March 2022, Seoul. The Philippine Embassy in Seoul held the first Filipino Community Leaders' Forum for the year on 05 March 2022. The virtual gathering was participated in by the Embassy officials, heads of attached agencies, and 65 Filipino community leaders representing their respective groups from the metropolitan cities and provinces in South Korea.

In her remarks, Ambassador Ma. Theresa B. Dizon - De Vega shared the recent activities of the Embassy since the last Leaders Forum was held in November 2021. She spoke about the launch of the Embassy's Know Your Rights and Responsibilities (KYRR) seminar series in January with its first session on the Philippine Family Law held in January, to be followed by the seminar-cum-legal clinic on Property Rights this month. She likewise informed the forum about the resumption of deployment of EPS workers which, by the end of March, is expected to reach around 800 workers and the specially designed three-part post-arrival seminar which the Embassy has started to conduct for them. The Ambassador expressed optimism that, like the EPS, the visa issuance for other categories will soon resume. "We will continue with our representation and consultation with the relevant authorities so that our kababayans waiting for entry including Non-GSK students and F1 visa applicants may soon be able to proceed to Korea. As we face the new normal and begin to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we also hope that our communities can gather in person once again to strengthen our cooperation and unity," Ambassador de Vega said.

One of the highlights of the 2-hour forum was the presentation on Overseas Voting. Consul General Romulo Victor Israel, Jr. informed the body that the overseas voting period will run from 10 April at 8:00 AM (PST) to 9 May 2022 at 7:00 PM (PST). Registered voters can cast their votes at the Philippine Embassy, but mobile and field-voting may also be held in selected areas once authorized by the COMELEC. The leaders were enjoined to inform their members to visit the Embassy website for subsequent announcement and check the Certified List of Overseas Voters (CLOV) for the 2022 national elections. (http://www.philembassy-seoul.com/documents/SEOUL%20PE%20-%20REPUBLIC%20OF%20KOREA%20(LANDBASED).pdf).

Other Embassy officials and attached agency heads discussed the updated procedures in consular transactions, the new registration system for obtaining the Overseas Employment Certificate for Balik-Manggagawa, the OWWA benefits during the pandemic, and the Covid-19 situation in South Korea including the new testing, quarantine and treatment schemes.

The leaders were also informed about the recently concluded Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Philippines, the schedule of webinars under the Embassy's Promoting Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness for Overseas Filipinos in South Korea (PEAK-Pinoy) for the year, and membership benefits of Pag-IBIG1 and MP2 for Overseas Filipinos.

The presentations were followed by an interactive question and answer portion where the leaders raised relevant concerns which were responded to by the Ambassador and resource persons.

The Leaders' Forum is a regular meeting initiated by the Embassy and its attached agencies as a one-country-team to share and exchange updates on consular, labor, health and other timely matters. It also serves as the venue for promoting unity and cooperation between and among the various community organizations and the Philippine Embassy. -END-