Consular office to be opened in Busan, South Korea —Marcos

BUSAN, South Korea — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Thursday that a consular office in Busan would be opened by next year to provide services to Filipinos living here. 

Marcos announced the good news during his meet and greet with the Filipino community in South Korea. 

“My fellow Filipinos, I want to assure you… Hindi kayo namin nakakalimutan [We have not forgotten you],” Marcos said in his speech, noting that the government is doing everything to reach overseas Filipino workers. 

''At dahil sa inyong tulong sa ating bansa, akin pong ikinagagalak na ipaabot sa inyo na sa mga susunod na buwan, sisimulan na ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) ang karampatang mga preparasyon para sa pagbubukas ng ating konsulado dito sa Busan. Sa madaling sabi, sa susunod na taon ay magbubukas na ang Philippine Consulate General dito,'' he added.

(Because of what you have given back to our country, we are happy to announce that in the next few months, the DFA will begin preparing to open a consulate here in Busan. In other words, next year a Philippine Consulate General will open here.)

Marcos said Filipinos in Busan no longer need to travel all the way to Seoul to renew their passports, submit civil registry documents, and legalize their documents for use in the Philippines.

He also said a Social Security System office would be established in Seoul. 

''Mapapadali na po ang pag-aasikaso ng mga benepisyo at serbisyo mula sa SSS tulad ng membership, contributions, at claims nang hindi na kailangang umuwi pa sa Pilipinas,'' the President said.

(What you have to do to  benefits and services from the SSS will become easier, and you will no longer need to return to the Philippines to do so.)

At least 200 Filipinos attended the event with the President.

According to the Korean Immigration Service, there are approximately 70,200 Filipino workers in South Korea at present.

Meanwhile, Marcos told the Filipinos that the country's participation in this year's APEC shows that the Philippines is an active and responsible partner in building a more innovative, fairer, and interconnected Asia-Pacific region.

''We all stand ready to work with our neighbors to ensure that progress is shared, no Filipino is left behind,'' he said.

Ambassador-designate to the Republic of Korea Bernadette Therese Fernandez said that some of the important interventions that Marcos may convey for the Philippines in the APEC Summit would be that the Philippines is ready for investments. 

''But we are not only ready, we are also reliable, we are a reliable partner,'' Fernandez said in an interview.

''That really says we're able to meet the demands of companies who would want to set up businesses in the Philippines, whether these are individual businesses or multinational businesses,” she added.  — BM, GMA Integrated News