PR-014-2022
02 March 2022, Singapore – The Philippine Embassy in Singapore successfully held its first Ugnayan on Sunday, 27 February 2022.
Among the highlights of the Ugnayan was the presentation on the requirements and procedures for quarantine-free travel to Singapore under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme for fully-vaccinated travelers between the Philippines and Singapore, effective 4 March 2022. This was welcome news for our kababayans in Singapore, especially those who have not been able to take a break and return to the Philippines for more than two years.
“This is a positive development despite the COVID-19 situation in Singapore. Not only will the VTL restore travel, boost tourism, and spur economic growth, but it will mostly benefit our kababayans who have not been able to visit their family and loved ones for over two years now,” stated Ambassador Joseph del Mar Yap in his opening remarks.
Another highlight of the virtual meeting was the update on the preparations for the upcoming national elections. Video capsules on the election, prepared by the Embassy’s election task force, as part of the Embassy’s information campaign, were also presented during the Ugnayan.
The tagline, “Kabayan, kayo ang kaagapay sa matagumpay na halalan”, emphasizes the importance of creating a solid partnership between the Embassy and the FilCom to ensure an orderly and safe Philippine overseas voting amidst the ongoing health pandemic. Another key message of the information campaign was to encourage members of the FilCom to vote early to avoid long queues in the last few days of the voting period. The Philippine overseas voting is a month-long activity beginning on 10 April until 9 May 2022.
Also, in keeping with the past Ugnayan sessions, the Embassy officials and its partner agencies provided a summary of their respective section’s accomplishments in 2021, updates on services, and upcoming projects and activities. New Embassy personnel were also introduced to the Filipino Community.
With almost 100 participants in attendance via Zoom webinar and more than 2.5k views on Facebook during its live airtime from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, the Ugnayan successfully reached a wide audience. Since the event, It has been viewed 4,800 times through the Embassy’s official Facebook page as of this writing.
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