Female envoy a first for Canada and Philippines

Philippines' first female ambassador to Canada was warmly welcomed and accredited by Canadian Governor General David Johnston in a ceremony held on last week at the Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
Philippine Ambassador Petronila Garcia submitted her credentials to Johnston along with five others newly-arrived envoys to Canada.
"My mission is to ensure that Philippine-Canadian friendship will continue to flourish on the back of healthy political and economic relations with the large Filipino diaspora in Canada providing a rich context to pursue our goals,” Ambassador Garcia said.
Garcia is the first female Philippine ambassador to Canada since diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1949.
The Governor General recognized the knowledge and skills that Garcia will bring to bear on Philippines-Canada relations, which are largely shaped by people-to-people ties fostered by some 660,000 Filipinos in Canada.
Garcia summarized her priorities for growing bilateral ties with Canada, such as more educational partnerships in the fields of agriculture, engineering, environmental protection, educational technology and information technology, among others.
She also took the occasion to convey the Filipino people’s gratitude for Canada’s tremendous disaster relief assistance in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda last year, including the deployment of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) to the island of Panay.
Meanwhile, the Government of Canada has announced it is giving Cad$ 500,000 (approx. PhP 20 million) in humanitarian assistance funding for those affected by conflict in Mindanao.
The funding will be channeled to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to address the humanitarian needs of thousands living in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
“Canada has committed to scaling up interventions that will have the greatest impact, focusing in the areas of strengthening health systems, improving nutrition, and reducing the burden of leading diseases,” Canada’s ambassador to the Philippines Neil Reeder said.
“The contribution announced today builds on this engagement by supporting efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of those in greatest need in the conflict-affected areas of Mindanao,” he added.
Canada is supporting ICRC operations in Mindanao by providing seeds, tools and fishing equipment to help improve the livelihoods of 59,500 conflict-affected people; technical assistance to rehabilitate water and sanitation facilities at the community level, benefitting up to 6,000 people; support to improved detention facilities for up to 6,000 vulnerable detainees; medical and surgical supplies for hospitals; and food and other supplies for up to 84,000 people.
“This additional funding demonstrates Canada’s continuing commitment to build on our strong ties with the Philippines,” Ambassador Reeder added.
In June, Canada added the Philippines “a country of focus” for international development efforts.