President Benigno Aquino III will make a pitch for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Singapore when he conducts his state visit there later this week, Malacañang said Sunday. Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office secretary Ramon Carandang also said at least five Cabinet members will accompany Aquino III on his state visits to Indonesia and Singapore. “Kung tingnan mo ang Pilipino sa Indonesia relatively few ang number. Ang Pilipino sa trabaho sa Indonesia, most are management and high-ranking. Mas bibigyan pansin ang nasa Singapore, there are more of them and ... most of them are domestic workers," he said. (Most Filipinos working in Indonesia are in management and in high-ranking positions. But the President is likely to pay more attention to the Filipinos in Singapore since many of them are domestic workers.) Carandang also said five Cabinet members will accompany Aquino to Indonesia and Singapore. These are:
Albert del Rosario (Department of Foreign Affairs); Cesar Purisima (Department of Finance); Jose Rene Almendras (Department of Energy); Florencio Abad (Department of Budget and Management); and Herminio Coloma Jr. (Presidential Communications Operations Office). Aquino is due to leave Monday for Indonesia, where he will conduct a state visit from March 7 to 9. He will then proceed to Singapore from March 9 to 11. In Indonesia, Aquino will meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, discuss fisheries cooperation, maritime boundary delimitation, and other matters, and witness the signing of three agreements aimed at “enhancing people-to-people linkages between the two countries." A Malacañang statement on Sunday said that after Indonesia, Aquino will fly to Singapore on Mar. 9, where he is set to hold briefings at the Changi Reclamation Plant, Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore Technologies Kinetics and the Changi International Airport. He leaves for Manila March 11, the Palace said. While in Singapore, the Singaporean government will confer on Aquino the honor of having an orchid breed named after him, a courtesy accorded to a visiting heads of state. In Singapore, Aquino will meet Singaporean President SR Nathan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, where they will discuss government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives, the Philippines-Singapore Action Plan and other matters of bilateral and ASEAN concerns. On Saturday, deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the Philippines expects to gain much in terms of disaster mitigation know-how from the visits. She also said Filipinos can expect improved relationships with its neighbors in the region, which she said share many commonalities. During Aquino’s state visits, he will also meet the Filipino communities in Jakarta and Singapore, as well as with business taipans and organizations to drum up support for the investment initiatives of his administration. — KBK, GMA News 
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