Above: Honourary Consul Arturo Ursua and Christine Wright, deputy governor’s office business manager (Photo: GIS)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Cayman Islands received a visit from a delegation from the Philippines Embassy in Washington this week led by First Secretary and Consul Arlene Tullid-Magno and Welfare Officer Saul De Vries.

Also joining the delegation was local Honourary Consul Arturo Urusa.

The Cayman Islands has the largest number of Filipinos of any Caribbean country, officials revealed during the visit.

There are currently 2,677 Filipinos on work permits (not counting those who have residency or status). By comparison, there are approximately 8,206 Jamaicans in Cayman on work permits; 1,747 British nationals; 1,352 Americans; 1,161 Canadians; 753 Hondurans and 719 Indians.

Among the subjects of discussions between the two sides was the deployment ban on workers for the Cayman Islands initiated earlier this year by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency.

That matter has since been settled, and Tullid-Magno said “there was never an issue of the Cayman Islands not being in compliance.”

With the closure of the Philippines’ Venezuelan embassy in July and a Havana office that will close later this month, the Washington Embassy is taking a more active role in the Caribbean.

Accordingly, officials from the country are also reportedly working with the Cayman Islands government to establish a sanctioned legal presence on Grand Cayman, with an honourary consul processing applications for e-passports, assist on civil matters and others.