Above: Members of the meeting

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A delegation from the Philippines’ embassy in Washington, DC visited with Cayman Islands officials this week aiming to establish stronger ties and address the issues of Philippine nationals in the territory.

One issue of discussion was Cayman’s placement on an employment blacklist by the Philippines.

The meeting sought to clarify the situation of Cayman’s being placed on the list, along with the employment and consular needs of the 2,548 Philippine nationals living in the territory on work permits.

The delegation held meetings with Governor Duncan Taylor, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, Attorney General Samuel Bulgin and other officials.

The visit follows a consular outreach mission to Cayman in December by representatives of the Philippines’ embassy in Havana.

At that time, 299 Filipinos regularized their travel documents and addressed other related issues.

According to Cayman’s government, it was confident, after reviewing the information provided, that the Philippine government would remove the Cayman Islands from the blacklist.

The British Embassy will follow up with Philippine authorities.