RIYADH, 23 July — The farewell parties for Ambassador Rafael Seguis are over and the welcome ceremonies for his successor, Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla, have just began.
First to welcome Guinomla was a group of Maguindanaoans and the Philippine Embassy staff, who immediately got the instruction to “hit the ground running.”
Guinomla, who arrived on board a Philippine Airlines flight late Sunday night, took over the post during a one-hour meeting with Seguis at the Riyadh airport. After the turnover, Seguis departed on the same flight for Manila and eventually to his new assignment, Jakarta.
Guinomla said his instructions from President Gloria Arroyo, who is concurrently secretary of foreign affairs, is continue what his predecessor has started “and if necessary, initiate reforms.” He did not elaborate.
Yesterday, Guinomla met with the embassy staff as well as some individual well-wishers. Embassy personnel said he will be busy in the coming days presenting his credentials to the host government and meeting with other dignitaries.
Guinomla is no stranger to the Kingdom, having served for many years at the consulate in Jeddah until his departure in 1997 as a consul general.
Various community groups and individuals are eager to work with the new ambassador, who was plucked out of his post as assistant secretary based in Davao City in Mindanao.
The Muriatao Diwan and Basak Consultative for Community Development in Riyadh headed by Mustapha Lucman, while expressing their “deepest grief and sorrow” for the departure of Seguis, also showed enthusiasm in having Guinomla as the new “father of the community.”
Seguis and Guinomla are both career diplomats from Mindanao. Seguis comes from Agusan while Guinomla is from Maguindanao province.
Other groups have indicated their intention to meet with the new ambassador soon.
During the past days, various groups gave Seguis farewell parties. One of these was the Federation of Maranao Associations in Saudi (Femas), where datus took turns extolling him for his three-year tour of duty.
The group’s secretary-general, Datu Saleh Ampaso Bucay, took the opportunity to thank the ambassador and also apologized in case in one way or another his organization had caused him trouble during his administration.
In the same party held Friday at the International Philippine School (IPSR), former Femas chief Datu Nawawi Mabaning spoke on behalf of the toastmasters in Riyadh Area 3, of which he is governor.
Datu Alexander M. Lucman, assisted by Bucay, and Datu Macalinding Capal, the deputy secretary-general, presented a plaque of appreciation to Seguis “in recognition of his exemplary performance and accomplishment in serving the Overseas Filipino Workers in the Middle East and his enthusiasm and dedication in helping various Filipino Community Organizations on their projects and activities for the welfare of the Filipino community in the Kingdom.”
Tributes speeches were also delivered by Datus Habib Ali Batua and Allan Macabangkit, both former Femas chiefs.
In his brief remarks, Seguis returned the good words of the datus by saying it was an honor to have been given the opportunity to serve the second biggest Filipino expatriate community.
With more than 800,000 workers and their dependents, the Filipino community in the Kingdom is next only to that in the United States, which is said to be close to 2 million.
Seguis was also given farewell party by officials, faculty, stafff and student leaders of the IPSR, whose governing board is headed by Alexander Lucman.