Mona Pangcoga, Albani Maongco and Nasser Radiamoda are making the case that the Philippines should make better use of its Muslim intelligentsia in its diplomatic corps.

Pangcoga is chairman of the Riyadh-based Integrated Mindanao Economic Forum (IMEF); Maongco and Radiamoda are important members of Jeddah's United Bangsaranao Council (UBC).

"We, the Muslims from Mindanao, are delighted at the prospect of having you as our next president for a six-year term," Pangcoga wrote. "We fervently hope that your presidency will usher in a new era for the Filipinos and overseas foreign workers (OFWs) and turn over a new chapter in the history of our republic."

Pangcoga underlined the need for strong diplomatic relations with the Arab world. "The OFWs, especially those from the island of Mindanao, have succeeded in strengthening our relations with the Arab world, notably the Gulf countries, where millions of our compatriots are working. We send millions of dollars in annual remittances back home, besides acting as the unofficial ambassadors of our country," he said.

He pointed to examples of other nations that have successfully adopted the diplomatic strategy and consequently are enjoying better relations with Arab states.

"According to the Chinese ambassador to Riyadh, who himself studied in Cairo, the Chinese government has six heads of mission in Arab states, including himself, who are all graduates from Arab countries, while a majority of the Chinese Embassy staff in these countries are also Arabic-speaking," Pangcoga said.

"Similarly, the Malaysian ambassador to Riyadh is originally of Arab descent whose country now enjoys excellent economic and trade relations with Saudi Arabia. It was a wise move on the part of the Taiwanese government to replace its representative to the Kingdom with one who graduated from Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah in an attempt to compete with his counterpart from mainland China. As a result, most of these countries are now enjoying extraordinary relations with the host country."

Pangcoga noted that the nation has not capitalized on the hundreds of Arabic-speaking individuals who were educated in the Middle East.

"Unfortunately, the Philippine government did not give much importance to their education and did not utilize them in the Arab world as a tool for winning the hearts and minds of these states. We have never heard of a Filipino Muslim who graduated from an Arab university becoming the Philippine ambassador. They have been used merely as translators, case officers and interpreters only at some Philippine embassies in the Middle East," he said.

UBC's Maongco and Radiamoda maintained that with the number of overseas foreign workers (OFWs) from the Philippines residing in the Middle East, Aquino could appoint a former OFW and benefit from the insights about another culture that only long experience generates.

"We strongly believe that the problem of OFWs must be handled and represented by one of them who has been living and working with them. We believe that we are the right advocate for our country and the people, Christians as well as Muslims. We need somebody who will work for the wellbeing of Filipinos and work on promoting a positive image of our republic as a country for all Filipinos," wrote Maongco and Radiamoda in their letter to the president.

They suggested Aquino should make a change soon.

"We urge you to take immediate notice of highly-qualified Arabic speaking Filipinos, who can work for the Philippines in diplomatic missions across the Islamic world. Hence, we would urge you to appoint qualified OFWs with Arabic skills to head diplomatic missions of the Philippines in Arab countries."