JEDDAH, 1 April 2004 — The new Philippine consul general to the Western Region, Mohamad Noordin Pendosina “Dino” N. Lomondot, is now in town to assume his post.
Lomondot arrived with his wife and children last night in Jeddah on board a Malaysian Airlines flight straight from his last assignment in Kuala Lumpur.
He was welcomed at the airport by a group led by Vice Consul Jose V. Jacob, who had been the principal officer at the consulate since Consul General Kadatuan P. Usop was relieved of his post by the Department of Foreign Affairs last year.
Lomondot told his well-wishers, who included other consulate personnel and community leaders, that he was ready to assume his post “with full energy.”
“I will continue to fast track whatever projects Vice Consul Jacob had started,” he said.
A native of Marawi City in the southern Philippines, Lomondot is a career diplomat who had served in various posts for the past 18 years. As a vice consul in Jeddah in the early 1990s, he was instrumental in the smooth repatriation of hundreds of overstaying Filipinos, who were granted amnesty by the Saudi government, according to some community leaders.
The city’s numerous Maranao organizations have scheduled a “Kalilang Festival” at 4:40 p.m. today at the consulate to welcome the new consul general.
