Household members of Filipino diplomatic and consular personnel in Belgium will be allowed to work in their host country, after a accord between the Philippines and Belgium was signed. The agreement, signed last Dec. 23, also allows household members of Belgian diplomatic and consular personnel to find work in the Philippines. The pact covers spouses, unmarried dependent children up to 18 years old, and other household members of the diplomatic and consular personnel posted in the Philippines and Belgium, who may want to get in the host countries They can also work in an international organization with a seat in the receiving state. “I am very happy to be able to conclude this agreement,” Philippine Ambassador to Belgium Cristina Ortega said in an article on the Department of Foreign Affairs website. “This is good news to our colleagues in the Foreign Service, who are posted in Belgium. Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, their spouses, dependent children and household members can now work here.” Ortega signed the agreement on behalf of the Philippines fwhile Belgian Foreign Affairs Secretary General Dirk Achten signed for Belgium. The signing ceremony served as a culmination to her term as an Ambassador in Brussels, Ortega said. “I am very grateful to all the officials of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the cordial relations and all the support that they have extended to me,” she said.
