THE Swedish minister for migration and asylum, Tobias Billstrom, said his government is working with other Schengen member-countries of the European Union in their embassies in Manila to accept and process short-stay visas to Sweden, amid possible constraints on the visa application of Filipinos traveling that country owing to the closure of its embassy here starting next month.

Billstrom relayed the message to Philippine Ambassador to Sweden Maria Zeneida Angara Collinson during their meeting in Sweden last week regarding the new visa procedures set to be implemented by the Swedish government.

Collinson has raised the concern of prospective Filipino visa applicants to Sweden who will have to travel to Bangkok, Thailand, to file their applications in the Swedish Embassy there.

Sweden earlier announced the closure of its embassy in Manila staring the first week of June.

Collinson underscored the “urgent need for the Swedish government to ensure a smooth and client-oriented visa application procedure.”

The Swedish government said new procedures will require additional five days of processing. After being registered in the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok and later processed by the Swedish Migration Board in Sweden, approved visas and permits would then be sent back to Manila, for easy pick-up by applicants.

Collinson welcomed the new developments in visa procedures adopted by the Swedish government as a positive response to her representations that “requiring Filipino applicants to travel all the way to Bangkok twice to lodge and then follow-up their applications would result in emotional, financial and family hardships.”

Billstrom also informed Collinson that Sweden’s Honorary Consul General to the Philippines would be authorized to both receive and initially process visa, as well as residence and work permit applications.

He said the Swedish government also considers conducting interviews for visa applicants during regular visits to Manila by Swedish consular officials as a possible alternative.

 Meanwhile, Collinson reported that the Swedish government pledged financial support to the Philippines’ hosting of the Second Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in October.

She said Sweden announced a contribution of 700,000 Swedish kronors.

Sweden’s contribution to the Second Meeting of the GFMD will be used to sponsor the participation of representatives from developing countries, she said.

The GFMD is an informal, multilateral and government-led process. The forum seeks to add value to the current debate on international migration and development by fostering international cooperation, enhancing interstate dialogue and promoting new policy ideas in the field of migration.

AI notes dramatic decrease in human-rights violations

AMNESTY International (AI) on Wednesday noted the “dramatic decrease in the number of victims of extrajudicial killings in 2007 compared with the previous records in 2005 and 2006.”

FORMER elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. was a no-show on Wednesday’s continuation of the hearing on the controversial $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Co. at the Office of the Ombudsman, creating tension among lawyers of the contending parties.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Law Enforcement Department (SBMA-LED) and Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group-Task Force Subic (PASG-TFS) agents confiscated some P4.62 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu after a foiled attempt to smuggle the illegal drugs into Subic.

A PALL of gloom descended over the House of Representatives on Wednesday as the body of labor leader and party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, more popularly known as Ka Bel, of Anakpawis lay at the plenary hall where a Mass and necrological service were held before the militant legislator was laid to rest in Bulacan.

TO mitigate the effects of the skyrocketing price of petroleum products on the country’s economy, legislators have proposed the implementation of energy-conservation measures such as carpooling and reducing government working days to four.

THE environment group Greenpeace, together with several legislators, on Wednesday urged the government to adopt a national energy program that would harness the massive renewable- energy potentials of the country while reducing its dependence on dirty energy resources, particularly coal.

THE Swedish minister for migration and asylum, Tobias Billstrom, said his government is working with other Schengen member-countries of the European Union in their embassies in Manila to accept and process short-stay visas to Sweden, amid possible constraints on the visa application of Filipinos traveling that country owing to the closure of its embassy here starting next month.

THE appointment of former Armed Forces chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon as head of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process may adversely affect the ongoing peace process, citing the military official’s bad human-rights record.