Ambassador Amable R. Aguiluz V has been reappointed by President Benigno C. Aquino III as the Special Envoy of the President to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Ambassador Amable R. Aguiluz V has been reappointed by President Benigno C. Aquino III as the Special Envoy of the President to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). GCC is the aggrupation of 6 states in the Arab Gulf: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Kuwait and the State of Qatar. In addition to his assigned tasks, the President asked Aguiluz to also assist in strengthening international economic relations.
Dr. Aguiluz V has held this position as Special Envoy since 2003. He is especially proud that all the missions he has undertaken so far were carried out and accomplished at no expense to the Philippine government. These were all fully funded from personal funds and the AMA Foundation, Inc. One of the major accomplishments of Special Envoy Aguiluz is the lifting of the visa ban on OFW’s by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman in 2004 which led to the increase of OFW deployment to Oman from 3,500 to 60,000. Upon his representation, several grants have also been given to the Philippine Government for different needs: for Muslim Filipinos, for typhoon victims, for the construction of classrooms and medical facilities.
Through the years, he has also successfully negotiated the release of several Filipino hostages and Filipinos who were imprisoned or sentenced to die, assisting in backdoor negotiations for royal pardon or commutation of death sentence. Filipinos like Angelo de la Cruz, Robert Tarongoy, the 23 jailed Filipino seamen, Pastor Fernando Alconga, Sarah Dematera, Marilou Ranario, May Vecina.
Aguiluz V was also instrumental in securing pledges from the different GCC governments to finance projects of the Philippines and to establish long-term partnerships in the field of educational development and banking. He has actively assisted and participated in several Gulf state visits and the exchange of business and trade delegations between the Philippines and Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. He also lobbied the Philippine Congress for the establishment of a Philippine Consulate in Dubai, UAE.
Because of Ambassador Aguiluz’ accomplishments, he has been conferred the Mediallion of Bahrain by His Majesty the King of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa and the Presidential Medal of Merit by former President Arroyo in recognition of his achievements in the field of international diplomacy and OFW welfare.
Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz V is the founder of Asia’s first and largest computer-based education system in the Philippines—the AMA Education System. AMAES has the following member schools: AMA University/College, ABE International College, ACLC Learning Center, ACLC College, AIIT, St. Augustine (Healthcare) and St. Augustine International School (Basic Education).
