Every day, there are headlines of events that put readers across the world on the edge of their seats. But the year 2020 is different. Immediately after we rang in the New Year, a deafening salvo of calamities and then the tumultuous impact of the pandemic in our day to days lives took place. Despite these, international cooperation between the UAE and the Philippines was bolstered, and the Filipino spirit of resiliency and bayanihan shone even more. In all these events in the past 12 months, The Filipino Times has worked day in and day out to chronicle every detail and angle of news and information relevant to the Filipino community. Here are the top cover stories that made an impact this year:
UAE pledges aid for Taal Volcano victims
Plumes of smoke and ashfall brought devastation across Batangas and nearby areas on mid-January covering entire towns and cities in gray ash. The rose to the occasion bringing a timely message of hope for Filipino expats whose relatives have been affected by the disaster came when His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces announced that the UAE would provide aid for the Philippines.
The Filipino Times followed the kind assistance spearheaded by the Emirates Red Crescent, in coordination with both Philippine missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, to ensure that the relief packages reach homes that got heavily devastated by the ashfall from Taal. Overseas Filipinos in the UAE also came together to provide boxes of aid for their fellow Filipinos back in the country.
Heart Talk: Don’t make it complicated
Statistics of deaths among overseas Filipinos in the UAE reveal that heart diseases are among the silent yet deadliest killers. In Abu Dhabi, statistics point to 59 out of 87 Filipino patients died due to heart attacks or cardiovascular related diseases, in 2019. This accounts for 68 percent or almost 7 out 10 reported deaths.
Health experts and Philippine officials in the UAE have reminded OFWs to take good care of their hearts and to get frequent checkups to get ahead of underlying conditions, including high cholesterol levels, inactive lifestyle, poor diet choices, increased stress levels due to multiple factors, and more.
Stay Legal: Filipinos urged to update visa status in UAE
In March, the UAE began its comprehensive measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, and one of its measures was to suspend issuances of visas.
The Filipino Times helped guide thousands of residents whose visas were about to expire to get relevant updates from authorities, as visa agencies got swamped by a huge bulk of calls and inquiries. Residents were advised to avoid overstaying by updating their visa status and to comply with the country’s immigration laws and ensure that they renew their visas before expiry to stay legal.
Pinoy Mediko sa UAE: Saludo kami sa inyo!
The emergence of COVID-19 worldwide saw valiant heroism among frontliners in the UAE who braved the threat of the pandemic in April.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai expressed his words of gratitude for the country’s healthcare sector who has worked nonstop to fight the virus and recognized their efforts as a fulfillment of a ‘great national duty’ that saves thousands of lives every day.
The Filipino Times spoke to several of these Filipino frontliners who, amid emotional, psychological, and physical struggles, have continued with their struggles, continue with their mission to treat their patients towards full recovery from COVID-19.
UAE, PH fortify relations through solidarity
The UAE and the Philippines have shown their strong bilateral relations, with both countries continuously engaging the Filipino community here to assuage their fears and help relieve their worries of securing basic needs such as food and other essentials.
In May, Philippine Consul General for Dubai and the Northern Emirates H.E. Paul Raymund Cortes shared that entities including the Dubai Police, Emirates Red Crescent, Filipino community groups, along with private entities, have all been instrumental in collaboration with the Consulate and the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices and the office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to ensure that Filipinos get the assistance they need in kind.
“Parangal sa Araw ng Kasarinlan”
The Filipino Times’ steadfast commitment to providing timely information and heartwarming stories for Filipinos around the world was recognized by The Philippine Embassy in the UAE with the prestigious award called “Parangal sa Araw ng Kasarinlan” during the celebration of the 122nd Philippine Independence Day, the same night that the three stars and the sun shone on Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest edifice.
The award received in June came as the publication celebrated its 7th anniversary last June 12, 2020.
UAE marks milestones for mankind
July witnessed two of the UAE’s milestones that includes the historic launch of the Hope Probe – a culmination of more than five decades of the nation’s dream in space science that all began with the UAE founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The rocket will soon reach the orbit of Mars by February 2021, in time for the UAE’s golden jubilee celebrations.
In addition, the UAE also spearheaded first World Health Organization (WHO) enlisted global clinical Phase III trial for the inactivated vaccine against COVID-19 began in Abu Dhabi that saw over 31,000 individuals, including Filipinos get the vaccine to begin the journey towards a post-COVID-19 world.
COVID-19 pushes PH to rethink labor-export policy
The Philippine government has realized that although remittances sent home by its migrant workers push the economy forward, it cannot merely rely on the long-standing ‘labor export policy’, as tens of thousands of overseas Filipino workers across the world lost their jobs.
In August, The Filipino Times spoke to Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque who said that the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled the country to rethink its economic policy, moving forward. He also said that part of the government’s goal is to provide jobs for Filipinos with compensation and benefits that can equal those OFWs get abroad.
Vaccines for all: Now part of UAE’s national health strategy
The UAE’s vision to safeguard everyone’s safety and wellbeing was highlighted once again with the introduction of the National Policy on Vaccinations introduced in September 2020. This new measure would ensure that high-quality vaccines for communicable diseases—not just COVID-19—would be widely available for all citizens and residents.
The UAE Cabinet, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai approved the new legislation that would reduce risks of contracting communicable diseases that stem from viruses through a comprehensive framework that covers all sectors of the public.
OFW SA UMAGA, TEACHER SA GABI: OFW parents reveal challenges with children’s distance learning system in PH
October witnessed many children in the Philippines headed back to school and Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) parents in the UAE—whose children started their distance learning in the Philippines—said they too have gone back to the books and engaged with their children’s modules and handouts just to check up on how their kids are adjusting to the new normal in education.
The Filipino Times spoke to parents who shared their experiences on how they have adjusted and helped their kids learn to what the Department of Education (DepEd) calls the “blended learning” in terms of conducting classes for the 2020-2021 academic year—which started on October 5.
What’s in store for migrant Filipinos under a Biden presidency?
The whole world had their eyes on the United States of America with the tight presidential race that saw Joseph ‘Joe’ Biden emerge as the winner of the 2020 US Presidential elections.
The Filipino Times spoke to experts and found out that Filipino migrants in America as well as those planning to head to the USA can expect that diversity would be celebrated more his presidency, compared to Trump’s America First policy. Experts have also expressed optimism that the president-elect Biden would implement sweeping immigration changes which could be “beneficial for many of our Filipinos”.
1990s OFW ka ba? Ganito kami noon sa UAE
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s data, there were only 21,000 migrant Filipinos in the UAE in the early 1990s. Over the years, their population grew thousand-folds, becoming the third largest single nationality living and working in the country.
The Filipino Times spoke to several OFWs whose stay in the UAE have spanned nearly three decades in time with the UAE’s 49th National Day celebrations.
These overseas Filipinos shared throwback photos and memories as they witnessed the rapid development that the UAE has gone through the years.
