DUBAI: As Filipinos all over the world commemorate the 118th anniversary of Philippine Independence, the country’s envoy to the United Arab Emirates highlighted the role of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in creating positive images of the Philippines in the Gulf region.
In his speech at the Independence Day celebrations at Dalma Mall in Abu Dhabi on Friday, June 3, Amb. Constancio Vingo, Jr. said positive images of Filipinos are created as OFWs become globally recognized for their skills in diverse fields.
“Filipinos overseas serve as conduit for people-to-people exchanges between the Philippines and foreign countries. New ideas enter the Philippines via the Filipino expatriate population, while positive images of the Philippines are made in foreign lands via the same Filipino expatriates population,” the ambassador said.
Vigno was also keen to highlight that while OFWs continue to support their families back home, saving for their future to attain financial freedom should also be part of their priorities.
“Alam naman po nating hindi pirmihan ang paninirahan natin dito [sa UAE]. Kaya nga po ang payo ko po sa ating mga kababayan ay mag-impok dahil darating po ang araw na pag-uwi ninyo ay may kaunti po kayong naitabi para sa inyong mga pamilya at pagtatayo ng negosyo,” Vigno said.
The envoy also touched on the recent Philippine national elections, which also saw the participation of the Filipino community living in the UAE and elsewhere around the world through absentee voting. Vingno said he was hopeful the country could start a new chapter under the new political leadership.
“There were words exchanged among all the candidates. Pero tapos na po ang halalan at mayroon na po tayong president-elect. That is why I urge all our kababayans here in the UAE to remain united to support the president elect.
“As our country now is in the path of a democratic transition with one administration about to end and new one about to begin, we, thus, submit to the sovereign will of the people and must unite as one to protect and build upon the games of the past,” Vingno said.
Meanwhile, Vigno assured the Filipino community in the UAE that despite the country’s transition to its new administration, the embassy will continue in its mission to perform its duties for the OFWs here.
Flash mob
With the theme “Kalayaan 2016: Pagkakaisa. Pag-aambagan at Pagsulong,” a flashmob inside the Dalma Mall performed by Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit at Mananayaw sa Abu Dhabi (OPMMAD) marked the start of the event. It was followed by a show capturing the evolution of the Philippines’ flag and history.
The entire programme was organized by the Bayanihan Council.
In Dubai, this year’s Philippine Independence Day festivities highlighted the talents of the younger generation of Filipinos as expressed in various competitions – interpretative dance contest, extemporaneous speech contest, Mr. and Ms. Teen PID 2016, Original Pilipino Music singing contest, and on-the-spot painting contest.
Celebrities Lovi Poe, Rannie Raymundo, and Gus Villa joined local talents Maui Marcelo (Philippine Idol 2016 Grand Champ), Karl Ian Tanhueco (Global Singing PInoy 2016 Ist Runner-up), and Patrick Salta, among others in entertaining a crowd of no less than 12,000 in number converged at the Dubai Convention Center.
Award-winning actress and recording artist Lovi Poe joined Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes’ in his rendition of Ogie Alcasid’s original composition “Hanggang Ngayon” which instantly became a favorite number in the presentations.
Wafa Qasimieh, head of this year’s Dubai organizing committee, said they really worked hard with Filipino community leaders for the success of the event.
“I have opened the doors for different (Filipino) organizations to be part of the celebrations. And I am thankful for Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes for his idea of doing this inside the Dubai World Trade Center. I am also thankful for Consul Ryan Pondoc for acting as the adviser and for helping me go through all the details to make this day happen,” said Qasimieh.
Job fair
A job fair with 25 participating companies, including a five-star resort hotel, an engineering consultancy firm, a Filipino school, and a cargo forwarder, opened about 1,500 job positions. It was held simultaneously with the production numbers and attracted over 5,000 Filipino job applicants.
Lyn Federico, head of the job fair sub-committee said people started queuing in as early as 5am. Some 5,600 applicants were allowed in by DWTC personnel; thousands more, organizers said, were not given access to the premises as per DWTC regulations on the number of people that can be allowed entry, Cortes said.
“We have to limit the number (of people) because the convention center is not accommodating a lot inside the convention halls. Plus we also have a call off time which is only till 2:30pm. We have started the screening of candidates early this morning. We have around 55 human resource executives as volunteers and we have 20 employers to make it easier for us to evaluate the applications,” said Donna Hernandez of the job fair committee.
About 90 percent of the applicants were on visit visa, vying for 1,500 positions offered by 20 companies from hospitality, construction, food services, and retail sectors, that are looking receptionists, guest relations officers, accountants, housekeeping, barmen, bartenders, mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, IT engineers, registered nurses, homecare nurses, sales executives, marketing executives and customer service personnel, according to Federico.
Cortes said the Philippine government has been discouraging Filipino jobseekers from going to the UAE on visit visas. UAE laws, on the other hand, allow tourists to look for jobs and later change their temporary immigration status to employment visas.
“We do hope that they would take the legal route because it would protect them all the more. We really would have wanted them to leave the Philippines through employment agencies duly accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA),” Cortes said.
Samirah Nanoz, managing partner at Penta Global HR Solutions, one of the firms at the event, said having Filipino jobseekers on visit visa is not uncommon in job fairs. Although they do not condone the practice, she said, they are obligated to help compatriots find jobs to lessen the number of undocumented Filipinos in the UAE.
The job fair was powered by The Filipino Times, likewise official media partner of the Independence Day festivities.
“Ever since we’ve been conducting job fairs five years ago, that’s what we always see: people who are on visit visa…I wouldn’t say we are encouraging it. But they are already here. What else can we do?” said Nanoz.
A mini bazar participated in by sellers of products and services added more fun to the annual affair.
