Philippine Consul General for Dubai and the Northern Emirates Paul Raymund Cortes wishes to remind all Filipino Community organizations to adhere to the UAE law following reports from Dubai’s Community Development Authority (CDA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) about groups who organized events but were not registered under CDA.
“We must adhere to the laws of the UAE. I wish to remind all organizations that the Consulate’s certificates of recognition do not give the organizations a legal entity – they still need to have their organization registered at the CDA,” said Cortes during a town hall meeting with the FilCom leaders and presidents of different Filipino organizations held at Gerry’s Grill in Dubai.
In line with this, ConGen Cortes announced that the Philippine Consulate will stop issuing any certifications of this sort in order to mitigate any problems that might arise against the Dubai government entities. He also suggested to the community groups to lessen their presence online by posting less on social media about their activities.
Strong Volunteers
However, ConGen Cortes also recognizes the importance of having these groups as a means for Filipinos to band together as they enrich their lives as OFWs who share a common ground. “With over 800,000 of us here in Dubai and the UAE, I understand that we will need to have these organizations where we feel we can truly belong to,” said Cortes.
ConGen Cortes also praised the Filipino Community in Dubai and the organization’s leaders for their active and engaging participation in the success of the 2018 Philippine Independence Day celebrations: “I would like to highlight the fact that the community in Dubai will always have strong and dedicated volunteers – at gusto kong ipagmalaki iyon.”
