DUBAI: Noting communication problems between overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their kin affected or displaced by super typhoon Ompong, Amb. Hjayceelyn Mancenido Quintana, head of the Philippine mission to the UAE, said the embassy “stands ready” to bridge the gap and connect them together to provide comfort.
“The Philippine Government, including the embassy, stands ready to assist those affected by Typhoon Ompong,” the ambassador told The Filipino Times in an emailed reply to a query about what action her office will be taking in light of the situation.
“One of the specific assistance we can extend,” she said, “is to facilitate communication between OFWs and their affected relatives in the Philippines.”
Quintana said President Duterte “has not given instructions for the issuance of a humanitarian appeal.”
“Once instruction is given, arrangements for international humanitarian assistance will be made. Nevertheless, we can provide details of bank accounts of government agencies authorized to receive donation to those who wish to extend assistance,” she said.
Northern Luzon, home to the Ilocanos, the third largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, was the region hardest hit by Ompong. There are over 50,000 Ilocanos across the UAE’s seven emirates, according to Engr. Joel Foronda, who hails from Baguio City and is chair of the Dubai and Northern Emirates OFW umbrella group, FilCom.
Citing interviews with various OFW groups, The Filipino Times has earlier reported that Filipinos in the UAE have been having difficulties establishing communication with their relatives back home with power and communication lines down in the days immediately following Ompong’s dawn landfall on Saturday, Sept.15.
