A Filipino Times exclusive interview with Ambassador Hjayceelyn Aurora Quintana about a standing invitation for President Duterte to hold a state visit to the UAE went trending among OFW netizens across the country.
The ambassador said there is a standing invitation for the visit and added that making it happen is all a matter of timing.
“We have a very strong relationship with the UAE. There have always been talks about having future visits. We are trying to determine the timing for that,” the ambassador said.
“This is high-level meeting, there should be preparations. It will happen. The president has expressed his interest,” she added.
Asked if the president would be meeting with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the UAE, Quintana said: “There is always that element in all the state visits that has been done.”
Duterte got 51,879 or 83.5% of the total 62,103 actual votes in the UAE during the 2016 presidential election, according to the Philippine Embassy.
Duterte visited three Gulf States from April 10 to 16 in 2017, among them Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. It was his first visit to the Gulf.
Meantime, a 30-year-old housemaid who took a few school units as just part of requirements to work as a waitress in Canada and consistently got high grades and eventually got a scholarship, abandoned her plan to work abroad.
Grace Labrador Bacus is now graduating magna cum laude at the Talisay City College in Cebu, according to media reports.
Bacus had been a house helper since finishing high school, shelving her plans to finish college and putting her siblings’ education as a priority.
When she turned 18, she studied dressmaking and went on to work as a sewer for different garment manufacturers.
But more than a decade of stalled plans, financial struggles, and other sacrifices, she will march on April 8 and deliver a speech in behalf of her batch as she completes her a Bachelors degree in Secondary Education Major in English.
Meantime, the story of 34-year old Sunshine Sereno also went viral. Sereno found herself being the Tom Hanks in the movie “The Terminal” — stranded at the Sri Lanka international airport, penniless.
Susan Ople, who heads the NGO named after her father Blas Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, narrated that Sereno was illegally recruited to work in a Middle East country. After more than a month, she said could not tolerate the working conditions, and she requested to be repatriated to the Philippines.
Her flight though was circuitous — Doha-Colombo-Hong Kong-Manila. In Colombo, she had to stay overnight.
“When it was time to board, the ground personnel told Sunshine that her employer cancelled the ticket. She could not board the plane. Neither could she go out of the airport without the appropriate visa. On top of that, she faces arrest by the immigration police unless she can produce a ticket home,” Ople said in her column at Business Mirror.
After pleading with the Sri Lankan immigration authorities, Sereno was allowed to stay in Colombo airport until she gets the money to buy for ticket back to Manila.
“Sunshine begged for biscuits, drank from a public drinking fountain and used the airport’s washroom with her hand-carry bag in tow. She would approach complete strangers that used free charging facilities for their phones, to ask for a few minutes to borrow their phone charger…
“The staff [of an airline] gave her food, once a day, which soon became twice a day. The maintenance and janitorial crew of the airport became her good friends. She cried a lot, and would occupy empty seats to sleep,” Ople said.
Good thing — Colombo airport has a free wi-fi service. Sereno informed her sister in Hong Kong and a family friend in Russia about her situation.
The family friend contacted Ople through FB Messenger. Ople then contacted the DFA who then called the honorary consul in Colombo.
In entertainment news, Kapamilya actress Liza Soberano was not pleased when one netizen told her to stop taking vacations and just focus on her work instead.
It all started when the 21-year-old actress posted a photo of her and boyfriend Enrique Gil spending some time off in Bali, Indonesia.
However, one netizen accused Soberano of slacking off and losing focus on her showbiz career.
The netizen also said that Soberano should go back to the gym and train for her upcoming superhero movie, Darna.
“Vacation is over na. Hope you focus now on Darna. You badly need to go back to the gym and re-train for stunts, martial arts etc. Sana makita ko ulit ang drive mo sa career mo. Nawawala ka sa focus,” the netizen said.
Soberano was quick to reply to the netizen saying that she also deserves to take a break every once in a while since she has been providing for her family ever since she was young.
“Who are you to tell me when vacation is over? My managers allowed me and so did my bosses. I’ve been working hard for my family since I was 12. I think I deserve the time I get off,” she said.
