The Filipino Social Club (FilSoc) has approved a 2-year plan that covers projects for the UAE’s Filipino community where excess amounts from sponsorships will be allocated to charitable institutions in the UAE and/or educational and disaster rehabilitation programs in the Philippines.
FilSoc’s first General Assembly held on January 24 formally approved projects for the next six months that include a Walkathon event on March 27, a Filipino Youth Festival in April and a series of Skills Upgrading Sessions to commence in May.
Team building activities are also lined up starting this February for the 12 founding officers and board members and the 100-plus pioneer members who attended the gathering.
Club officers explained that some of the projects will be open to all nationalities which is aligned with Filsoc’s vision of ‘a progressive community of Filipinos living in harmony in a multicultural environment in Dubai’.
In attendance was Community Development Authority (CDA) representative Saud Abdulrahman, part of the Dubai government arm who issued License No. 112 to FilSoc and has encouraged the officers and board members ‘to move away from short-termed, bubbled-pop solutions that rarely impact the lives of the beneficiaries and to start providing more sustainable programs’.
Pioneer members were asked to volunteer to at least two of the 10 committees that would ensure that the projects under the 2-Year Plan would be implemented with their active involvement. The club has waived the annual regular membership fee of Dhs120 until June 24 this year and has offered associate membership for free to Filipinos under 20 years old.
FilSoc was officially launched on October 31 last year which was attended by Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn Quintana, Philippine Consul General to Dubai and Northern Emirates Paul Raymund Cortes, Philippine Labor Attache to Dubai and Northern Emirates Atty. Felicitas Bay, and CDA Senior Executive Social Events and Advertisement Permit Manager Amina Ahmad Ali Abdullah Ahmad.
It organized the Town Hall Meeting with Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez last December 13 where the Philippine participation at the World Expo 2020 to be held in Dubai was discussed before more than 300 Filipinos and several expatriates living in various emirates.
