Some of the members of the Filipino Social Club Board of Directors with Hjayceelyn M. Quintana, Paul Raymund Cortes, and other diplomats at the “Joint Commemoration of the 123rd Philippine Independence Day” at the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai on Saturday.

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn M. Quintana has appointed the Filipino Social Club (FILSOC) as the official community partner of the Philippine Team at the 182-day “Expo2020Dubai,” to be inaugurated on Oct. 1, 2021.

The announcement came by way on June 12 (Saturday), when officers and men of the Philippine Embassy-Abu Dhabi, Philippine Consulate General-Dubai, Philippine Overseas Labour Office-Abu Dhabi, Philippine Overseas Labour Office-Dubai, and the Philippine Trade and Investment-Dubai jointly commemorated the “123rd Philippine Independence Day” at the consular mission headquarters in Al Qusais, Dubai.

Quintana announced the FILSOC designation when she was giving due recognition to Filipinos and non-Filipinos who have been contributing to the continuous and effective involvement of the approximately 500,000 Filipinos in the economic-cultural-social-educational fabric of the UAE.

With its Licence Number 112 issued on June 24, 2019 by the Community Development Authority-Dubai, FILSOC is a non-political and non-religious organisation, accredited to conceptualise and manage social, cultural and educational initiatives and activities in Dubai. Its president, Ericson Reyes, said current active membership is over 800 Filipinos from the different emirates who engage  in volunteer and collaborative work for and within their community. CDA-Dubai has  encouraged them to collaborate and partner for initiatives and programmes with the local and other expatriate communities.

Quintana met the FILSOC Board of Directors, prior to the Saturday announcement. She discussed their “vital role” for the success of the Philippine participation at the Expo2020Dubai, a landmark World Expo event in the Middle East and North Africa.

On Saturday, Quintana said Reyes takes the FILSOC-Dubai Expo2020 Committee chairmanship. As such, Reyes is expected to closely work with the main Philippine Expo2020Dubai Team helmed by the Department of Trade and Industry-Manila, specifically by Trade Promotions Group Assistant Secretary Rosario Virginia C. Gaetos.

Reyes defined the task as a “big challenge for FILSOC but with one vision and mission, we can raise the bar higher as Filipinos; together, we can make history.”

One of the principal activities of the FILSOC-Dubai Expo2020 Committee is the “Bangkota Awareness Campaign.” “Bangkota” is the ancient Tagalog (one of the three major dialects of the almost 1,000  Philippine dialects) for coral reef. It is the official name of the Philippine Pavilion. It reflects the openness, resourcefulness and adaptability of a people whose Astronesian ancestors had spread worldwide to Southeast Asia, the Pacific Rim and Africa, even before the present-day 7,107-island nation was discovered through the 1599 to 1522 quintecentennial circumnavigation by Portuguese Fernando Magallanes for Rey Felipe and Reina Isabela of Spain. Magallanes and his crew landed in Limasawa Island on March 16, 1521.

A special sub-committee of the FILSOC-Dubai Expo2020 Committee had also recommended the following activities at the “Bangkota” situated at the Sustainability District of the Expo2020 Dubai site: ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) National Day Parade, Philippine National Day Parade, and the Philippine Bangkota Opening Ceremony.

Earlier, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said, “The Filipinos’ dominant global helping presence single-handedly vindicated our push for receiving countries to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration. I was there in the United Nations when some countries expressed reservations over the Global Compact. Many of these countries now see the Filipino as essential to their recovery. They cannot heal without you. The global Filipino has redefined to a higher level what it means to be an essential worker. I cannot convey enough of my deep respect for you.”

The message of Philippine Labour and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III in Filipino was read by Labour Attache for Dubai and the Northern Emirates Felicitas Bay. It is about the worth of the Filipino labour force wherever situated, which enables and brings hope to the resurgence of the world economy amidst the prevailing Novel Coronavirus crisis.

It has been a tradition for Ambassador Quintana, who arrived in Abu Dhabi in 2018, to give due “Parangal sa Araw ng Kasarinlan” (“Honour on Philippine Independence Day”) recognition. For this year, the honorees are the officers and members of the Filfood organisation for elevating Philippine culinary arts and the food and beverage sector in the UAE, an example of which is the importation and distribution of cacao from the farmers and farmlands of the Agusan Provinces in Northern Mindanao, leading to a boutique outlet in Dubai Mall. The Sentro Rizal Special Awardees are John Paul Faderogao and Aileen Alba. Faderogao is a visual artist who led the conceptualisation and completion in two weeks’ time of a mural for the RAK Filipino Club centre, a land gifted to the Filipinos in Ras Al Khaimah way back in 1998 by the then Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. Alba is cited for her earnest, prudent and responsible use of the social media as an effective means of communication and correct information against the backdrop of trolling and fake news.