Vice Consul Kenneth Jim Jimeno (left), Labour Attache in Dubai and the Northern Emirates John Rio Bautista, Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand Ver (second right) and Consul General Designate Marford Angeles (right) attend an open forum during the Town Hall Meeting on Saturday evening.

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Filipinos in Dubai and the Northern Emirates are encouraged to “edify” or “build up on each other.” They have also been requested to raise issues before the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai (PCGDXB), even as some amendments in the laws of the Republic of the Philippines have been implemented since two years back; such that concerns concerning all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) across the globe, including medical assistance, have become the responsibility of all the 41 Migrant Workers Offices (MWOs) worldwide under the Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers.

This was from the Saturday evening first town hall meeting hosted by the consular mission this year, whereby Consul General Designate Marford Angeles extolled the strong sense of empowerment of the estimated 666,666 documented OFWs and tourist visa holders in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

The town hall meeting was held pending the PCGDXB receipt of the “exequatur,” the Letter of Acceptance by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Dubai, on the nomination of Angeles as the consul general in Dubai, by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

The meeting was attended by all officials of the other Philippine agencies in the UAE led by Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand Ver.

A video clip of the “Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines)” campaign of the Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr Administration was presented.

Following the lead of Ambassador Ver, Angeles, with 27 years of experience as a diplomat since earning a degree in Political Science, from the University of the Philippines-Manila in 1997, emphasised that Filipinos would unceasingly merit from their well-appreciated commitment to career and work, and from the bounty of opportunities, offered by the host government, is the furtherance of their fraternity between and among themselves; as well as with the authorities, the Emiratis, and the other 199 expatriate communities.

Angeles repeated his statement from the press briefing, in his first speech before the Filipino Community.

He underscored that the consular mission would be unable to deliver its mission on its own.

Thus, essential are the straightforward and honest communication, cooperation and empathy with the 49-strong PCGDXB and their clients, primarily, all Filipinos in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.

Before the press, he stressed: “The Philippine representation in the UAE is still Ambassador Ver. He is the tatay (father) of the Team Philippines Family (which include the two MWOs, Philippine Trade Investment Centre, Philippine Agriculture Office and Office of Defence and Armed Forces). I take his guidance although the consulate general is autonomous. All government-to-government negotiations (are by the) Philippine Embassy. We are the support. What is important is that all of us (are trained) to work BTS (behind-the-scene). The success of the Philippines and Filipinos (in the UAE) is because of teamwork.” Focus is on the initiation on bilateral relations on defence and artificial intelligence as the UAE has also been leading in the areas of space exploration, agriculture, climate change and renewable energy.

From the open forum, raised twice was the mushrooming of Filipino-owned training institutes and schools unlicensed and without accreditation by Ministry of Education and other relevant bodies across the seven emirates in the past several years. The victims range from young pupils to professionals aspiring for career advancement.

Angeles said: “What we can do is let people know to be careful in engaging the services of these entities so that (their resources and effort) are not wasted. Please continue to let us know of these cases so that (the malpractice) is discontinued. We have no police powers. We can inform the authorities. The aggrieved can take legal action before the proper UAE authorities.” Vice Consuls Aleah Gica, Paola Ebora and Kenneth Jim Jimeno updated the Filipino Community on the services through the Assistance to Nationals Section, Consular Section, and the Economic and Cultural Section. Labour Attaché in Dubai and the Northern Emirates John Rio Bautista, Commercial Attaché Charmaine Mignon Yalong, and Agriculture Attaché Nolet Fulgencio updated on the MWO services, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, and agriculture projects, respectively.