DUBAI // Jejomar Binay, the vice president of the Philippines, yesterday pledged to work hard to address the problems facing the more than 600,000 Filipinos in the Emirates in his capacity as the presidential adviser on overseas workers' concerns.
"We have a new administration and I will not be a spare tyre," he said. "I will be a working vice president."
Mr Binay's visit is aimed at bilateral talks on labour, trade and investments, including the possible repatriation of workers given refuge at labour office shelters in the Emirates.
"My physical presence here is an additional assurance that the president [Benigno Aquino] is concerned about what is happening in the area," he said.
Mr Binay, who arrived from Kuwait on Monday night, is also monitoring his government's evacuation of Filipino workers from Libya, and the safety and well-being of his compatriots in Bahrain and Yemen.
"Ninety per cent of the 600,000 Filipinos in the UAE are happy and enjoying their stay here. These are isolated cases," he said in response to questions about incidents of mistreatment among housemaids, human trafficking cases and prostitution involving Filipinas.
A total ban on allowing Filipinas to work as maids in the Middle East was not on the table, he said. "We will regulate [deployment]."
Mr Binay said he intended to work on a bilateral labour agreement between the UAE and the Philippines, particularly for domestic workers.
The Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed's visit to Manila last October marked 30 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Benito Valeriano, the consul general in Dubai, said Mr Binay's trip had tremendous significance.
"He wants to see the living and working conditions of Filipinos here, and how we in the government can contribute to the betterment of their welfare," he said.
Mr Valeriano said the diplomatic mission in Dubai was repatriating Filipinas at the Filipino Workers Resource Centre, a women's shelter managed by labour and welfare officials.
He hoped to hasten the process in co-ordination with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Manila, which will provide air tickets.
Mr Binay also said he planned to address the shortage of staff at the consulate, embassies and other offices.
But he said many of the issues involved workers who were not in the country legally. "There are two sets of OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] - the documented and the undocumented," he said. "Eighty per cent of our problems involve undocumented workers."
The Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi is arranging meetings with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Saqr Ghobash, the Minister of Labour, scheduled for tomorrow.
Mr Binay visited the United International Private School in Dubai, where he addressed a gathering of 1,400 teachers and students yesterday.
Lizabeth Comia, the school principal, said the school was "greatly honoured" by the visit of a such a high-ranking official.
"We are the first Filipino school in Dubai," she said. "We feel privileged that the vice president chose to address our students, considering that there are five other Filipino schools across the UAE."
Juhly Ann Rogelio, 15, a Grade 10 student who is the president of the supreme student council at UIPS, said Mr Binay had done a lot for Makati City, where he served as the mayor since 1986.
"I know that we will see a lot of developments, especially in improving the situation of OFWs," she said.
Mr Binay and his delegation will leave for Manila on Saturday.
rruiz@thenational.ae
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
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Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
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About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
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Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
NO OTHER LAND
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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