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CA rejects Taguiwalo, bucks popular support for ‘hard-working secretary’

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The Commission on Appointments (CA) recommended not to confirm Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary Judy Taguiwalo in a hearing Wednesday.

Bucking popular nationwide support for Taguiwalo, at least 13 CA members constituting the commission’s majority voted against the secretary’s confirmation.

The CA resolution read by Rep. Joel Almario did not give a reason for their negative vote.

Sen. Ralph Recto, however, praised Taguiwalo’s year-long leadership of the DSWD saying she should not be dismissed as a “token Leftist” in the Rodrigo Duterte Cabinet.

As a nominee of the underground National Democratic Front of the Philippines, Taguiwalo (NDFP) was hounded at the CA hearings by questions on her past as a guerrilla fighting the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship.

Sen. Loren Legarda also expressed gratitude to Taguiwalo, saying she had been a “hard-working secretary.”

Duterte gave Taguiwalo six ad interim appointments before the CA rejection.

Fellow NDFP nominee to the Duterte Cabinet, Agrarian Reform secretary Rafael Mariano is also expected to face rough waters in his next confirmation hearing.

National Anti-Poverty Commission lead convenor Lisa Maza, another NDFP nominee, does not require a CA confirmation to stay in office.

Earlier, hundreds of Taguiwalo supporters held a rally in front of the Senate gates.

Social media also lit up with calls for Taguiwalo’s confirmation. # (R. Villanueva)

STREETWISE by Carol Pagaduan Araullo: No love lost between Duterte and the Left

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One need not be such a keen observer of Philippine politics to note the quite dramatic deterioration in the relationship between the Left and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, self-styled “Leftist” and “socialist” president of the Philippines.

At the beginning, a de facto tactical alliance existed between the two. It was premised on Duterte’s promise that he would bring about a real change in government. For the Left, foremost was the release of all political prisoners, peace talks to arrive at fundamental socioeconomic and political reforms, and an independent foreign policy to reverse decades of US neocolonial domination.

A year later, Duterte has reneged on his promise to amnesty all political prisoners and has practically, if not formally, scuttled the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. He is brandishing what he thinks is a more formidable “all-out war” against the CPP-NPA-NDFP topped by a martial law declaration in Mindanao, targeting what the AFP claims to be the movement’s strongest base of operations.

For the Left, Duterte has emerged as a full-blown reactionary president, a fascist defender of the exploitative and oppressive status quo, while still trying to deceive the people with token, populist measures and an image of being tough against corruption and criminality.

The signal fire, in retrospect, was when Duterte collapsed the 5th round of GRP-NDFP peace talks saying that he would not pursue negotiations unless the CPP-NPA-NDFP entered into an indefinite bilateral cease-fire. Echoing the hawkish line of his security officials, Duterte said talks can not go anywhere if the NPA continues to launch attacks against the AFP and engages in “criminal extortion” or what the CPP-NPA calls “revolutionary taxation.”

But what supposedly got Duterte’s ire was the directive of the CPP leadership to the NPA to intensify its tactical offensives against the military and police upon the declaration of martial law in Mindanao. Glossed over is the fact that no cease-fire was in effect at that time because the Duterte government failed to declare a unilateral cease-fire before the 4th round of talks even though the two sides had earlier agreed upon a simultaneous declaration of unilateral cease-fires.

The preconditioning of the peace talks to an open-ended cease-fire before any bilateral agreement on socioeconomic reforms had been reached not only violates previous agreements that the Duterte government affirmed when it revived talks with the NDFP, bottom line is that the GRP wants the revolutionary movement to agree to its voluntary pacification in exchange for nothing. In effect, to surrender on the negotiating table as a prelude to surrendering in the battle field without achieving any meaningful reforms through a supposedly negotiated political settlement.

It appears that the NDFP Negotiating Panel tried its best to salvage the situation by proposing ways of easing pressure on the Duterte government with the onset of the Marawi crisis.

Unfortunately, Duterte quickly swung rightward. He allowed the militarist troika of Lorenzana-Año-Esperon to lead the way, not only in dealing with the ISIS-inspired Maute rebellion in Lanao province by aerial and artillery bombardment leading to the destruction of Marawi City, but in pursuing the government’s counterinsurgency program against the CPP-NPA-NDFP, this time utilizing the vast powers of martial law in all of Mindanao to tamp down any opposition.

Flush with the imprimatur given by the Supreme Court to the imposition of martial law in Mindanao, Duterte railroaded its extension until yearend via a pliant Congress. Independent reporting on the continuing devastation of Marawi City and its after effects is virtually impossible with the military controlling all sources of information. Heightened human rights violations in other parts of Mindanao have been swept under the rug.

The direct involvement of the US Armed Forces in the military campaign against the Maute Group has been welcomed and justified by Duterte despite his posture that he is against US intervention in the country’s internal affairs. (Apparently he was only referring to US criticism of his bloody anti-illegal drugs campaign).

His anti-US tirades have softened of late and been replaced with friendly meetings with the US ambassador and US Secretary of State; echoing the US line against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; and reports of an agreement to allow armed US drones to strike at ISIS and other “terrorist” targets.

Clearly the ISIS “threat” is being overblown as an excuse to prolong martial law and possibly even expand it outside Mindanao. It is also providing the rational for expanding US military presence in the country and steadily growing US military involvement in armed conflicts labelled as “terrorist”.

Duterte’s attempt to appear conciliatory when he addressed the Left-led SONA protest failed to mollify the protesters who persistently chanted their calls for genuine reforms, an end to martial law, and the continuation of peace talks. Duterte was forced to end his pretense at openness and departed in a huff.

Duterte’s speeches have become consistently virulent against not just the revolutionary Left but also political and social activists who are leading the fight for reforms. He threatened to bomb lumad schools that he said were NPA schools. He said he would not hesitate to use violence against militant urban poor if they again tried to occupy abandoned public housing. He rained invectives on activists and said he would not heed their demands even if they resorted to nonstop protest in the streets.

In response, activists are stepping up their opposition to what they now call the “US-Duterte fascist regime.”

What is interesting is that Duterte has not fired three Leftist Cabinet members despite the downward spiral of relations with the Left. For one he has no basis to kick them out except that they are identified with the Left. For another, they are no threat to him; in fact, one might say they are objectively helping to deodorize his regime by just doing their jobs competently and consistent with their pro-people stand.

Neither have the three tendered their resignations to the wonderment of those who tend to think the Left one-track minded and monolithic. Perhaps this is all that remains of what once was a promising alliance between Duterte and the Left. A tenuous bridge for communications before all hell breaks loose.

(This article first appeared in an opinion column of the same title on BusinessWorld. http://bworldonline.com/no-love-lost-between-duterte-and-the-left/

Carol Pagaduan-Araullo is a medical doctor by training, social activist by choice, columnist by accident, happy partner to a liberated spouse and proud mother of two.)

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Philippine women broadcasters elect new set of officers, to host int’l confab in November

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An association of women broadcasters in the Philippines elected a new set of officers ahead of its hosting of an international biennial conference in the country this November.

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT)—Philippine Chapter held a meeting Saturday in Quezon City and elected its officers as it prepares for one of the most significant gathering of women broadcasters in the world this year.

Jola Diones Mamangun of Kodao Productions was re-elected as chapter president, along with Miriam College’s Lynda Garcia as vice president, DWNE’s Sonia Capio as secretary, and Bulatlat’s Ronalyn Olea as Treasurer.

People’s Alternative Media Network filmmaker Ilang-Ilang Quijano, Farmers’ Development Center radio broadcaster Marvie Matura and Kodao’s Yanni Roxas were elected as board members.

Mamangun said the officers and the chapter will focus on organizing the 37th IAWRT Biennial Conference as well as continue its aggressive recruitment of new members, especially in Mindanao.

The chapter shall also continue to actively participate in the programs and projects of IAWRT International.

IAWRT is a global organization of women in electronic and allied media that aims to ensure women’s views and values in mass media. It enjoys a consultative status with the United National Economic and Social Council.

In the Philippines, IAWRT is also in the midst of establishing the country’s first-ever women-led disaster risk reduction community radio station in Cebu Province in partnership with Kodao Productions and the Farmers’ Development Center in Central Visayas.

In conjunction with one of IAWRT-International’s core programs of providing trainings and workshops, the Philippine chapter also organizers such activities for local women broadcasters. # (Edna Cahilog-Villanueva / Photos by Jomaline Diones Mamangun)

IAWRT Philippines officers 2017-2019. (From left) Board members Marvie Matura, Yanni Roxas, Ilang-Ilang Quijano; treasurer Ronalyn Olea; secretary Sonia M. Capio; vice president Lynda Garcia; and president Jola Diones-Mamangun.

 

Herbert Bautista willing to help NDFP consultants

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Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista is willing to take cognizance of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants who may be rearrested after a government official threatened to have their bail bonds cancelled.

In a statement released through the Quezon City Public Information Office, Bautista said he is willing to help in any way possible to advance the peace process, including acting as guarantor for the continued freedom of Leftist peace negotiators.

Bautista is GRP peace adviser on local government units and is a member of the government panel’s reciprocal working committee on social and economic reforms.

“If we would be asked and such assistance would be allowed by the courts, we don’t see why not,” Bautista said.

Solicitor General Jose Calida last July 20 threatened to initiate petitions to have courts cancel the bail bonds of at least 18 Leftist negotiators freed last August 2016 after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the suspension of formal talks.

Church leaders, civil society groups and political leaders in the past have taken cognizance of NDFP consultants and other political detainees for humanitarian reasons or to allow them to participate in peace negotiations with the government.

“I personally hope that our NDFP counterparts shall not be ordered rearrested because I wish that formal negotiations will soon resume,” Bautista’s statement said.

“But should it come to that (bail bond cancellation), I will assist in whatever way I can because achieving peace is everyone’s responsibility,” he added.

The NDFP for its part praised Bautista’s statement, saying it shows the local executive is supportive of the continuation of the formal peace negotiations.

“If true, it is nice.  It is good that someone is standing up for the continuation of the talks,” NDFP Negotiating Panel Chairperson Fidel Agcaoili told Kodao Productions.

“What he said is praiseworthy,” NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison for his part said.

Earlier, NDFP Legal Adviser Edre Olalia said Calida’s threat to have majority of NDFP Peace Consultants rearrested is premature, adding there is no written formal notice of termination yet of the formal peace process.

“It is premature and precipitate. There is yet no written formal notice of termination properly addressed to the NDFP as mandatorily required by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), which is a solemn bilateral agreement that protects negotiators, consultants, staffers, security and other personnel of both Parties involved in the peace negotiations,” Olalia said.

Duterte’s threats to serve notice to the NDFP of the termination of formal peace talks did not push through last week, giving hope it will be revived in the future.

“I hope sobriety shall prevail in order to save the peace process and go back to the reasons why it must be pursued despite periodic challenges along the way,” Olalia said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NPA: Successful Gubat ambush, Ka Magno’s last hurrah

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SORSOGON — Andres “Ka Magno” Hubilla helped plan the ambush that killed four government troopers and injured seven others Monday, the Celso Minguez Command of the New People’s Army (NPA) in this province said.

In a statement today, the provincial NPA unit said their fallen Communist Party of the Philippines Sorsogon Party Committee Secretary helped in the painstaking planning of the ambush days before he was killed because of many human rights violations reportedly committed by the state troopers.

“Kasabay si Ka Magno na naging bahagi ng matiyagang pagpaplano at pag-aaral ng sitwasyon para maikasa ang nasabing ambus,” Ka Samuel Guerrero, Celso Minguez Command spokesperson, said.

Guerrero said they successfully ambushed a platoon of the 31st Infantry Battallion of the Philippine Army and the 5th Regional Public Safety Battalion of the Philippine National Police based in Gubat town in Barangay Marinas at 5:25 in the morning Monday.

Guerrero claimed they killed four soldiers, including platoon leader 2Lt. Lee Omega Tremedal, Sgt. Rolyn Cabagon, Pfc. Jaype Nebiar and another he failed to identify.

The rebel spokesperson also named five of the injured 31st IBPA troopers, including Michael Lionar, Jeremy Tu, Roland Sayson, Eduard Lumanog and Mark Oscillada.

Meanwhile, Maj. Virgilio Perez, spokesperson of the Southern Luzon Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday said only two soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in yesterday’s clash.

Perez declined to name the casualties pending formal AFP notification of their families.

Guerrero said their Red fighters took three M4 carbine rifles, ammunition pouches, military packs and radio equipment from the waylaid soldiers.

“Kampanteng naglalakad ang 30-kataong tropang kaaway ng tambangan ng mga kasama. Umabot ng 45-minuto ang labanan,” Guerrero said.

“Ang maging sobrang kampante at mayabang ang bulnerabilidad ng kaaway na nasamantala ng mga kasama,” he added.

Guerrero said the ambush was also a reaction to the continuous combat operations by the government troops in Casiguran and Gubat towns since August 3.

Residents of several Casiguran barangays had been wary of increased military presence in the area since the killing of Hubilla, fellow NPA member Miguel “Ka Billy” Himor and civilians Arnel Borres and Dick Laura in Barangay Trece Martires last July 28.

Hubilla and Himor’s wakes were held in neighboring Barangay Sta. Cruz, a few kilometers from the ambush site.

The 31st IBPA was the unit involved in what locals say was the “Casiguran Massacre.”

“Inspirasyon ng mga kasama sa matagumpay na taktikal na opensibang ito ang dakilang buhay ng dalawang rebolusyonaryong martir (Hubilla and Himor),” Guerrero said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NPA’s Celso Minguez Command ambushes gov’t troops on the day fallen comrades are buried

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CASIGURAN, SORSOGON—On the day of the funeral of two of their fallen comrades, the Celso Minguez Command of the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed a patrolling unit of the Philippine Army Monday, killing a lieutenant and a sergeant and wounding seven government troopers in neighboring Gubat town.

As thousands of family members and supporters were preparing for the five-kilometer funeral march for Andres “Ka Magno” Hubilla and Miguel “Ka Billy” Himor, the Red fighters waylaid a unit of the Philippine Army using a command-detonated explosive at past five o’clock in the morning in Barangay Casili, Gubat.

Sources said the injured troopers were rushed to Sorsogon Doctors Hospital but reporters were prevented from entering the facility.

Both the 9th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the NPA have still to issue statements on the incident.

Units of the Philippine National Police set up checkpoints on roads leading to the site of the incident.

Hubilla and Himor, on the other hand, were buried at a private memorial park in downtown Casiguran after a long march led by red banners and streamers.

The caskets were borne on top of a flat-bed truck with honor guards standing on both sides as the march snaked around the town.

Activists and supporters from all over Sorsogon and the Bicol provinces joined the march, making the funeral the biggest seen by this town in decades.

Thousands of townsfolk also lined the streets as the funeral made its way to the cemetery, seemingly amazed at the banners of underground organizations being openly displayed.

In his homily during the funeral Mass, Monsignor Francisco Monje said Hubilla and Himor offered their lives in the service of the poor and should be remembered for selflessly offering their lives to bring genuine social change.

“Because we have all been promised change. But where is change? It is the likes of Andres and Miguel who give us alternatives for effecting change for the poor,” the priest said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Beloved sons’ of Sta Cruz: Thousands flock plaza to honor NPA fighters

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SORSOGON— Thousands of people from all walks of life from all over the Bicol Region flocked to Barangay Sta. Cruz in Casiguran town Sunday night. They came to honor the two fallen New People’s Army (NPA) fighters Andres Hubilla and Miguel Himor in a unique tribute.

Progressive songs blared throughout the community. Flags of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), NPA and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) lined up the plaza. The villagers carried and arranged chairs for the visitors while children ran around as if a fiesta was being celebrated.

Before darkness fell, the caskets of Hubilla and Himor were transferred from their respective homes to the plaza. They were placed on the stage amidst flowers and banners. An announcer periodically told the gathering crowd the tribute for two of Sta. Cruz’s most beloved sons shall start on time.

Hubilla was Ka Magno, Ka Carlo, or Ka Bunso to the NPA while he was “Pay Magno” to the peasants and fisher folk of this southernmost Luzon province. For nearly three decades, he was among the leaders of the storied Celso Minguez Command of the NPA that government troops failed to crush through countless counter-insurgency operations from the Corazon Aquino to the current Rodrigo Duterte governments.

Hubilla: A teacher to the end

But it was the brutal Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship that turned a quiet and conscientious student to a legendary NPA commander in Hubilla. While still a 14-year old Grade Four student on his way home from school, he was stopped by troops from then Philippine Constabulary (PC), tortured, arrested and imprisoned for 75 days. Upon his release, he was again accosted, tortured and arrested by the PC. He quietly joined the Kabataang Makabayan soon after while resuming his studies and being a working student.

“It was nearly inconceivable that Andres would become an activist because he was focused on his studies and in his work as a house boy. In fact, he was my best student in English,” Ma’am ‘Cely’ told AlterMidya.

Through sheer determination and hard work, Hubilla finished his teacher’s course at Anunciation College in Sorsogon and was immediately hired as a high school teacher at his alma mater’s campus in Gubat town.

There, he became a very popular teacher who got along famously with his students. Teaching remained a life-long passion with Hubilla even when he was already with the NPA.

“He was responsible for sending hundreds of peasant children to school by asking benefactors for scholarships. He also spearheaded repairs and enhancements of many schools throughout the province. I wonder what would become of his education projects now that he is gone,” Ma’am Cely said.

Himor: A ‘regular’ route to becoming a guerilla

Himor, on the other hand, took a more regular route to becoming a revolutionary fighter. Also a son to poor peasants like his distant uncle Hubilla, poverty forced “Ka Billy” to find a job as a store errand boy in Metro Manila.

There, he realized that contractual workers like him would never be able to escape poverty and lifelong servitude without drastic social reforms. As soon as turned 18, he went back to this province and asked to be drafted into the NPA.

“Ka Billy showed early his potential of becoming a good fighter and organizer. He was a jolly fellow, joking about his self-declared good looks to crack people up. But he convinced a barrio maiden he was indeed good looking enough and they soon got married. They have a baby barely a year old,” the CPP in Bicol said.

Himor was only 21 when he was killed on July 28 along with Hubilla and civilians Arnel Borres and Dick Laura a few kilometers away from where their bodies lie in state in Barangay Sta. Cruz.

Funeral march

Thousands of supporters are expected to participate in today’s funeral of the fallen NPA fighters.
A five-kilometer march from Barangay Sta. Cruz will precede a funeral mass at Casiguran’s Catholic church before a noontime internment, family members said.

“It will be one of the biggest funeral marches this town shall ever hold with not just barrio mates and relatives but with hundreds of supporters from all the Bicol provinces,” a CPP member said.

Hubilla and Himor would be interred at Casiguran Cemetery.

“Ka Magno and Ka Billy’s heroism and service will serve as as inspiration to the people of Sorsogon to continue the fight for liberation and social justice,” the NPA’s Celso Minguez Command said in a statement. # Report by Raymund B. Villanueva / Altermidya

Sorsogonons vow July 28 ‘encounter’ was a massacre

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SORSOGON- Activists and human rights workers say the killing of two New People’s Army (NPA) members and two civilians last July 28 in Casiguran town was a “massacre” and not an “encounter” as the raiding government forces claimed.

At a rally in this town Saturday, the protesters said NPA members Andres “Ka Magno/Ka Carlo” Hubilla and Miguel “Ka Billy” Himor as well as civilians Arnel Borres and Dick Laura were massacred as there was no evidence the victims put up a fight.
The Communist Party of the Philippines said Hubilla was its Sorsogon Party Committee secretary and head of the NPA’s Celso Minguez Command operating in this province.

The protesters said no encounter happened, much less a 30-minute fire fight as claimed by a Philippine National Police-Sorsogon statement after the incident.

Activists and human rights workers say the killing of two New People’s Army (NPA) members and two civilians last July 28 in Casiguran town was a “massacre” and not an “encounter” as the raiding government forces claimed.

A fact-finding mission led by Karapatan Bicol last July 31 that said Hubilla was walking along a dirt road 50 meters away from the house where the three others were found dead.

Karapatan-Bicol said the incident was obviously planned by the government forces.

According to residents of Sitio Namoro, Purok 2, Trece Marteres, Casiguran, they noticed check points by men in full battle-gear uniforms hours before the incident.

Gunfire only lasted about five-minutes, the mission said.

Tim Hubilla, brother of Andres, who accompanied police crime investigators immediately after the incident, also told alternative media outfit Baretang Bikolnon Online his brother was found beside a fish pond with a rusty small calibre pistol on his right hand.

“It did not even have a magazine. One thing I also noticed was that the gun he was holding was in his right hand when, in fact, my brother was left-handed,” he told Baretang Bikolnon Online.

Alex Castidades, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Sorsogon spokesperson said the incident was a clear violation of International Humanitarian Law as the victims were clearly surrounded and did not put up a fight.

“They could have just ordered the victims to surrender and arrested them,” Castidades told fellow protesters.

Castidades also condemned the killing of civilians Borres and Laura who were just having coffee in the house where they were killed. # (Raymund B. Villanueva/Altermidya)

NDFP lawyer slams GRP Solgen’s threat to re-arrest peace consultants

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NDFP legal counsel Atty. Edre Olalia during the third round of formal talks in Rome, January 2017 (Photo: Kodao/Jon Bustamante)

A lawyer for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel said moves to cancel bail bonds of the peace consultants violates the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

In a legal opinion, Atty. Edre Olalia said Solicitor General Jose Calida’s move to have NDFP 18 peace consultants rearrested is premature, adding there is no written formal notice of termination yet of the formal peace process.

“It is premature and precipitate. There is yet no written formal notice of termination properly addressed to the NDFP as mandatorily required by the JASIG which is a solemn bilateral agreement that protects negotiators, consultants, staffers, security and other personnel of both Parties involved in the peace negotiations,” Olalia said.

Olalia’s opinion was a reaction to Calida’s July 20 announcement his office will file a motion in court seeking to “cancel all bail bonds of NDFP consultants, order their arrest, and recommit them to their detention facilities.”
“They can now be arrested and recommitted to their respective detention facilities,” Calida added.

Olalia said there is no clear indication up to date that the Department of Justice — the principal and lead arm of the GRP prosecuting the assailed cases against the NDFP consultants — is moving for such cancellation of the bail bonds much less joining or concurring in the OSG unilateral move.

“Moving for the re-arrest of peace consultants by invoking GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) legal and judicial system is a circumvention and even violation of a solemn binding bilateral agreement (JASIG) entered into by the GRP,” Olalia said.

The lawyer added such move shall tie the hands and pre-empts the flexibility of President Rodrigo Duterte in negotiating with the NDFP.

Olalia said it is Duterte’s prerogative to eventually and ultimately resume talks or peace negotiations, notwithstanding his previous threat to formally terminate the talks.

The lawyer hopes sobriety shall prevail, “in order to save the peace process and go back to the reasons why it must be pursued despite periodic challenges along the way.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Changing face, fortunes of Filipinos in the UAE

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By Angel L. Tesorero of Khaleej Times for Kodao Productions

DUBAI, UAE—Filipinos have helped shape the UAE for years now. A vital force in nation-building, their presence can be found across almost all industries – from the service sector to construction, health, education, media, entertainment, and so on.

As of last year, around 620,000 Filipinos were living and working in the UAE, up from 525,000 at the end of 2013. According to official figures provided by the Philippines Consulate in Dubai, around 12 to 15 per cent of Filipinos in Dubai and the northern emirates belong to the professional sectors. These include doctors, nurses, architects, engineers, accountants, and others.

Some 45 to 50 per cent are semi-skilled, working as office and administrative assistants, sales and retail personnel, hotel staff and in other related industries. The rest of the OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) in the UAE belong to the low-skilled category, such as household service workers, nannies, and cleaning personnel.

But the image of a migrant Filipino is constantly changing – from doing household chores to making their marks as competent professionals. Moreover, an increasing number of Filipinos are now running their own businesses. “A growing number of Filipinos are into the creative industries business. These include fashion designers, artists, musicians, web designers, animators, and the like,” Philippine Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said.

“The growing number of Filipino professionals in the UAE is definitely a reflection of the trust and confidence of the UAE business community in their skills and expertise. Construction companies, trading offices, financial operations, and many other Dubai-based companies increasingly rely on the expertise and work ethic of the Filipino,” he adds.

Another growing segment is human resources professionals. The Filipino talent and skill in managing human resources is legendary, Cortes notes.

However, despite their large numbers here and their famous hardworking image, big establishments owned by Filipinos are a rarity in the UAE.

Filipino education consultant Dr Rex Bacarra says: “It is unfortunate that despite our talents and potential, we (Filipinos) are mostly related to and known for only the hospitality/service sectors. We are capable of becoming captains of the industry.”

One Filipino tech entrepreneur has shown that Filipinos are not only labour exporters. Mannix Pabalan, CEO of Hashtag Digital FZ LLC is a pioneer in digital commerce, one of fastest rising industries in the world, particularly in the Middle East.

He says: “There is an unprecedented growth of digital marketing in the region, but there are only a few professionals who can claim expertise in the wide spectrum of digital commerce, so we decided to penetrate the GCC market in 2014 and put up our digital marketing firm.”

Another burgeoning industry that Filipinos are making their mark in is education, according to Bacarra. “The Filipino diaspora make up a sizeable number of teachers and professors in the UAE,” he says.

“I can think of three reasons why Filipino educators are – or strive to be – excellent. Firstly, there is the drive to succeed. An innate desire to prove that being away from our own country means avoiding failure at all costs. As professors, we look at the classroom as the core and an extension of this desire to succeed, so we innovate in our teaching styles and find ways to connect with students.

“Secondly, we have very good foundations in the Philippines. We were taught that teaching is not just a profession, but a vocation. As educators, we went through rigorous trainings on the philosophy and principles of genuine education. We were taught that we are forming the young and we need heart to understand the full extent of that responsibility. Money is secondary; the genuine love for the future of the young generation is a priority.

“Thirdly, we are Filipinos, and we proudly wear that badge which we swore to uphold. We have values that we impart. In the Philippines, we consider students as our own children, and we impart to them the same values we give our own kids.”

Filipinos also love food. In fact, they have helped changed the gustatory landscape in Dubai, where we see many Filipino restaurants sprouting left and right.

One ‘hot’ Filipino restaurant right now is Hot Palayok in Karama, an area once dominated by Indian and Pakistani restaurants. It’s just one of the many Filipino restaurants in the area that are doing well.

“I think it’s not just for tastes of home or nostalgia that people come here, because we have customers from other nationalities as well,” says Hot Palayok chef de cuisine Michael delos Santos. “In fact, we have customers coming in from all over the UAE – from Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Al Ain.

“Other nationalities are also now being introduced to Filipino cuisine and this is a big market,” he adds. # (Originally published in The Khaleej Times)