29 January 2015 - Upon the invitation of New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi, the Philippine Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Grace Relucio Princesa delivered a lecture on the Philippines and Filipino expatriates in the UAE to visiting students from the main campus of NYU in New York, USA on January 22. The students were undergraduates on their senior year who are majoring media and communication and are taking a seminar class in NYU Abu Dhabi for three weeks.
Ambassador Princesa talked about the Philippines including its rich culture, government, and history. She gave a brief background about Philippine migration. She discussed the push and pull factors on why Filipinos migrate and how migration is increasingly becoming feminized. She also noted the contribution of Filipinos worldwide in their host countries.
She then presented the profile of expatriates in the United Arab Emirates which forms around 90 percent of the overall population of the UAE. She noted that majority of the Filipino expatriates currently residing and working across the Emirates are professionals such as nurses, engineers, accountants, architects, and others. She also noted that Filipinos are visible in the services sector, and are known for their warmth and extraordinary work ethic at the hotels and restaurants in the UAE.
She also discussed some of the reasons that get Filipinos in jail, collectively referred to as “five I’s.” These include immorality, indebtedness, intoxication, illegal recruitment and improper documentation. To address these challenges, she noted the creation of the Bayanihan Council, the umbrella organization of all Filipino community groups in Abu Dhabi, upon the encouragement of the Philippine Embassy. The Council serves as a forum to discuss issues affecting Filipinos in the UAE and they themselves also find ways how to address these with the support of the Embassy.
She also highlighted the financial literacy programme supported by the Embassy called the Pinoy WISE Financial Literacy Seminar-Workshop being conducted every month. In the seminar workshop, Filipinos are encouraged to save and invest for their retirement and towards successful reintegration in the Philippines. She emphasized that the Embassy and the government of the UAE continue to discuss ways on how to further improve the conditions of Filipino workers in the UAE. END