ABU DHABI // The outgoing Philippines ambassador, Grace Princesa, has expressed satisfaction that she had achieved the objectives that she set for herself six years ago.
Constancio Vingno Jr, who has served as ambassador to South Africa, will replace Ms Princesa, whose six-year tenure ends on Saturday.
Ms Princesa listed starting a financial literacy campaign among the Filipino community as her major accomplishment.
“The Filipino community here told me that they felt well protected, more aware of migration and development issues. They are also saving enough and are more aware of who they are as a nation and as a people,” Ms Princesa, 59, said on Thursday.
“Today, I’m wearing an abaca, the strongest natural renewable fibre in the world”, which is indigenous to the Philippines. “It represents who we are: strong, resilient, exceptional.”
During her tenure, the Filipino community grew nearly three fold from an estimated 320,000 in 2009 to about 900,000 today.
That made the UAE the biggest destination for Filipino overseas workers after Saudi Arabia.
Sixty per cent of the UAE’s Filipino expatriates are skilled or professional workers, a quarter are in the service sector and 15 per cent are domestic workers.
“I had the vision and the strategy. Everybody is somehow telling me that what I set out to do happened,” she said.
“Members of the Filipino community are more closely knit and the bayanihan spirit is alive.”
Bayanihan is a term derived from two Filipino words: bayani, meaning hero, and bayan, meaning nation. In a wider sense, it referred to helping people in times of need and the spirit of leadership, volunteering and a sense of unity.
One of her achievements she was most proud of was starting a financial literacy programme in 2011.
“As I speak there are now 3,400 graduates who attended financial literacy workshops and seminars,” she said.
“If what I’ve tried to pilot here is indeed successful, there should be change felt. More Filipinos are now able to save and invest, are able to go home, especially our women.”
During her tenure she heavily promoted the abaca, believed to be the strongest natural fibre in the world and one of her country’s most important exports.
In 2010, she turned her seven-bedroom home in Al Nahyan Camp area, called Maharlika House, or the House of the Nobility, into a showcase of Filipino craftsmanship of mostly abaca products.
“We are known for the six Fs: faith, family, fun, fibre, flights and food,” Ms Princesa said. “But there are the five Is: indebtedness, intoxication and use of illegal drugs, immorality, illegal recruitment and improper and fake documents which get us into trouble.”
The outgoing ambassador co-authored a guidebook, launched last June, to make Filipinos more aware about the UAE's laws and legal system.
“I’ve been guided by the three Rs of change: relate, repeat, and reframe,” Ms Princesa said.
“You build relationships of hope, love and trust, repeat good habits such as saving more and investing more, and lastly, reframe or reconsider things in a positive light.”
But the challenge is reaching out to the rest of the Filipino community.
“How do we continue what I’ve started and what I’ve planned?” Ms Princesa said. “The shadows are there, so we should maximise the lights, especially the finances of Filipinos. They need to maximise their stay abroad and minimise the social costs of migration.”
She hoped that the new ambassador would further strengthen the bond among the community .
“The new ambassador is due to arrive anytime soon. I hope the relationship we had would be strengthened under his leadership, and the community will repeat more good habits of being financially literate, being on time, being godly and spiritual and nationalistic.”
rruiz@thenational.ae
