UAE astronaut Dr Sultan Al Neyadi sends a greeting of friendship to the Philippines from outer space.

August 19, 2023 is the 49th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates, and Philippine Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand A. Ver has described the alliance as on an “upward trajectory,” considering the steadfastness of the countries’ leaders to “make more meaningful” their brotherhood for their next generations.

On Friday, Ver who arrived in Abu Dhabi early this year, traced the historical ties of the two Asian countries set apart by a four-hour gap. He gave an update on the almost “five decades of building bridges of friendship” capacitated by not only the commitment of eight of his fellow top Philippine Government diplomats and their colleagues from Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labour and Employment (now the Department of Migrant Workers) and the Department of Trade and Industry since June 19, 1980 when the first Philippine Embassy at the Al Ain Palace Hotel was inaugurated - six years after the August 19, 1974 sealing of the diplomatic relations - but as a consequence too, of the indefatigability and derring-do of all the Filipino professionals including those in the “humblest positions” who have doggedly opted to trek their lives in the newest Middle East nation since the 1970s.

Ver shared with Gulf Today an excerpt from the speech of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. during the reception held at Manila’s presidential palace - the Malacanang - in honour of the UAE’s Oil Minister Dr. Al-Otaiba during the latter’s visit to the Philippines on July 14, 1980: “Today, too, distances disappear because of the new technologies in communications and transport. As a result, we can easily recognise the parallelisms in the histories and experiences of nations and peoples. For instance, it is easy that the aspirations of the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines are singularly similar.”

He then mentioned that when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called up last June 23 His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, to thank him for the Mount Mayon Volcano donations “even before the need arose…it was also during this phone call that my President accepted His Highness Sheikh Mohamed’s invitation to attend COP28 which the UAE is hosting by the end of the year.”

Alfonso Ferdinand A. Ver.

Reverting back to the 1970s, Ver said: “I would not be surprised to learn that immediately after the Founding Father Sheikh Zayed established the seven emirates in 1971 into the United Arab Emirates we know today, Filipinos were already part of the first group of expatriates that came to the UAE to help build the foundations of the cities of this country. They were among the first architects, builders and engineers to come to the UAE to build the first bridges and buildings of this young nation. Those Filipinos founded and cemented the strong ties between our two countries which have endured to this day. The work that I and eight previous ambassadors before me have been doing, including countless diplomats these past 48 years, are indeed firmly founded on the strong friendship and solidarity between our Filipino compatriots with Emiratis and fellow expatriates in the UAE.”

He emphasised that these have all been “made possible because the UAE, under the visionary leadership of Sheikh Zayed has fostered an inclusive and tolerant society; built on the principle of peaceful co-existence with people of all nations and faiths.”

“The upcoming visit of President Marcos Jr. to the UAE for the COP28 that would present real benefits for countries such as the Philippines, considered among the most vulnerable nations to climate change, further opens opportunities for sustainable development cooperation. We are hoping that the Memorandum on Understanding (MoU) on Climate Change Cooperation which the Philippines is proposing to the UAE, as well as the Framework Agreement for Renewable Energy will be signed during the visit,” Ver said.

So far, 14 bilateral pacts have been signed by the two governments. Among the recent agreements were the MoU on Space Cooperation between the Philippine Space Agency and the UAE Space Agency, the MoU between the Department of Agriculture and the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Being finalised is an MoU on high technology and Artificial Intelligence. These are all to “prepare a bright future for the next generation of Filipinos and Emiratis.”