The Philippine missions in the UAE will be closed for four days – from August 23 to 26 – in observance of two Philippine national holidays on Friday and next Monday.
August 23 (Friday) is declared a national non-working holiday in the Philippines, in observance of Ninoy Aquino Day; while August 26 (Monday) is National Heroes’ Day. Saturday and Sunday (August 24 and 25) are regular weekends in the UAE.
While offices are closed, the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi – said in an advisory – they can be contacted for emergency and urgent matters at +971 50 813 7836 / +971 50 443 8003.
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The Philippine Consulate General in Dubai, meanwhile, can be reached at the following numbers:
- For consular matters (passport, notarial, civil Registry, etc.) at +971 4 220 7100
- Assistance-to-Nationals (non-OFWs) matters at +971 56 501 5756
- For assistance to OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), contact Migrant Workers Office-Dubai at +971 56 353 5558 / +971 50 652 6626
Ninoy Aquino Day is a national non-working holiday in the Philippines observed annually on August 21 to commemorate the assassination of former Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr., a staunch opposition figure and critic of then-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr, father of the current Philippine president.
Aquino’s wife, Corazon Aquino, later became the 11th Philippine President; and their son, Noynoy Aquino, became the 15th president. Ninoy was killed on August 21, 1983, on the tarmac of Manila International Airport, which was eventually named after him as Ninoy Aquino International Airport, in his honour.
This year, however, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. moved the observance of Ninoy Aquino Day from August 21 to August 23 “to provide for a longer weekend to boost domestic tourism” (in the Philippines) given that August 26 (Monday) is National Heroes’ Day, another public holiday.