Saturday, Apr 19, 2014
Dubai: The Community Development Authority (CDA) has ordered several Filipino community organisations to stop operations in Dubai, a move groups said could affect delivery of services to the community.
CDA regulates and provides licences to non-profit social clubs and organisations that hold social, cultural, or entertainment activities within Dubai to ensure they provide quality services to the public based on Executive Council Resolution No 4 of 2011.
CDA last year strictly implemented the resolution and met Filipino groups in Dubai to encourage them to legalise their operation. However, Filipino groups that spoke to Gulf News said all applicants had been “rejected without a clear explanation”.
Among them was United Cebuanos, a non-profit region-based group from Cebu, a province south of Manila.
Wendell Castro, who headed the group, told Gulf News: “We were advised to cease operations in Dubai upon receiving the letter. We were asked to pull down our website and shut down even our Facebook community page. We were no longer allowed to plan and meet as an organisation.”
Castro and his group headed the emergency response team, Task Force-UAE, that mobilised aid for earthquake victims in southern Philippines in October last year, typhoon Haiyan victims in November, and those affected by flooding in Manila in August 2012.
“We complied. We want to follow the rules. But it’s [rejection] so disappointing because we weren’t doing it for ourselves. We’re doing it to serve. We feel we have been deprived of a right, of a human need to gather and organise.”
Facing fines
Castro said the move will definitely affect future programmes for the community.
“Filipino community organisations are paralysed. Former members of rejected organisations are scared to meet even privately for fear of being fined.”
Unlicensed organisations that operate in Dubai may face a fine between Dh2,000 and Dh10,000.
Filipino Dance Club (FDC), a non-profit organisation that performs traditional Filipino dances on important occasions within the community, was also affected. The club teaches Latin dances as well.
“All of a sudden after 18 years, you’re told to stop operating. It’s an overwhelming thought. And it’s hard to accept because we’re one of the oldest Filipino organisations here in Dubai,” Bert Avillanoza, FDC head, told Gulf News.
By Janice Ponce de Leon Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
