Marking his first Independence Day celebration as the Philippines’ top diplomat in Dubai, Consul General Ambrosio Brian F. Enciso III said the occasion was a moment for Filipinos to show their resilience at a time when uncertainty weighs on both their homeland and the region they now live in.
Enciso, who assumed his post as head of the Philippine mission in Dubai and the Northern Emirates in November 2025, attended Kalayaan 2026 at the Dubai World Trade Centre on June 7, where an estimated 60,000 Filipinos gathered.
“This is significant for Filipinos because there are many uncertainties being faced back in the Philippines and here in our region as well,” he shared with TGFM in a mix of English and Filipino. “So we are showing our strength, our mettle, our loyalty — both to our country and to this adapted land of our fellow Filipinos.”
He framed the day as an invitation to look both backward and forward — to honour the freedoms secured by earlier generations while considering what it means to carry the Filipino name well, wherever one happens to be.
“I think it is significant for Filipinos to reflect on the freedom that were won by our forebears, but also on how we can be model Filipinos moving forward,” Enciso said, “whether you are in the Philippines, in another country, or here in the UAE.”
Since taking office, Enciso has laid out an agenda centred on faster consular services and deeper community engagement, including plans to expand appointment slots, extend outreach beyond Dubai, and explore courier delivery of released documents. The Dubai post is among the busiest Philippine foreign service missions in the world, serving one of the largest overseas Filipino populations anywhere.
