The Philippines missions in the UAE announced that they 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 nonworking 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.
The Philippines Embassy in Abu Dhabi said in an advisory that while offices are closed, they can be contacted for emergency and urgent matters at the following numbers: +971 50 813 7836 / +971 50 443 8003.
The Philippine Consulate General in Dubai, meanwhile can be reached through the following numbers:
- For consular matters such as passport, notarial, Civil Registry, etc. at +971 4 220 7100
- Assistance-to-Nationals matters at +971 56 501 5756
- For assistance to OFWs, 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 that takes place every year on August 21 in memory of the assassination of former Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr., who was then a very strong opposition figure and one of the fiercest critics of then-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr, father of the incumbent Philippine president.
Aquino’s wife, Corazon Aquino, would later become the 11th Philippine President; their son, Noynoy Aquino, the 15th president. Ninoy was assassinated on August 21, 1983, at the Manila International Airport tarmac, now named Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor.
This year, however, Presidential order from President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. moved Ninoy Aquino Day from August 21 to August 23 “to provide for a longer weekend to boost domestic tourism” here in the Philippines since August 26, Monday, is National Heroes’ Day, which is also a public holiday.
