Dr Hanadi al-Hamad, Board Certified senior consultant in Internal Medicine specialised in Geriatrics at HMC, received a special recognition from embassy and Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) senior officials at a ceremony at City Centre Rotana Doha on Monday.
Labour attache David Des Dicang said that despite Dr al-Hamad’s busy schedule, she has been very active in the Repatriation Committee of Rumailah Hospital, providing the necessary assistance to non-Qatari patients (medically and non-medically stable patients).
“She has helped and has been exerting a lot of extra efforts to continuously help Filipinos, including those who need to undergo regular medication at the hospital,” he noted. “She has been doing this beyond her time and schedule.”
The awarding ceremony is among the highlights of a Filipino Community Assembly in Doha with the Philippine delegation to Qatar led by labour secretary Silvestre H Bello III.
Secretary Bello, who was joined by congressman Aniceto R Bertiz III, labour undersecretary Ciriaco A Lagunzad III, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, met earlier with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani and Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs HE Issa Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi to discuss a number of issues and developments of mutual interest.
Dicang noted that Secretary Bello’s visit to Qatar was upon the invitation of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, which was very timely “given new developments in addressing the concerns of our migrant workers.”
Secretary Bello also met with Filipino community representatives and commended them for their efforts in the service of fellow expatriates and in nation building, according to the labour attache.
United Filipino Organisation in Qatar chairman Henry Dimaano echoed this statement saying that Filipino expatriates in Doha are grateful to be given the opportunity to voice out their concerns to the Philippine government through Secretary Bello and his delegation.
“We are hopeful that this dialogue will pave the way for prompt resolution of those issues and lead to better appreciation of the Philippine government of the immediate needs and requests of our Kababayans,” he said.
Some of the concerns and requests raised at the community event include assistance for acquiring new computers for POLO-OWWA’s computer literacy programme, which so far benefitted 6,000 Filipino expatriates; and permanent a lawyer and translators at POLO who would be readily accessible to attend to the needs of the office and the nationals.
Some suggested of intensifying the partnership between POLO and the Filipino community in holding regular or mandatory financial literacy programme (Family and Income Management Course) for Filipino expatriates.
