00:00This is really unusual, there is a Pakistani who is fluent in Tagalog and he drives a taxi.
00:12He calls himself Taxi Pabebe.
00:17He is Biradar, Pakistani National who has been a working driver here for more than two decades.
00:24Good morning!
00:26Good morning to you!
00:28First of all, I am happy to be here in Dubai.
00:32You are really good at speaking Tagalog.
00:34Come on, let's drive.
00:36I am very happy because I have a lot of friends here.
00:42So that Biradar's face will not get tired, he will vlog while driving.
00:48Where are you from? Philippines? Mindanao? Cebu? Iloilo? Laguna? Pandusinas?
00:52I am from Manila.
00:54I am from Palawan.
00:56I am from Visayas.
00:58You are really good at speaking Tagalog.
01:02Make a video, make a filter.
01:06How old are you? Why do you know how to make filters?
01:10How old are you?
01:11Filter?
01:12Yes.
01:13How old are you?
01:1440, 50.
01:1650, but I am happy everyday.
01:18Happy.
01:19How did you learn Tagalog?
01:21Because there are a lot of passengers here.
01:24Are you Tagalog or Visayas?
01:25Ilocano.
01:26Yes, Ilocano.
01:27We report.
01:28Yes, yes.
01:29Do you have a passenger in Ilocano?
01:31After one minute, I know.
01:33Because I am always calling.
01:35It's cheap, it's cheap, it's cheap.
01:37Manila, Ediwau, Visayas, Matapang.
01:40Ilocano, I report.
01:42Just kidding.
01:43Why do you like Filipinos?
01:45Because the people are very friendly.
01:48And friendly.
01:50Everything is friendly.
01:54That's why I like Filipinos.
01:56How are you? How is life?
01:58Good, good.
02:00Until he made the content of our language.
02:07Why do they call you baby?
02:09Before, one of my passengers gave me a funny word.
02:13Then he told me, when you have a female passenger,
02:17you tell her, you are a baby.
02:19She got angry, then you tell her, just kidding.
02:23So, after that, I like this word, baby.
02:27Put my name, taxi baby.
02:29All the passengers talking about you, you are nice, you are nice.
02:34I saw you.
02:35Now, I am very happy, very happy.
02:38You are not fooling me?
02:39Oh no, I am very nice.
02:41I did not lie.
02:43Only one person who lives here in Dubai is Biradar.
02:46How many children do you have?
02:47Six.
02:48But how much do you earn?
02:49Here, we don't have a salary.
02:52It's okay, you can live.
02:54It's okay, it's okay.
02:55Your family?
02:56Thank God, because I have a job.
02:58Biradar doesn't want to be forgiven.
03:01Before he dropped me off, he gave a sample of taxi baby.
03:05He knows a Filipino song.
03:07There are three babies I have seen.
03:13Thin, fat.
03:15But I want a back.
03:20Oh no, I am very fast.
03:22There are passengers.
03:23From here in Dubai, I am with taxi baby.
03:27KMJS9.
03:33Here in UAE, guys, I am just Biradar.
03:36The life of our countrymen abroad.
03:39Now, we can easily see through their vlogs.
03:44Hello everybody, this is Michelle.
03:46Just like the vlogger, Rachel, who has been here for two years.
03:50Maybe if I get one like this, then I go back to the Philippines, I will be a millionaire.
03:55Rachel is a native of Bungabong, Oriental Mindoro.
03:58A certified buccaneer.
04:00Read it.
04:01In fact, the wall of their house in Bungabong was covered with hundreds of sashes that she won from beauty pageants.
04:10Every corona, she gave it to her number one supporter, her father, Santo.
04:16He is very proud, so I will never forget him.
04:20But this 2021, Father Santo died of lung cancer.
04:26I went abroad, I worked as a waiter in a restaurant here.
04:30Luckily, they saw the potential that I can be a content creator.
04:34So guys, that's it for today's video. Thank you so much for watching.
04:39But not everyone who speaks here in Dubai has a good experience.
04:44Just like the one we met here that we hid under the name of Charles.
04:49He told me that Dubai is safe.
04:52It's safe, but there are other cases here.
04:55There are people who are also killed here, but it is not reported.
04:59Because some of our fellow countrymen here, like Charles, are hot-tempered in the eyes of other foreigners.
05:07When they see that you are good, you look clean, you don't have a beard, you are chased by other people here.
05:14Not the locals?
05:15No, it's usually a catcalling here.
05:18And some of them become victims of sexual harassment.
05:23I'm going home. Someone is following me.
05:30When the lift closed, she suddenly hugged me.
05:34Then she forced me to kiss her on the neck.
05:37Her hands were getting into some parts of my body.
05:40Charles was forced to fight the man.
05:43She pushed me hard.
05:45My back hit, I was weak.
05:47She still forced me to hug her.
05:49When the lift opened, I kicked her and kicked her on the face.
05:54But because of fear, Charles did not report what happened to him.
05:59Do you know what happened to you here in Dubai? Isolated or common?
06:05Common. I have a lot of friends who experienced this.
06:10Others are just afraid to say.
06:12In case this happens, we also have the Office of Migrant Workers.
06:17And they take care of the cases of Filipinos who will be victims.
06:22I will just be careful for myself.
06:24I will not repeat what happened to me.
06:27Did you know that one of the first Filipinos who experienced this 5 decades ago,
06:35was not only a witness of how a developing country was slowly emerging in the middle of the desert,
06:43but also one of the brains behind this success.
06:49This is the prominent architect and urban planner, June Palafox.
06:56We cannot do a special on Dubai without featuring you.
07:00Because you helped make Dubai what it is today.
07:03Dubai was life-changing.
07:05It's an architectural journey.
07:07The flood relief of Dubai sent me to Dubai.
07:10Look for me.
07:11December 1996, I got a mandate.
07:14In the 1970s, the family of architect Palafox migrated to this part of the Middle East.
07:20Do you remember when you first arrived in Dubai?
07:23The airport of Dubai was a travel need.
07:26She steers via our Manila International Airport.
07:29The instruction of the rulers was to make Dubai a number one city.
07:34She was chosen to be part of a group of urban planners and architects
07:39whose main project was to build a city in the middle of the desert
07:45that would later become famous all over the world.
07:49This is the standard of building in 1970.
07:52This is their master plan.
07:53This is the old town.
07:55Then these are major activity centers like Woods Gullivan and Detour.
07:59Architect Palafox was the youngest in their team.
08:03He was also the only Filipino.
08:06These are the Dubai then and now.
08:09And then we encourage more vertical cities instead of urban school.
08:14And the rest is history.
08:17It is said that architect Palafox has been back in the Philippines for a long time.
08:21And even he can't believe how Dubai did it.
08:26Sir, you were doing very well in Dubai.
08:28How did you come up with this idea?
08:31It's hard to say goodbye.
08:32I asked my family, why are you leaving if there's something wrong?
08:36And they said, maybe it's about time.
08:38I don't think so.
08:39My question is, architect Palafox, if Dubai can do it, can you do it in the Philippines?
08:45We can do it with success.
08:47For me, it's a world-winning idea.
08:50The population of Filipinos here in Dubai is almost half a million.
08:56There is one place here in Dubai that is like the Philippines.
09:00From the center of Dubai, our team traveled almost 30 kilometers towards the so-called home away from home of many of our fellow Filipinos here, Al Satwa.
09:23You know?
09:24Manila.
09:26Hello, hello.
09:28Hello, how are you?
09:30It's like we're just in the Philippines.
09:34How are you? Is it day off today?
09:36Yes.
09:37Oh, it's their day off.
09:38We haven't been here for five minutes yet.
09:40Our fellow Filipinos have already gathered.
09:43There are so many of them.
09:45There, they're already trafficking to us.
09:47Even if the owner is not Filipino, they put our words.
09:53Like this, Zain Ukay Ukay.
09:57There's a restaurant called Luneta.
10:02There's a place called Jeepney.
10:05The line in this bakery is always long.
10:09Pantikoko, Spanish bread, cheese bread,
10:13Pantikoko, Spanish bread, cheese bread.
10:17The owner of this is a Filipino, Chayda.
10:21What's your bestseller?
10:23Pandesal.
10:29It's delicious.
10:30It's like the pandesal in our country.
10:32How much is this?
10:34That's 50 pesos.
10:358 pesos is expensive, but it's big.
10:38Chayda's employees, of course, are our fellow Filipinos.
10:42Where are you from?
10:43Batangas.
10:45Batangas, Ilocano.
10:47Jkj, Ilocos.
10:48Isabela.
10:50Bicolana.
10:51Si Kuya?
10:53Pampampangan.
10:54And you, Ate?
10:55Davao.
10:56In the 90s, when the Filipinos started living here in Alsatwa,
11:01their apartments here,
11:04the former homes of the Emirates,
11:06were chosen to live in what they call New Dubai.
11:10Jomar, a Filipino from Pangasinan,
11:13moved here to Alsatwa to save money.
11:19How are you?
11:21You're handsome.
11:23I'm overwhelmed.
11:24It's my privilege.
11:26Jomar took us to their apartment,
11:29which they call partition.
11:31Because it's a one-bedroom unit,
11:33they divided it into two rooms.
11:37And in each room,
11:38they put a divider of fabric and plywood
11:41so that three to four tenants can fit.
11:44So it's like a bed space,
11:47your bed,
11:48while you're just starting.
11:57Okay.
11:59How much is the bed in this space?
12:01Upstairs, it's 600 dirhams.
12:05It can reach 9,000 to 10,000 dirhams.
12:08So each space here has a curtain.
12:11Yes.
12:12That gives them a little privacy.
12:17Their bathroom is neat.
12:20The problem is that their water is always hot.
12:25This is our bathroom.
12:26This is where we bathe.
12:28Where else?
12:29This is where you get fresh air.
12:31Before studying in Dubai,
12:33Jomar studied for 11 years
12:36in a private high school in Pangasinan.
12:38Why did you move to Dubai?
12:40It's hard to make a living
12:42because my parents are getting old.
12:44I have a brother who is studying.
12:46I need to study.
12:48How much is your salary here?
12:51My salary is 2,400 dirhams.
12:55And 600 dirhams here is deducted
12:57to pay for the house.
12:59The remaining 1,800 to 1,600 dirhams
13:03will be sent to the Philippines.
13:05So how much do you have left?
13:07200 dirhams.
13:09In 2017, when Ria worked in Dubai,
13:12all of her hard work
13:14was for her son.
13:16I only left for a year.
13:18Your son grew up without you there.
13:20It's hard.
13:21Are you okay?
13:22Yes, but I need it because I'm all alone.
13:25Thank you to my son.
13:26He's a first owner now.
13:28Wow.
13:29I'm so proud.
13:30Mia has not been with her children
13:33in North Cotabato for 6 years.
13:36It's hard.
13:38So I'm just doing it on a budget.
13:40They don't know how hard it is.
13:43Now they'll see.
13:45This is how my mother teases me.
13:47The word abroad is good.
13:49But in reality, we're here.
13:52It's hard.
13:54It's hard.
13:55It's hard. It's far from home.
13:57The Philippines is truly in our hearts.
14:00The people are so friendly.
14:03So wherever we go,
14:06we'll bring our country with us.
14:10For us who are in the Philippines.
14:15Thank you for watching, Kapuso.
14:17If you liked this video,
14:20subscribe to the GMA Public Affairs YouTube channel.
14:24And don't forget to hit the bell button
14:27for our latest updates.
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