Dubai-based PR professional Arthur Lawrence ‘Art’ Los Banos, who has been sharing opinions in The Global Filipino Magazine since 2022, has been appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). He will join the PCO Team in Malacanang under Acting Secretary Dave Gomez in early December.
Los Banos took his oath of office before Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand Ver on November 16 at the OFW Serbisyo Caravan held at the Dubai World Trade Center. He was accompanied by his wife, broadcast journalist Rachel Salinel.
The couple has been living in the UAE since 2001. They have one child, Yuji, who was with them from 2001 to 2016. They have been listed as one of the Most Influential Filipinos in the Gulf by Illustrado Magazine for four years, from 2015 to 2017 and then in 2020.
Los Banos has received several recognitions for his personal advocacies and professional achievements: Philippine Pride Award in Public Relations from the Philippine Business Council – Abu Dhabi chapter in 2019, Philippines’ Top 30 Leaders on LinkedIn in 2022, and Excellence in Global Public Relations from The Global Filipino Magazine Icon Awards 2024.
The new assistant secretary used to be a Filipino Community leader in Dubai as chairman of the Philippine Independence Day executive committee in 2008 and as one of the 12 founders of FilSoc in 2019. He was the first PRO of the club.
Before relocating to Dubai, Los Banos used to be the Corporate Affairs and Communications Manager of United Laboratories, a leading pharmaceutical company in the Philippines. He has a Political Science degree from the University of Sto. Tomas and has recently taken the Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program of the Ateneo School of Government in the UAE.
In his TGFM column on November 27, 2024, Los Banos proposed to make the UAE as the base of a Global Emergency Response and Crisis Center of the Department of Migrant Workers, and an overseas extension of the Presidential Action Center (PAC) covering Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), where more than three millions Filipinos live and work.
He made an appeal to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his May 27 column this year to treat overseas Filipinos not just as clients of the Departments of Migrant Workers (DMW) and Foreign Affairs (DFA), but as ambassadors of the Philippines who could promote a positive image of the homeland as a tourist and investment destination.
“I have been proposing in the past two years about promoting the homeland as an investment destination for Middle East conglomerates. It is a given that in every major company in the region there will always be a Filipino staff such as receptionist, personal assistant, or Finance, HR, and technical expert. These people can open the backdoor to get appointments with decision makers and business owners. Much more for caregivers and domestic workers who work closely with employers. They will be listened to,” he wrote.
Los Banos ended his column: “All you need to do is to create a ‘Special Task Force to Promote the Philippines’ based in the UAE or Italy to cover the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region where over three million Filipinos work and reside.”
