I invited a few women to our Tristar International Women’s Day (IWD) panel discussion last March 8 held at Taj Dubai. There were some invitees who were not able to make it. I will therefore mention those in this group shot and all of them wanted to change the world of the Filipinos in the UAE.
Some have media platforms to highlight the excellence and talents of Filipinos like Illustrado Magazine, TFC News and Emirates Loves Philippines. Some have initiated advocacies such as Filipino Excellence in the Middle East or FEME and Taas Noo, Pilipino. Some have strong links with Dubai government institutions. Some have done or are still doing public service to the Filipino community. Some have taken the road less travelled as entrepreneurs. Some have supported and empowered entrepreneurs.
All of them have personal connections with me and my wife, Rachel Salinel. The first one we met is Lalaine Chu-Benitez. This was in 2001 at the De La Salle Montessori in Dubai where we enrolled our son. The nursery was founded by Lalaine’s late mother in 1999.
Lalaine arrived in Dubai in 1990 and her first job was at the Chicago Beach Hotel, now the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, as a Guest and Public Relations Executive Trainee. “I became an entrepreneur in 2006. My husband and I established Illustrado FZ LLC. We’ve worked on Illustrado Magazine for the last 15 years. In recent years, however, we’ve directed our focus into our Brand Development and Creative Agency which we started in 2013,” shared Lalaine. Illustrado Magazine’s motto is Taas Noo, Pilipino.
Lalaine and her team had initiated the iconic 100 Most Influential Filipinos in the Gulf (MIFG) for four consecutive years and the last publication was the expanded 300 MIFG Legacy Edition which launched before the pandemic in 2020.
Another personality, combining social media and Filipino Community public service, is Josie Conlu of Emirates Loves Philippines. I met Josie when we sat together as panelists of the Little Miss Philippines contest at the 2014 Philippine Independence Day celebrations at Al Nasr Leisureland. We were together with Mrs. Lu Calunsag Cimafranca, wife of then Consul General Frank Cimafranca, Labor Attache Delmer Cruz, Fretsyl Ching, and Edgar Bacason.
Josie arrived in Dubai 2009 and worked for 11 years with Al Tajir Glass Industries as executive assistant to the owner. She then became an entrepreneur when she established Red and Beryl Marketing Management. Josie was the chairperson of the 2019 Philippine Independence Day (PID) organizing committee. Currently, she is the Project Head of the Love Company managing 14 pages of 14 nations carrying the handle Emirates Loves. She said her work is ‘more of overseeing the 14 pages of 14 nations, with page managers for each page.’ Josie attended the IWD event with one of the 14 personalities – Assia Meziyane of Emirates Loves Morocco.
Speaking about PID, I met Wafa Qasimieh during the preparations for the 2008 PID event when I was the chairperson of the organizing committee. Fast forward in 2016, Wafa became the PID chairperson herself. She honored previous PID chairpersons calling them ‘legends’ at the 2016 PID celebrations. She arrived in the UAE in 1986 and Wafa’s first job was as secretary of an advertising company. Now she is the Senior Executive Cultural Consultant of Dubai Government’s Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD). Wafa has a perfume brand called Wafa Q parfume.
Wafa is one of the 12 founding members of the Filipino Social Club or FilSoc which has been issued a license to operate by the Community Development Authority (CDA) of Dubai Government in 2019.
Starting 2016, we became close to the Calaguian sisters, Cristina and Paz, and Bobbie Carella, who were all present at the launching of the FEME Connect directory project of my wife. It was the execution of Rachel’s business plan with three co-partners under the 2015 batch of Ateneo’s School of Government’s Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship (LSE) program designed for overseas Filipinos to encourage them to become entrepreneurs by being equipped with the right leadership character and financial literacy.
Cristina’s enterprise Dagaz HR Consultancy and Recruitment Company FZ LLC was the publisher of the FEME Connect directory of Filipino professionals, entrepreneurs and talents. Paz helped in the design and printing as well as in generating advertisements. Our partnership also led to another advocacy platform called FEME Forum, a by-invitation only gathering wherein business promotion and current issues affecting Filipino entrepreneurs, professionals and socio-civic leaders were discussed by subject-matter experts.
We were able to conduct seven forums with the last one in 2021 as an online session with Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, Joy Quintana. Then Vice President Leni Robredo sent a video greeting. Coincidentally, the 7th FEME Forum was held on March 19, celebrating IWD.
Cristina arrived in the emirates in 2003 and her first job was being a financial consultant. She registered her enterprise in 2011. Paz followed Cristina in 2004 and her first work assignment was being office manager of Flip Media FZ LLC. She ventured into business first with Full Frame Photography Magazine from 2012 to 2015 and then went freelance as event organizer, and finally established a design and events company with her husband called Aijem Design Concept. Coincidentally, the sisters are virtually active with Rotary Club (RC) of Manila 101
Cristina was Transformational President from 2020 to 2021. Paz is currently the Phenomenal Leader President whose term will end in June 2023. RC Manila 101 is a flexible and innovative Rotary Club in District 3810, Rotary International with a diverse community of leaders.
She is a very popular figure in the Filipino business community as well as with Southeast Asian business groups. Bobbie was previously the chairperson of the Philippine Business Council – Dubai and Northern Emirates for almost a decade. Bobbie relocated from Saudi Arabia to Dubai in 1997 with her children while her husband stayed in Riyadh for work.
“I was a full-time Nanay (mother) and Asawa (wife) before joining my husband in his business in 2001. Prior to marriage, however, I was a cabin crew member for Saudia and based in London,” disclosed Bobbie.
Zeny Vibar-Requizo came to Dubai in 2004 and joined as HR Assistant for a pre-opening 4-Star hotel. From 2004 till 2015, she worked in different 4- and 5- Star hotels. After which, she moved to F&B industry. “I started my business in 2019 when I lost my job due to redundancy. Using my HR skills and knowledge, I opened my Management Consultancy and HR Services. We provide Consultancy and HR Services to our clients mainly in the Hospitality and F&B sectors. The name of our company is Fifty One & Co. Corporate Services,” explained Zeny.
In 2022, Zeny and her husband opened a sports company providing sports clinic, organizing sports tournament and team building. But it did not work well so they closed the company after one year. Here’s a very good motivational example from Zeny: “Since failure is part of success, we did not give up and decided to change the Sports Company into Facilities Management. The name of our company is Up Grade Facilities Management Services LLC.” Zeny and her husband, Buboy, are our sister and brother in our CFC Community and they are also our church wedding inaanak (godchildren).
My wife Rachel is the senior correspondent of The Filipino Channel of ABS-CBN who reports on the trials and triumphs of Filipinos in the UAE and Africa, specifically northern and southern Africa. We came to Dubai in 2001 with our then 3-year old son Yuji. She currently facilitates online and in-person sessions on journaling because she believes that journaling is an effective way in clarifying one’s thoughts and emotions which can lead to calmness and even inner healing. Her session is called ‘Journaling to Heal and to Succeed’.
I would also like to mention Ollie Pineda, Manager-Corporate Responsibility at Dubai Duty Free and Glorianne Montefrio, Project Founder of 5G, who also attended the event but were not in the group shot. Thank you Ollie, Glorianne, Lalaine, Josie, Wafa, Cristina, Paz, Bobbie and Zeny for showing your solidarity with the other women guests from various countries. Continue to change the whole world and not just the world of the Filipinos in the UAE.