Innholdsfortegnelse for TGFM Issue 14 - June 2021 i The Global Filipino Magazine

A native Ilongga with a heart of Batangueña, Bevily Ardina Villeza, fondly called ‘Chef B’ is making waves abroad through being a full-time gym trainer and receptionist in Supergym. Apart from having arduous work, she is also a trainer volunteer in Filipino Institute, sharing her knowledge in Culinary Arts and Baking courses for four years now. Chef B, who was born in Dumaguete but raised in Marawi City, hails from a family of athletes and educators. She graduated Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management from Mindanao State University and soon after secured a Master in Business Administration in Southern Mindanao Colleges. Before joining the OFW tribe, she was a college professor for 10 years at the University of Batangas and a Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)…

A widower with two children, Genevieve Regato Soliven has been working as a domestic worker in Malaysia. She works abroad to support his kids’ education so that they become ‘better persons.’ She recalled working at 12 years old to help her parents earn a living. She was making hopia for a bakery back then. As an overseas Filipino worker (OFW), her greatest frustration in life is when his kids need her the most, especially when they are seeking and longing for her love. Her love for her children is her inspiration to go in life. While working overseas, she perseveres and educates herself in order to achieve her goals in life and alleviate the plight of her family and her loved ones. Soliven was allowed to train and study to…

Out of his work as the assistant supervisor in Al Ahsa Hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Home R. Impas plays a vital role in the Filipino community in the host country. The -51year-old achiever and inspiration is a volunteer and one of the founders of Saudifriendship and Filipino Consultant in Saudi Arabia, a culture, heritage, and tourism program. Impas, who is also a CT-scan technologist and picture archiving communication system administrator, is currently the president of the United Filipino Community in Eastern Region (UFCER) whose goal is to unite all Filipino organizations with common goals with utmost pleasure without personal interest. He is also the president of Community Investigative Support (CIS) in Al Hasa Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a group that supports the Philippine government in preserving peace…

Throughout history, nurses have been playing major roles in stepping into times of crisis and providing care. Krizzel Dayne Ong Macaraig, a registered nurse by profession studied and finished Medical Coding in 2019 and recently passed the Nursing Licensure Examination in the United Kingdom. Today, she is a Covid19- response nurse in the UAE under the Aspen Medical UAE company. The -30year-old Filipina nurse is one of the team leaders of World’s First Phase III Clinical Trial of Covid19- and one of the elite nurses selected to do UAE UAE International Mission for Vaccination. Macaraig is the first nurse in the host country awarded ‘Best Nurse of the Month’ during the Phase IV Covid19- vaccination program. Just recently, she is one of the few nurses sent to Jordan to vaccinate…

As Philippine Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes prepares to leave his post at the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) pen note to the outgoing Philippine’s top government official in the emirate During his six years of service, Cortes assisted almost 680,000 Filipinos. He will leave his post in August after serving his countrymen during the most difficult time last year. From 2016 to 2021, he facilitated the repatriation of over 1,000 distressed Filipinos. Under his leadership, the Consulate was also awarded by the Department of Foreign Affairs with the following accolades: Best Organization in 2017, Best Assistance-To-Nationals in 2018, One of the Best Performing Units in 2019. Cortes was also conferred by President Rodrigo Duterte the Gawad Mabini Award with the rank…

Hailing from the town of Camiling, Tarlac, Romeo Duque Jr. studied Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the prestigious University of Santo Tomas. A licensed engineer in the Philippines and one of the top-notchers in the 2004 Civil Engineer Licensure Exam, he arrived in Dubai some 15 years ago to work as a draftsman in one of the biggest facade manufacturing companies in the world. The core business of the company is the facade or building envelope. Today, he is the Chief Engineer of the same company catering to projects, not only here in the Middle East, but also in the USA, Europe, Russia, Asia, and Australia. “I consider myself fortunate to work here in the Middle East which some consider as the ‘architect’s playground’, this is evident in…

A 10-year-old Filipino based in Abu Dhabi is all set to conquer the sixteenth season of the esteemed Americas Got Talent. Known as ‘a small boy with a big voice’, Peter Anthony Rosalita’s first performance and appearance went on air last June 1, during the premiere episode of the American talent show on NBC Channel in the United States of America. Born and living in the capital of the UAE, at an early age, his family noticed that he preferred watching cartoon videos that usually have musical scenes and sing along with them even though he could not utter the words clearly. His journey in singing started when he was just six with a thought on his mind that he likes to get a medal. The boy recalled asking his…

Francis Crisologo is currently working as a Senior Corporate Bank Manager at the National Bank of Fujairah (NBF). Part of his work is to manage and grow the business of multinational companies with AED400 million annual turnover. With this role, he takes pride in helping client’s businesses, seeing them grow from newly incorporated to a well-established corporate entity. Just like many Filipinos, Crisologo has also started his career here in the UAE as a normal employee. In 2006, he was just a normal retail bank officer for a UAE-based bank. After 18 months of solid performance amongst peers, he was promoted to a Team Leader where he managed eight sales officers of different nationalities. Two years after, when he had a career break, HSBC Middle East recruited him to join…

It is a common notion that if one works overseas, he or she seeks better job opportunities. True enough, this was Julius Cabrera Espinosa’s goal when he embarked on an overseas journey some over a decade ago. A fifth child among eight children, he is a Business Administration graduate and a fitness enthusiast who loves to share the same vibes with others. Currently, Espinosa is working as the office manager in the Riyadh Sales Office Branch of Zamil Steel PEB Co. Ltd., one of the biggest pre-engineered steel building manufacturers in the host country. However, Saudi Arabia wasn’t the first overseas country he worked in. For over two years, he worked in Dubai and moved out for Qatar hoping for a greener pasture. Unfortunately, the latter was not the place…

The Filipino Institute has partnered with the Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas Inc. to offer Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP), which is a comprehensive educational assessment program at the tertiary level that recognizes, accredits, and gives equivalencies to knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values gained by individuals from non-formal, informal educational experiences, and relevant work. The program, which fits with those overseas Filipino workers who didn’t finish and wasn’t able to start their bachelor’s degree, is being implemented through deputized high education institutions that shall award the appropriate college degree. During the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Wednesday, April 28, through Zoom Meeting, present are Mr. Gabriel John Rimando, founder and president of the Filipino Institute; and Dr. Peter P. Laurel, president of the Lyceum of…

Grace Banghal-Callister describes herself as a ‘go-getter’ who is very passionate about her dreams. Regardless of how the hurdles may appear to be before she started, she sets out to achieve them. Owner and director of iQuBETS, a training and professional certification company based in the Philippines, with a presence in Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Nepal, and Timor Leste, Callister is also a course director for the HR and Training certifications of the American Certification Institute, USA and Global Ambassador and Vice President for Fame Times International Excellence Awards (FTIEA). Her professional life started at Coca-Cola Bottlers Phils Inc. in the city of San Fernando, Pampanga when she was fresh out of university in 1999. She started as a secretary for the Plant Operations Manager and eventually became the Technical Assistant…

Michael Salazar Gulapa visited UAE in 1986 when he was only 10 years old. He lived and went to school in the country for a time when his parents brought their whole family overseas so that they could all be together. His two older brothers came a few years before him. Unfortunately, his father, who started working in the host country in the 70s, retired from his job almost a year after he and his entire family arrived. They then moved back to the Philippines. Their life in the Philippines had not been as good as his family expected and they were in financial difficulties after a few years of poor business decisions. Having raised in a wealthy family, he said that he never experienced money problems until he got…

When Engr. Rafael Lontoc arrived in the UAE in 2006 after his brother invited him to work overseas. However, the latter warned him about the gamble that he will take and may end up working on a job that is not related to his profession as an engineer. So, Lontoc took the gamble with high hopes of better opportunity. Upon moving to UAE, he worked as a Design Engineer for a manufacturing company in Jebel Ali where he oversaw product design and development whilst doing CAD designs and 3D simulations. It was his task to evaluate products against British and other international standards. This job gave him the opportunity to travel to Africa to provide technical training to partners and resellers of their products. By professional, Lontoc is a professional…