Illustrado Magazine – Filipino Abroad

Tag: Women of Substance

  • Woman of Substance: Susan de Guzman

    Photo by Eros Goze, Styling by Ushi Sato, Make Up by Ginno Alducente
    “Mariposa” wrap by Dita Sandico-Ong and Diamonds from Liali Jewellery

     

    INFLUENCE

    Susan de Guzman

    Top Notch Educator

    There was a time at the beginning of Susan de Guzman’s career as a teacher in the Emirates, when a colleague, referring to her credentials and her pursuit of a Masters Degree, said to her, “But what do you need all that qualification for?  Don’t you know that Filipinas are seen as domestic helpers?”

    Sixteen years on, this humble and soft-spoken educator has stayed on-the-job, and stands proud as lead faculty at the Sharjah Women’s College – Higher Colleges of Technology. She has consistently driven her students to earn award after award, year after year, and is instrumental in helping the esteemed educational institution gain a reputation of excellence, especially in the field of graphic arts.

    Truly, this is one Filipina who has not only imparted knowledge and skill, but is also helping to shape the minds and values of young Emirati women set to be part of the country’s privileged circle of movers and shakers in the future.

    Susan de Guzman was born to parents who were both doctors.  She says, “My siblings and I were reared on the values of integrity, hard work, determination, and a sense of family.” Although her parents wanted her to follow in their footsteps, Susan’s calling in life was totally different, “I’ve always wanted to be an artist, for as long as I could remember. I love exploring and actualizing new ideas, and the fact that art is freewheeling.”

     

    From a very young age, her creativity was already apparent – Susan won countless art and talent competitions in school.  In college, she earned a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas.  But her quest for knowledge didn’t stop there, she pursued continued professional learning, while working as a teacher, and gained two masters degrees – Masters  in Educational Technology and a Masters of Education in Open and Distance Learning, both from the University of Southern Queensland, in Australia.

    Early on in her professional life, she dabbled both in advertising, working as a graphic artist, and in education, as a faculty member at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.  Somehow her career path led her completely to teaching.  She joined the Higher Colleges of Technology in 1996, first as Graphic Designer in the school’s Academic Services Department, and was eventually promoted to faculty when management took notice of her capabilities.  “People were telling me that I should be working in the advertising industry, especially here in the UAE, because there’s more money there,” she shares.  “But somehow, I’ve always kept it in my mind that I want to be a teacher, especially to these Emirati students.  So that when they become business owners someday, they will know how to treat their Filipino employees.”

    Susan’s approach to work extends well beyond just teaching her subjects.  She said that oftentimes, she provides guidance like a surrogate mother and friend, as knowledge is the least of the students’ challenges – some of them lack confidence and some have emotional issues.  As a Filipina educator, she credits her success in enriching her students learning experience with the innately caring attitude of Pinoys, “It’s probably our nurturing spirit.  It helps a lot.  There are certain students who need special attention.  So I make it a point to hold their hold through the process, and help them realize how good they are, in the process helping them gain confidence and motivation.”

    But all is not easy with this highly disciplined firm educator, she shares “Yes, I do fail students, sometimes too.  Strangely enough, there are students who thank me even when I fail them.  They say that because of the failure, they eventually realized how to correct their mistakes and improve upon their work.”

    And her formula for teaching seems to work wonders.  Since she has joined the college, Susan has helped the school secure countless honors from various academic award giving bodies, at one time orchestrating a grand slam earning 22 top awards in 2005.  Her efforts have been duly recognized as well. In 2008, she received the much coveted Director’s Award from the Higher College of Technology. Just recently, she has also been selected as Deputy Chief Expert for the World Skills Competition London 2011, the first Asian (carrying the UAE flag, at that) to have been given such distinction, in the global competition countries symbolizing excellence in vocational training with participants from all over the globe.

    Still, with all her accolades, Susan says she has one regret, “I wish that I was doing all this for Filipino students; helping them to be successful in life.”

    Regrets aside, it has to be said, that in the grand scheme of things, the role that Susan plays for Filipinos as a whole, is nothing short of priceless.

  • Woman of Substance: Ambassador Corazon Yap Bahjin

    Photo Courtesy of the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain

     

    COMMITMENT

    Ambassador Corazon Yap-Bahjin

    First Muslim Filipina Ambassador

     

    “Forget that you are a woman; because dignity and humanity has no gender.   Women do not need any special treatment, because we can do it just like everyone else can.”

    That philosophy might sound quite radical in a world where specific gender roles – male versus female – are still as distinct as night and day, but for the First Muslim Filipina Ambassador, who considers herself “feminine but not a feminist,” these are just simple truths founded on sound and pragmatic thinking.

    Ambassador Corazon Yap-Bahjin made Philippine Foreign Service history when she became the first Filipina Muslim to pass the career Foreign Service Officers’ examination, and then head a diplomatic mission, when she became the Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain in 2009 – the fourth female to have done so in the kingdom.

    Of Tausug roots, the eldest of two siblings born to highly educated parents – her father was a lawyer and her mother the first Regional Director of CNI (a defunct office in charge of indigenous people in the Philippines) who later became a college professor – Ambassador Yap-Bahjin takes pride in her parents’ legacy of good values. “The pursuit of excellence and hard work has always been a tradition in our family, with both my mother and my father.  We were taught to be honest and dedicated, and to be loyal to our service,” she shares.

     

    And indeed, her family’s principles put her in good stead, setting her up for a purposeful future.  She earned her Bachelor of Science in Education degree at the University of Santo Tomas in 1967, graduating cum laude with a co-major in English and Theology. In 1974 she finished Master of Arts, major in Social Studies, at the University of the Philippines, and went into a teaching career from 1967 to 1979.

    She joined the Foreign Service in 1979.  Rising from the ranks, she started as Acting Director of the Cultural Division of the Office of Islamic Affairs (now the Office on Muslim Affairs). Her first overseas posting was for a Vice Consul’s position in Jeddah in 1986.  Thereafter, she was posted as Second Secretary and Consul at the Philippine Embassy in Amman in 1990 where she assisted in the repatriation of Filipinos from Kuwait during the first Gulf War.  Her next posting took her to Cairo as Second Secretary and Consul at the Philippine Embassy.  She then moved to the same position in Bangkok in 1992 and was promoted to First Secretary in charge of Political Division and Consul and    Deputy Representative, ESCAP for the Philippine Embassy there.  Her last post before heading the Philippine diplomatic mission in Bahrain was in Xiamen, China as Consul General from 1995-2005.

    At the home office, she served as Acting Asst. Secretary of the Office of Consular Affairs in 1999, Asst. Secretary of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Coordination 2006-2007 then Asst. Secretary of the Office of Personnel and Administration Services from 2007 to July 2009.

     

    Asked about her formula for success, the Ambassador credits it all to hard work, her commitment to her profession and her constant pursuit to improve upon herself and the work she did.  She explains, “I was never competitive.  I only competed with myself.”  She furthers, “At the end of the day, if you want to set your target on 80 percent, or 100 percent or even 120 percent, it is all up to you.”

    On being the first Muslim Filipina Diplomat, she says that certainly, there are challenges that one faces, not only because of being from a community that is considered a minority back home and one that suffers some negative stereotypes, but being a woman at that – “I have to prove that we also have what it takes to succeed and that we can be as good, if not better, as everybody else. But,” she counters, “in the long run, when it comes to my work, it is really not about me being a Muslim, or me being a woman, it is the work and the service that I am focused on. My output and work do not depend on my religion or gender.”

    The good Ambassador is constantly working for the betterment of some 45,000 Filipinos in Bahrain and hopes that someday the deployment of domestic helpers, the most vulnerable segment of Filipino expatriate workers, will eventually stop. She says, “It would be better if our women did not put themselves at such a vulnerable situation, for meager salaries, especially considering the social cost of such employment.” She continues, “We’re not belittling our compatriots, but if only they can be a little creative, they can earn more at home.”

    Ambassador Yap-Bahjin says that she has nothing against Filipinas opting to go and work overseas, as long as they are dignified.  She explains, “If they really want to work abroad, it is better for them to acquire some skills that will allow them to work in other fields, instead of having to take care of other people’s children.  Then at least, they will have the freedom to move and they will be treated better.”

  • The Empowered Filipina Documentary

    Almost a year on, and the dialogue still continues.

    Over the years, Filipina’s working overseas have been greatly stereotyped and put in a negative light. This documentary follows a collective group of global Filipina’s who have been deeply affected by these issues and how they chose to respond by sharing the positivity, and the advocacy of a common mission – uplifting the morale of Filipinas everywhere.

    A Film by Kamil Roxas

    Watch the trailer and complete film in 3 parts:

    The Empowered Filipina Trailer

    The Empowered Filipina Part 1

    The Empowered Filipina Part 2

    The Empowered Filipina Part 3

  • Nikon Photo Competition in Illustrado’s Women of Substance 2011

    1st March 2011 – Dubai, UAE – Following last year’s success, Illustrado’s Women of Substance 2011 is bringing back the Nikon Photography Competition with a new theme – “The Empowered Filipina.” Finalists’ works will be showcased at the Nikon Photo Exhibit during the annual elegant coffee-afternoon event which honors exemplary Filipinas and promotes female empowerment.

    Spearheaded by Illustrado, the Dubai-based Filipino lifestyle publication, the Nikon Photography Competition is calling for photo enthusiasts around the Gulf to submit their entries essentially portraying the different facets of the empowered Filipina. According to Lalaine Chu-Benitez, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Illustrado, “The amount of interest that we gathered from last year’s photo exhibit during Women of Substance 2010 has inspired us to continue contributing to the upliftment of the Filipina international image, as captured by the lenses of photography aficionados in the region.”

    She furthers, “We are returning this year with a more challenging concept ‘The Empowered Filipina,’ which we believe will be a vehicle to highlight not only the outer, but also the inner beauty of the Filipina, her strength of character, resilience and will to succeed and contribute not only to the Filipino community, but to society as a whole.”’

    Aside from the said photo exhibit that gained participation from the sizeable Filipino photo hobbyist community in the Gulf, Women of Substance is back on its fourth consecutive edition with amazing array of segments – from the talk show featuring Filipina achievers and a renowned guest speaker from the Philippines, the make-over runway show, to the bazaar slated to delight the over selected 600 guests, the event promises to be both meaningful and momentous.

    The event will also witness the screening of a mini-documentary, a sequel to “The Empowered Filipina,” by Dubai-based award-winning filmmaker Kamil Roxas.

    Interested photography aficionados can submit three images of Filipinas from all walks of life which embody ‘female empowerment.’ Images should be at least 300dpi and should be emailed to illustrado@inbox.com. The contest is open to all nationalities from all photography levels, strictly based in the Gulf.  Furthermore, heavy digital layering and editing are prohibited. Only the twenty best entries will make it to the Nikon Photo Exhibit during the event which will be viewed by over 600 attendees from the Filipino and international expat community.  Finalists’ photos will be published in Illustrado’s April 2011 issue.  The top winners will receive prizes from Nikon. Deadline for submissions is on the 17th March 2011.

    Women of Substance event is celebrated in the Gulf in conjunction with International Women’s Day. For more information, please contact Illustrado at 04-3654547 / 04-3654543.

    -Ends-

    About Women of Substance

    Illustrado’s Women of Substance is an advocacy in conjunction with International Women’s Day. It is a celebration of Filipina empowerment, achievement and contribution aiming to provide inspiration to boost the morale of the Filipino community, and to be a reflection of the positive and balanced international image of the Filipina.

    Every year, Illustrado presents Filipina honorees from the Gulf who exemplify achievement, societal contribution and exceptional character.

    For inquiries on the Women of Substance Event, please contact Johanna Dalocanog at +971 4 365 4543 or 365 4547, or e-mail johannadalocanog@illustrado.net

    For general inquiries on Illustrado contact the above numbers or e-mail us at: admin@illustrado.net

  • Isabelita Warren – Of Food and Mother’s Love

    Text By Lalaine Chu-Benitez, Photo by Alan Desiderio

    “Everytime I would cook food, I would always remember you when you were in Saudi Arabia.”  Tears welled in Illustrado Women of Substance 2009 Honoree Isabelita Sabado Warren’s eyes as she recalled her mother’s words when the latter was still alive – referring to the period when Isabelita, just like so many thousands of Filipinos, bravely lived the life of an Overseas Filipino (OF) longing for home and her family, as she worked to make a future for herself in the kingdom.

     

    Doting mother and entrepreneur Isabelita, the seventh of eight siblings, grew up sharing a special bond with her mother, Nanay Tuneng, in a cheerful home where life seemed to center around their abundant dinner table.  With her father Eugenio, a farmer of humble beginnings who had the knack for saving and acquiring land, the Sabado family of Magdalena, Laguna owned farmlands, fruit and vegetable plantations, as well as a poultry farm making them self-sufficient without needing to buy food from anywhere else.  “We always had fresh food from our own farms, and my mother loved cooking.  I remember that our table would always be full of wonderful dishes all the time.  We were very lucky.”

    Growing up in a typical matriarchal Filipino household, Isabelita recounted, “My father was the brains of the family.  But my mother definitely was the strength and the heart.”  From her father, she seemed to have acquired an entrepreneurial inclination from a young age.  “I used to run movies in the neighborhood, with our family having the first TV in our community.  I also sold ‘ice candy’ to the movie goers,” she chuckles at the memory.  “From my mother, I must have learned generosity.  She always ended up giving away food, which she intended to sell in our little carinderia, to our neighbors.  Looking back, I see a lot of my mother within me.”

    But the charmed life in the idyllic barrio had to take the backseat as Isabelita sought her own future away from home.  “I became a pediatric nurse and at the time that I decided I would go to Saudi in the mid-80’s – it was so difficult.  I remember the morning when I was about to leave and my father spoke to me.  He was crying but he supported my decision. I just had to be brave and follow my destiny – even if that destiny was away from home.”

    Isabelita landed in Saudi Arabia as part of the pioneering team which established operations for the Saudi American Hospital.  With her skills and innate good nature giving her a good headstart, she was readily recognized by the management for the quality of her work and at only two years, was appointed the post of Chief Nurse.

    Her life then in Saudi was just like any other OF’s.  She recounts making USD500 every month and took pride in being frugal and managing to send most of her earnings to her family.  “It was quite lonely back then. But every time I would hear from home, my mother would always tell me about whatever food she was preparing.  Somehow, my family always thought about me whenever they would sit down to eat.”

    Though, Isabelita wouldn’t be lonely for long. She met Glen Warren, a gentle American who worked in the construction business.  They eventually got married in 1989 and ended up raising their kids in the kingdom.  Despite that fact that the two of them started at the bottom of the ladder at the beginning of their careers, just like anybody else, hardwork and being financially smart led them to a very good future.  “Glen is very bright and really helped in growing his company.  I also worked very hard and little by little we were able put money away in savings.”  Not for long, the couple’s diligence paid off and they had the opportunity to put some money in a property in the US and eventually in some other investments.

    The couple with their four kids in tow, moved to Florida in 1995, only to return to the Middle East, once again, in lieu of Glen’s new assignment in Dubai in 1999. Isabelita who also worked as a nurse midwife in Florida, had to put the family’s needs as her sole focus then – the constant travelling which was part of their life made it difficult for her to continue nursing.

    As the kids grew older, Isabelita’s calling for entrepreneurship surfaced and she decided to set-up her own business venture in 2004 – Tritrade International, a trading company at the Ajman freezone.  With virtually no commercial experience but armed with good business instincts and an even better ‘can do’ attitude, the former nurse and homemaker bravely entered the Filipino food import and distribution sector and competed with established traders in the emirates.  Isabelita virtually ran a one-woman-show in the beginning, helped by her young kids.  “I did everything with the help of the kids – we ran the office, took care of the goods and I even went to each supermarket myself trying to make deals with the retailers.”  In a field dominated by strong players, survival was the order of the day.  “Our competitors were just waiting for us to fail.  Fortunately, I am a very good saleswoman,” she says, her eyes twinkling.  And one is bound to believe that judging from how far Tritrade has gone.  From a monthly import of one twenty-foot container during their starting year, Tritrade now brings in up to six forty-foot containers every month and supplies popular Filipino brands – like Oishi prawn crackers, Barrio Fiesta condiments, Marifood bihon, Leslie Clover Chips among many other Pinoy food products to over 120 supermarkets in the country, growing in profitability right after their first year of operations.

    But her best commercial project is yet to come.  Disappointed by the open market system where distributors are not protected, Isabelita decided to develop her own brand – a move that has put her in a unique position where locally-grown Filipino brands are very rare.  She went about developing a line of sauces, condiments, crackers and snack items in 2005, adding her own personal touch to the recipes while ensuring that the formulations are very ‘health conscious.’ In 2006, she launched her food range branded ‘Nanay Tuneng’ – commemorating her mother who fostered much love in the family through good food.  “My nanay always made our family happy with food. Food was her way of showing us love.  And when you’re here, food is one way to surpass the loneliness.  When you eat something that reminds you of home, you somehow feel comforted.”

    Even more than her food brand, Nanay Tuneng’s influence on Isabelita’s life has seen an extension in her works – in the charitable activities she has initiated in her hometown.  For her birthday every November, she holds a month-long feeding program for close to 3,000 children in the 29 baranggays of Magdalena – aided by 10 volunteers who cook and deliver food to schools, and by some of her generous suppliers who donate raw materials.  She also opened a vocational school in her father’s name, in collaboration with the TESDA in 2009 to provide free practical courses on electronics, plumbing, cosmetology, etc., to out-of-school youth to help alleviate the hopelessness she has sensed in the young people of her hometown. “This is my way of adopting my community and encouraging other people to make an effort to help.  I also want people to realize that you can be what you want to be no matter who you are in your life.”  Unsurprisingly, as with other philanthropists in the country, she was asked by her community to run as Mayor.  An invitation Isabelita declined. She remarks, “My father taught us that you don’t need to be a politician to help.  Anybody can help in their own way and we shouldn’t be helping because we have vested interest.”

    Despite a full home life in Dubai with her husband and kids, a busy work schedule and constant travels, Isabelita also finds the time to support local community projects and is a key member of FILEX (Filipino Expats Foundation in the UAE). “I feel so lucky.  This is my way of paying forward the bountiful blessings I have received.”

    Somehow, looking at her life filled by good memories, familial affection and generosity, one can’t help but think that food and mother’s love really go a long way.

  • Women of Substance 2010

    Women of Substance is an annual event that celebrates Filipina empowerment. Held at the Godolphin Ballroom of Jumeirah Emirates Towers last 27th of March 2010, the usual afternoon-tea affair hosted by Illustrado Magazine blossomed into a huge gathering of over 500 Filipinos in the UAE.  This year’s program included preview of the mini-documentary film “The Empowered Filipina”, photo exhibit, mini-bazaar, talk show, awarding ceremony, fashion make-over and a special talk facilitated by renowned lawyer Katrina Legarda.

    Take a look at this gallery for a quick glimpse of the fabulous attendees of Women of Substance 2010.