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Freedom-loving and independent. These are the most common traits of Boholanos (or Bol-anons), the natives of the island province of Bohol.
They are also known to be proud of their heritage, often attributed to the province's colourful history of resistance against foreign invaders, as well as a number of tourist attractions and destinations including beaches and resorts and the Philippine tarsier, among the world's smallest primates.
But the members of the regional group Bol-anon Qatar Association are most proud of their collective efforts at being one of the most active Filipino regional groups when it comes to outreach initiatives.
The group, formed on February 27, 2014, has organised and participated in various community activities mostly related to extending assistance to kabayans in need.
"We have about 142 registered members in the group. Among our flagship projects is extending help to distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) temporarily under the care of Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO-OWWA). Being able to help OFWs in dire need is one of the main objectives of establishing our group. We have donated goods covering the basic needs of the distressed OFWs and have pledged to assist POLO-OWWA in sending home some of our kababayans by donating airplane tickets. We even sponsored the uniforms of baking class students at POLO-OWWA," Bol-anon President Aisha al Baker told Qatar Tribune.
Aisha, an entrepreneur and prominent Filipino community leader, added that their group was also among those that first responded to the call of assistance for victims of fire that broke out in one of the labour camps in the country. The beneficiaries included non-Filipino workers as well.
"Our aim is to extend our sympathy to the victims regardless of nationality. Through our generous donors from the group, we were able to distribute grocery items including rice and canned goods, water, clothes and other personal items to the fire victims," said Aisha.
Recently, Aisha's team once again showed a united front as one of the main partners of another civic group, HERO Qatar, during its medical mission held in a labour camp in Al Wukair that benefitted more than 500 workers.
Other community involvements of Bol-anon include sponsoring 'Gupitan sa Doha' (free haircut) offered during the Philippine Independence Day celebration in 2015 and organising a friendly basketball aimed at enhancing camaraderie among the other Boholanos in Qatar.
Aisha added that their efforts to be a regional group on a mission of reaching out to the less fortunate also included those in need back in the Philippines.
The group had organised a programme for the victims of the recent earthquake that hit their province.
When asked about their future projects, Aisha said they intend to be more active in the community in the coming years and continue being at the forefront of outreach initiatives in Qatar.
Besides Aisha, the roster of office-bearers of Bol-anon includes Carlo Lagrada (Vice-President Internal Affairs), Heracleo Apale (VP External Affairs) Rose Redulla and Bert Tapa (Secretary) and Raymond Aleria and Charmin Carbon (Treasurer).
Other officers of the group are Vic Tape, Victor Agur, Eduardo Oliva, Rafael Dumandan, Jags Jamil and Brenda Cagatin.
