By Anand Holla

 
Ask Frank C Jamandre about the Filipino community in Qatar and his eyes light up. Yet despite his many achievements in serving the community, Jamandre is not the one to even as much mention them in the course of the conversation.
“I transformed my life from an abandoned child to a committed social leader with a deep sense of compassion for those who have less in life, because that’s how my own life journey began,” Jamandre says, sitting at a fast food joint at Al Muntazah and looking out at the sunset.
The sixty-something Nurse Manager works at the Regulatory, Accreditation and Compliance Services Department of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), where he is responsible for providing expertise in the Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation standards, laws and regulations, among others. “JCI standards ensure continuous provision of quality care for all patients,” he says.
His passion soars just as much for his work as a community leader. From spearheading the free medical-dental mission for poor Filipinos in Qatar across labour camps and industrial areas, to heading donation drives here for typhoon-hit victims in the Philippines — after Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, he oversaw QR50,000 and 149 boxes of food and clothes totaling 7,000kgs being raised and sent to his country — there’s  barely a cause for the community of around 200,000 Filipinos of late that Jamandre hasn’t been part of.
Today, Jamandre is the head of United Filipino Organisations in Qatar (UFOQ), which is the umbrella body of 165 Filipino organisations in Qatar, accredited by the Philippines Embassy. Among his several awards, the biggest would be the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) feting him with the prestigious Bagong Bayani award for Community and Social Service in 2011 — a thumping acknowledgement of his impressive body of work.
Jamandre spoke to Community about why UFOQ, which can be dubbed a super-group of the Filipino community that gathers strengths of various Filipino organisations in Qatar, has become the guiding light for Pinoy expats:
 
What is the significance of UFOQ in bringing the community together?
At UFOQ, our main objective is to unify all the organisations, driven by a common motive of helping other OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers). The embassy presides over the UFOQ, and the ambassador of Philippines also manages some activities within the community. Be it putting together programmes such as medical missions or our grand Independence Day celebrations, or carrying out community projects such as tree-planting and beach-cleaning, we are provided with utmost cooperation and help from the embassy and the many Filipino organisations. Also, in case of disasters such as typhoons in the Philippines, UFOQ is the one-point body that mobilises aid and support via the 165 Filipino organisations here, and we then, co-ordinate with the embassy as well. Of the 165, only about two-thirds are active.
 
UFOQ began only two years ago. Why wasn’t such a system in place before?
Nobody had thought of an umbrella organisation until some top leaders of Filipino organisations envisioned this model. What ailed the scenario was the lack of co-ordination among the various organisations. They weren’t unified towards tending to the needs of the community. Actually, there was one such umbrella body before called FILCOA, but it couldn’t prosper and faded out. In our second year, we drafted our constitution and by-laws.
 
You are, and have been, part of various Filipino community organisations such as Philippine Nurses Association Qatar (PNAQ) and Philippine Professional Organisation Qatar (PPOQ). How closely do such organisations work with the community’s requirements?
Our whole purpose is to serve the community’s needs. Last year, I was the Chairman of PPOQ — which is composed of 10 professional organisations such as those of architects, nurses, teachers, respiratory therapists, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers, and so on — which helps examinees attend the licensing board exams that is mandatory for them to pass before they become, say, a licensed engineer. While these exams are held in the Philippines, we have a tie-up with our government agency, the Philippines Regulatory Commission, which sends delegates to Qatar and conducts exams here. So instead of having to go all the way back home, Filipinos can give exams here by paying only USD45.
 
What has changed in the Filipino community scene with the UFOQ coming in?
The UFOQ has tried to streamline all organisations into helping and getting the finance towards community service. Without the joint efforts of all active organisations in pool in resources and getting the sponsors, we can’t achieve results. What has changed for the better is that mobilising help has now become easy as contacting an organisation head is enough to set the ball rolling. It’s easy for everyone now to tap the right people for the right cause. Earlier, the embassy, too, experienced difficulties in reaching out to these organisations. With UFOQ, the process has become clear. Besides, UFO also has various tie-ups such as those with the Ministry of Interior for traffic violations and traffic awareness, and with the Supreme Council of Health for the No Smoking campaign.
 
How are the Filipino organisations classified? What are the plans in place to further improve services to the community?
The Filipino organisations in Qatar are very diverse and are divided by various sectors such as professionals like engineers, architects, accountants, nurses; or by tribe like Ifugao or Ilonggo; by sports like basketball, volleyball, dart, badminton; by automobile, motorcycle and bicycle groups; photography clubs; cultural dances; theatre and arts; fashion designers, you name it. Everybody has their own association. Some organisations dole out air tickets of distressed housemaids who run away from their employers and are usually housed in our Philippine Overseas Labour Office. These ladies are repatriated because they don’t want to return, owing to bad experiences. You hear many such stories. Our plan is to assist every Filipino who needs help. There are Filipinos who are in jail or embroiled in cases. So we will soon be launching the OFW Handbook, which will enlist the guidelines for the OFWs in Qatar so as to educate them on their rights as well as obligations as workers in Qatar. We are also constantly helping Filipinos in need, for instance, we are now raising funds towards the treatment of a liver transplant patient from Philippine School Doha.
 
How well do you find the Filipino community to have melded with the Qatari culture?
There’s no problem for Filipinos in Qatar. We prefer to live in Qatar over any other GCC country. People here are very kind and helpful. Having worked in one of the GCC countries for five years, I find their way of treating expats quite different than here. I am in my 18th year here working at HMC in Qatar. I have been promoted three times. The work atmosphere is amazing. There’s a sense of job satisfaction and of being accepted by Qataris.
 
Do you get similar feedback from most Filipinos in Qatar?
The feedback I get from my community is that Qatar is a nice place to work compared to other countries in the region. We like the atmosphere and the pay here. Only a few Filipinos aren’t properly oriented with the culture or the place, or report bad experiences. That’s where the OFW Handbook, or the Pinoy Help Desk manned by Filipino leaders as volunteers, should ease matters by assisting them with remedies.
 
How difficult has it been for you to manage your work and this role, too?
You have to manage time and make it happen. At work, from 7am to 3pm, I focus on the job at hand. From evening to night, I focus on community work, and likewise on my two weekly offs. Fridays, however, are also dedicated for Church, where, too, I am very active.
 
What do you find most special about UFOQ or its mechanism?
We always stress about transparency and good governance. We are proud that there’s no corruption in UFOQ. With finances, for instance, the community knows where the money goes. There are hundreds and thousands of Qatari riyals being donated to us. We know and have a report of where every Riyal goes. In the previous years, we have had incidents where leaders of some community organisations overseeing the Independence Day celebrations, had pocketed a chunk of the donations. There was no accounting or auditing done by certified public accountants, unlike what we do now. We report our audits to the embassy and to the community. This keeps things simple and clean.


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