New Middle East magazine uplifts Pinoy spirit

A brand new Filipino magazine in the Middle East hopes to help boost the confidence of Filipinos working abroad and "provide them a positive outlook."

"Illustrado," a year-old Filipino-run magazine owned and managed by couple Lalaine and Mon Benitez is distributed monthly in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. By years end it will also be available in Saudi Arabia.

Billed as a "magazine for the international Filipino," the couple said Illustrado is the "first and only premium quality lifestyle publication for the Filipinos in the Middle East."

Lalaine said Illustrado is also the only Asian magazine displayed in over 60 coffee shops and 25 beauty outlets in the UAE's major malls, salons, clinics and spas.

She added it is also the only Filipino publication being distributed in the eight Filipino schools in the UAE, as well as among community groups.

With the slogan "Taas Noo, Filipino!" (Hold Your Head Up High, Filipino!) the magazine aims to ingrain national pride among Filipinos by combining fashion and lifestyle with community events and advocacy.

"A huge portion of our magazine is devoted to uplifting the Pinoy's image and self-esteem," she said.

"It is hard enough to be away from one's country, away from your family and friends--and to have to read about disasters, crime, corruption, sex and sleaze only does not really help," she said.

Along this line, Illustrado regularly features articles and stories about the Filipino achievements and does coverage on personalities around the world. At the same time, it highlights articles on Filipino heritage and traditions.

"I think Pinoys already get the hard news from current media. Our job is not to duplicate these but to complement or balance this with positive, even neutral news," Lalaine said referring to articles or developments in the economy, the growth of real estate and medical tourism.

She, however, said that this did not mean they are detached from realities. "We also talk about problems but our approach is different. We don't only talk about issues, we discuss solutions."

Illustrado has columns such as "Kabuhayan" (livelihood) wherein basic information on ensuring the OFWs' future like insurance, investment, entrepreneurship and specific issues like real estate are discussed.

Apart from that, it also gives space to a column "Kabayanihan" geared towards promoting community camaraderie. This is reflected in the title which is a combination of two words, "bayanihan" and "kababayan."

Lalaine and Mon were already successful in their own fields when they felt the itch to do something more for the Filipino cause.

Lalaine, now the publisher and editor of Illustrado, gave up her work as category marketing manager in the gulf region for Novartis Consumer Health so she could concentrate on managing the magazine.

Mon, several times a gold awardee for the International Advertising Awards (IAA) Middle East and a creative director for the Leo Burnett group in the UAE, serves as creative consultant for the magazine.

According to Lalaine, initially they were looking for a good project for a start-up, mainly for the Filipino community.

From a small group, Illustrado now has over 20 regular contributors "all over the globe."

Illustrado's team of writers and artists is concentrated in the UAE and the Philippines, but it also has contributors from Oman, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand and Egypt.

Lalaine said she is proud of the fact that most of the people they work with in the magazine have bigger reasons besides the money. "It's not just a job; it combines passion with advocacy."

Image from The Inquirer