For Filipinos, it was never easy to break into the upper class in Britain. But a very accomplished Filipina, Loline A. Lualhati-Reed managed to do so, gaining the admiration of well placed and distinguished people from an international background.
Ms. Lualhati-Reed’s election as chairman of two of the most prestigious organizations, Welcome to London Club (WLC) in 1988 and Overseas Women’s Club (OWC) in 1993, was a “first” for a non-caucasian to have penetrated the “glass ceiling” of the international women’s organizations in the United Kingdom. The WLC is a chapter of the Welcome Clubs International with international friendship and understanding amongst the women of the world as its main objective. The OWC, on the other hand, was founded in 1959 with the aim of welcoming women regardless of nationality, creed, race or colour in the UK. It is the only international organization partner of the UK’s Women National Commission. Given the responsibility to lead, she has shown that a Filipina can truly lead, inspire and spread goodwill.
Since 2002, Ms. Lualhati-Reed has acted as the International Liaison Officer between the English-Speaking Union (ESU) and ESU-Philippines. ESU, a London-based international organization with chapters all over the world, promotes global understanding through the English language. It was she who first broached the idea to the then Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James that the Philippines apply for membership in the ESU. Membership in ESU paved the way for the Philippines to participate in its international public speaking competitions, and every year she has played host and mentor to the Philippine participants.
During the mid-80s to early 90s, Ms. Lualhati-Reed was able to uplift the image of Filipinas when they were stereotyped abroad as mail-order brides or associated with the sex tourism industry. In promoting Philippine tourism to the international community, she brought the members of the ESU and OWC to the Philippines in 1997, 2001 and 2005. She worked with the Department of Tourism to ensure that the promotional activities would bring a positive view of the country to the delegation members. Through her efforts, the OWC was also able to organize a fundraising activity for the benefit of the Philippine Calamity Fund to help the survivors of the Guinsaugon, Leyte landslide disaster in 2005.
Ms. Lualhati-Reed served as the link between the Far Eastern University (FEU) and Scientific Exploration Society (SES), one of the established and leading British charity organizations in the field of exploration and conservation. Her lobbying efforts led SES to support FEU’s “Tamaraw Quest” and “Mangyan Aid” conservation projects. SES will also provide funds for the installation of water wells in some of the Mangyan villages in Mindoro. She also donated funds for the purchase of school supplies and building of a new roof for a Mangyan school in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro in the early part of 2006.
In 1998, Ms. Lualhati-Reed with the help of her husband, set-up Samahang Malasakit, a cooperative of farmers and their families in Mulanay, Quezon. The couple also helps the cooperative members through medical assistance and funds for scholarships of their children. They have helped put up a health center, and supported 20 scholars in Mulanay.
Not only is Ms. Lualhati-Reed blessed with a happy family, she has also been bestowed with numerous accolades and awards. One she considers very precious is the Angel Award she received from the internationally renowned Bayanihan Folk Dance Group in 1995. Having been the youngest member of the first group of Bayanihan in the 1960s, she claims it was her membership and experience with Bayanihan that molded and shaped her into the person she is now.
In conferring the Banaag Award to Loline A. Lualhati-Reed, the President recognizes her noteworthy contribution to uplifting the image of Filipinos in United Kingdom, and for her selfless assistance in supporting worthy causes in the Philippines.
