Overseas Filipino Achievers, Part 2

In keeping with Positively Filipino’s goal of celebrating the 13-million-strong (and counting) Filipino diaspora, we are launching a new series titled Overseas Filipino Achievers. The series recognizes outstanding Filipinos making their mark in various countries around the world. It builds on our popular and long-running feature, “FilAms Among the Remarkable and Famous.”

But we need your help. If you know Filipinos outside the Philippines and the United States who are doing exceptional work in their adopted countries, please send their names, supporting documents or links, and photos to pfpublisher@yahoo.com.

AUSTRALIA
Melanie Perkins, Co-Founder and CEO of Canva

Melanie Perkins (Source: Flickr/CC)

In 2013, 38-year-old Perkins co-founded Canva, the software that enables the creation of attractive visuals for menus, resumes, and Instagram graphics. As of August 2025, the company was valued at $42 billion, according to Forbes. Perkins and her husband have an 18% stake and have pledged to transfer 80% of their stake to the Canva Foundation. She is ranked 89th on Forbes’ list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and 92nd on Fortune’s list of Most Powerful Women.

Perkins was born in Perth, Western Australia, to an Australian father and a Malaysian engineer of Filipino and Sri Lankan heritage. She is married to Cliff Obrecht, one of the co-founders of Canva. After their marriage, the couple joined the Giving Pledge, committing at least half of their fortune to philanthropic causes.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE)
Michael Cinco, Fashion Designer

Michael Cinco (SOurce: Facebook)

Cinco was born in Catbalogan, Samar, Philippines, where he fantasized about dressing up celebrities like Audrey Hepburn and Joan Crawford. He studied Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines and later at Slims Fashion and Arts School in Manila, and took supplementary courses at Central Saint Martins in London. He moved to Dubai in 1997, where he reinvented the image of a slightly staid fashion house. He opened his own atelier in 2003. His famous clients include Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sofia Vergara, to name a few.

In an interview with Golden Globes, he said, “No matter how successful or famous you get in life, the one thing you should never forget is the tradition and culture that you belong to. In a generation where, in order to fit in, you need to be ‘cool’ and ‘Westernized’ in a certain way, it is equally important to remember your roots, culture, and tradition. We must be proud of our tradition that shaped us to be who we are today. We must celebrate our culture and heritage instead of being ashamed of it.”

He is often photographed wearing sunglasses, which he says help manage his vertigo.

Ely Caluag, Painter

Ely Caluag (Source: Facebook)

After earning a Fine Arts degree from the University of the Philippines and working briefly in Makati, Caluag took a leap and headed to Dubai. His first jobs were for French branding companies in Dubai, and in 2014 he decided to freelance. Today, Caluag is the founder of ELYGRAF Fine Art & Branding Services, where he paints portraits of the UAE’s royal families. His artwork hangs in royal majlis, places where dignitaries meet and where history is made. He credits the strong Filipino community and support networks that made him feel at home.

In an interview with UAEMoments, Caluag advises others to be bold and think bigger, and if opportunities don’t exist, build them. He also said, “Filipinos are more than stereotypes. They’re artists, entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders who deserve the same spotlight as anyone else.”

ICELAND
Melanie Ubaldo, Artist

Melanie Ubaldo (Source: Instagram)

Ubaldo is an Icelandic artist based in Reykjavik. “Her practice explores unbelonging and intersectional identity through vulnerable autobiographical narratives that address racism, prejudice, power, and discrimination. Working across painting, installation, and large-scale spatial interventions, Ubaldo weaves together themes of memory, displacement, poverty, immigration, and identity. Her works often carry a monumental presence while simultaneously embodying a fragile and precarious quality that mirrors their subject matter.” Her works have been exhibited widely in Iceland.

Ubaldo is also the co-founder of Lucky 3, a collective of Icelandic artists of Filipino descent who collaborate on projects around diasporic experience and cultural hybridity. She holds a BA and MA in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts. She is also the recipient of multiple grants and awards.

NEW ZEALAND
Paulo Reyes Garcia, Politician

Paulo Reyes Garcia (Source: Wikipedia)

Garcia is the first Member of Parliament of Filipino descent in the House of Representatives for the New Zealand National Party. Born in San Juan, Manila, Garcia graduated from the University of the Philippines and attended the Academy of American and International Law in Texas. He practiced law for ten years, focusing on commercial law, particularly as it applied to foreign and multinational companies operating in the country.

After moving to New Zealand, he practiced immigration law with a focus on investor migration until he opened his own law firm, Garcia Law.

In 2012, Garcia was appointed honorary consul of the Philippines in Auckland. He was also involved in establishing the New Zealand Philippines Business Council. In his second term in office, he is the deputy chair of the social services and community committees.

On December 16, 2025, Garcia announced he would retire at the 2026 general election.

ISRAEL
Staff Sgt. Joana Chris Arpon, Soldier

Staff Sgt. Joana Chris Arpon (Source: Facebook)

The daughter of Filipino parents who came to Israel to find work in 1988, Arpon enlisted in the Israeli army because her grandmother was rescued by the Israeli army during Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which devastated the Philippines. She became a combat soldier in the Israeli army, where only 7% are women.

In the 2½ years she was in the army, she served on bases across the country and responded to domestic disasters. The Israeli government allows citizenship for non-Israelis after serving in the army. During Israel’s 69th Independence Day, Arpon was one of 120 soldiers recognized for distinguished service.

After the army, Arpon wants to study architecture and design houses.

INDIA
Vinia Mukherjee, Research

Vinia Mukherjee (Source: LinkedIn)

Mukherjee is the Director of Publications at the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank and research organization based in New Delhi. Her role involves creating and implementing protocols and processes related to ORF's research activities, as well as managing and overseeing the editorial production of ORF's research papers. She was a Chevening scholar at the University of Reading in the UK, where she obtained her MSc in Environment and Development.

She has been a recipient of the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism; the Marshall McLuhan Fellowship; the SEAMEO-Australia Press Award; and the UNFPA Population and Development Award for Reportage. She was formerly the multimedia writer and Head of Research at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

UNITED KINGDOM
Edmund Tabay, Director of Nursing

Edmund Tabay (Source: Rose Elarinal/Facebook)

Tabay is the first Filipino nurse to hold a top nursing directorship role in the National Health Service. He is currently Director of Nursing at University Hospitals Sussex, a position he began in September 2021. A farmer’s son, Tabay says he built his strong work ethic in his youth while tilling the family’s land between studies. He continued farming until he graduated from West Visayas State University and became a nurse in 1996.

Danilo Favor, Politician

Danilo Favor (Source: British Embassy/Facebook)

Favor is the first Filipino to win a seat in the UK government, first as town councilor of Asphalts Ward in 2011, then as deputy mayor and mayor of East Grinstead in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Favor was once a registered nurse in the Philippines before he moved to the UK in 2000 to work at Queen Victoria Hospital. Eventually, he received further training at King’s College London and became an ophthalmic nurse practitioner.

In 2014, Favor received the Presidential Banaag Award given to a person or group that has “significantly benefited a sector of the diaspora, or advanced the cause and interest of overseas Filipino communities.” The Mid-Sussex District Council also presented Favor with a Community Service Award that same year. After being elected mayor in 2019, Favor received the Pamana ng Pilipino Award from PAFIOO in 2022 for bringing honor to the Philippines.

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