Francisco R. Roque

Francis Roque is an ideal leader who cares much about the Filipino community in Kuwait. He has recognized the many challenges facing our community and has gone that extra mile by taking responsibility for the well-being and improvement of the Filipino community. In recognition of this he has been nominated for the Bagong Bayani Awards.

Francisco is originally from Nueva Ecija and a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a Master’s degree in Horticulture. Presently he is working at the Bayan Palace, VIP Lounges, and Kuwait International Airport as the Resident Landscape Engineer.

In 1997 he was elected President of Buklod Filipino. In one year he completed the following projects - "Himig Filipino" which is the first OPM singing contest. He organized "Kapihan sa Kuwait" inviting Philippine Embassy officials, Atty Mohammad Al Enezi, Arab Times Legal Clinic, General Nasser Al Bannai, Chairman of International Human Rights, Col. Nasser Al Tamimi and many others as resource speakers for an open forum. He also formed basketball and volleyball teams and organized a Quiz Bee for grade school children of Filipino parentage and or Filipino-foreign spouses in Kuwait.

He was the Chairman of the Council of Leaders of the Filipino Communities (COOL) in Kuwait from 1998 to 1999. COOL was sanctioned by the previous Ambassador Dr. Sukarno Tanggol as the legitimate umbrella organization which existed until 2004. During his term, he organized different sports competition and proceeds were donated to Reverend Fr. Estanislao Soria a pastoral priest here in Kuwait. The donation was used for the reconstruction of Novaliches Church at Quezon City. He also served as advisers to the Council of Leaders from 1999 to 2004.

In 2005 a new umbrella organization was formed, the Filipino Leaders of United Community in Kuwait (FIL-LUCK). During the formation of FIL-LUCK, Francis Roque was unanimously chosen to chair the Convener Group which is responsible for the drafting of the new Constitution and By-Laws of the new umbrella organization and later handed to the newly elected chairman witnessed by Philippine Ambassador Bayani Mangibin and Labor Attache Leopoldo de Jesus.

He authored and co-authored the Constitution and By- Laws of various organizations such as Buklod Filipino, Landscape Engineers Association in Kuwait (LEAF), Filipino Billiards Association in Kuwait (FBCK), Games of the Generals and Filipino Writers Guild.

At present, he is serving as advisers to various organizations such as the Philippine Bowling Association in Kuwait (PBAK), Filipino Billiards Association in Kuwait (FBCK), Games of the Generals Club (GGC), Software Club, Filipino Writers Guild, Ahmadi Community Damayan Club (ACDC), Filipino Practical Shooting Club (FPSC), Filipino Badminton Club in Kuwait (FILBACK).

He has also been elected three times as President of the Philippine bowling Association in Kuwait (PBAK) from 2003 - 2004, 2005-2006, up to present. He has organized Summer and Winter Leagues, Ambassador's Cup, Presidents Cup, Kalayaan Tournament and Monthly tournaments. He renewed the commitment of PABAK with GCC- All Filipino Bowling Tour (GCC-AFBT) by sending and heading PBAK delegations to Qatar in 2004, Bahrain in 2005 and Dubai UAE in 2006.

He has also liberally contributed towards humanitarian services. He spearheaded the sending of 20 container relief goods to victims of flashfloods and typhoon at Baler, Quezon and Nueva Ecija in December 2004. Donated toiletries and personal effects to OWWA Center, Kuwait and donated Airplane tickets to some distressed maid housed at OWWA Center, Kuwait. Twice, he volunteered for Terry Fox Run, the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.

Francis was named Outstanding Community Leader June 10, 2006, Outstanding PBAK adviser (2000), Outstanding COOL adviser (2004) and during his tenure as the Presidency of the Philippine Bowling Association in Kuwait (PBAK) it was declared the Outstanding Filipino Organization for 2006.

In his spare time, he contributes sports news on bowling, badminton, shooting and billiards to Kuwait Times, Arab Times and the Daily Star.