During the press launch of the 2025 Manila FAME held at Centro de Turismo Intramuros—which I featured in Balikbayan Magazine some months ago—I felt honored when my former officemate, Leah Pulido Ocampo, the current Executive Director of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), an agency under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) responsible for all international trade events and related export programs for the Philippines, approached me.
She remains the same approachable, creative, hardworking, and amiable Leah I have known since my CITEM days. Her extensive experience and competence cover various aspects of micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) growth, development, and industry promotion in both local and international settings.
She is one of the brightest and most dedicated professionals who rose from the ranks. Her excellent service as a public servant has been honed through more than 20 years of career development.
Her training portfolio includes participation in International Trade and Export Promotion in The Netherlands; Investment Promotion in China; Digitalization for MSMEs in Vietnam; and MSME Development in Japan.
I remember that she served as project director for CITEM’s major export promotion events, including Manila FAME, International Food Exhibition (IFEX), CREATE Philippines, Go Lokal Program, Foodex Japan, Gulfood in Dubai, NY Now in New York, Boston Seafood Show, Anuga, China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, China, and Expo Seville.
She also led delegations for numerous Philippine business missions across key cities worldwide, including Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe, Japan; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam; Myanmar; Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, Vietnam; Hong Kong; Singapore; Jakarta, Indonesia; Nanning, China; Dubai, UAE; Los Angeles, California; Boston; New Jersey; New York, USA; Toronto, Canada; Seville and Granada, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; Eindhoven and Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Frankfurt, Germany.
Certainly, her directorship at CITEM, which she assumed in June 2024, marks her return to the agency where she began honing her skills through various key positions that helped shape her solid experience in industry development, MSME growth, and export marketing and promotion.
To Leah—may you continue to be blessed as a dedicated and passionate public servant in the world of transformational leadership.
Leah Ocampo in Italy
As part of their benchmarking and learning activities following the Fashion Philippines showcase in Milan, representatives from the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), led by Executive Director Leah Pulido Ocampo and Creative Goods Division Chief Anna Marie Alzona, were joined by Lilo Caya of the Philippine Textile Research Institute, Carissa Cruz Evangelista of the Philippine Fashion Coalition, and Tetta Ortiz-Matera of LIT Fashion Consultancy in a visit to Reggiani.
Reggiani is a pioneering Italian textile company renowned for being the first in the world to industrially produce wool-Lycra and cotton-Lycra fabrics—a breakthrough that transformed the global textile industry. Its innovations have long attracted the world’s top luxury brands, including Hermès, Coccinelle,
The delegation was warmly received by Mr. Giovanni Reggiani, Creative and Sales Director and son of the company’s founder, together with Marco Spola, General Director.
Fellow Andrean Tony Gonzales
On that same day, I met a fellow alumnus of St. Andrew’s School, Parañaque, Tony Gonzales (High School Batch 1978), during the Manila FAME press preview.
In the late 1990s, a new generation of Filipino designers emerged—among them Tony Gonzales and Milo Naval, two of the founding members of Movement 8, a pioneering collective that helped bring Philippine design to global recognition.
Catch Design Commune and more at Manila FAME 2025, the Philippines’ premier home, fashion, and lifestyle trade show organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM) on October 16–18, 2025, at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Philippines.
- Register as a trade buyer: https://citem.ph/p/
fb75fc - Register as a visitor: https://citem.ph/p/
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Dream of the Biblical Books
On October 13, 2025, I dreamed of the different contents of the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Holy Bible—from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation.
However, I forgot to mention the Books of Job, Psalms, and Proverbs in the Old Testament and most of the books in the New Testament (except Revelation) in that dream.
I remember when I was in high school at St. Andrew’s School in Parañaque City—which has produced many priests, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle—I memorized all the books of the Holy Bible and received a final grade of 99%. Thanks to my late religion teacher, Odelia Cruz.
Contents of the Holy Bible
Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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