H.E. Ambassador Lillibeth V. Pono shakes hands with H.E. Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro, Director of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, as the latter welcomes Her Excellency to Doha

(Doha PE photo)

Her Excellency Lillibeth V. Pono, the first Philippine woman ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the State of Qatar, arrived in Doha on 29 January 2023. She was received by H.E. Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro, Director of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, and the Philippine Embassy’s officers and staff.

Prior to her arrival in Qatar, H.E. Ambassador Pono served as the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at the Philippine Embassy in Berlin, Germany from February 2018 to April 2019, and from July 2021 until January 2023.

H.E. Ambassador Pono was previously assigned in the Philippine Embassies in Berne, Switzerland from 2010 to 2014; Rome, Italy from 2009 to 2010; Vatican, Italy in 2008 to 2009; and Tokyo, Japan from 2000 to 2007.

H.E. Ambassador Pono shares a few words on Qatari culture and hospitality 

with H.E. Ambassador Fakhro 

(Doha PE photo)

A foreign service officer since 1997, H.E. Ambassador Pono also held various executive positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs. She previously served as Executive Director at the Office of Asset Management and Support Services, the Office of Consular Affairs, and the Office of Fiscal Management Services. In her earlier years in the Department, she also held the position of Director at the Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs, South Asia Division; and at the Financial Planning Division of the Office of Fiscal Management Services.

Also a certified public accountant, H.E. Ambassador Pono speaks Filipino, Cebuano, English, Italian and Spanish. END