More than 250,000 Filipinos live in Qatar.

The Philippines’ first-ever female ambassador to Qatar arrived in Doha on Monday, the embassy announced on Facebook.

The South Asian official Lillibeth Velasco Pono was welcomed by Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro, Director of the Protocol Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The officers and staff of the Philippine embassy also extended a warm welcome to the new envoy.

Prior to her arrival in Qatar, the newly appointed envoy held the position of Chargé d’Affaires in the Philippine Embassy in Berlin, Germany, from February 2018 to April 2019, as well as from July 2021 to January 2023.

Pono, a foreign service officer since 1997, has previously served at the Philippine embassies in Tokyo, Japan from 2000 to 2007, Berne, Switzerland from 2010 to 2014, Rome, Italy from 2009 to 2010, Vatican, Italy from 2008 to 2009, and Rome from 2009 to 2010.

The official also held the position of Executive Director at the Office of Consular Affairs, the Office of Asset Management and Support Services, and the Office of Fiscal Management Services.

The embassy stated that Pono is a certified public accountant who is fluent in English, Italian, Spanish, Filipino, and Cebuano. She will represent the Philippines as Qatar’s eighth resident ambassador.

The Republic of the Philippines and the State of Qatar established diplomatic ties in 1981, and the Philippine Embassy in Doha was inaugurated years later in 1992.

According to the most recent information provided by the Philippine state news agency, there may be as many as 250,000 Filipinos living in Qatar.