Meet Regine Borja Guevarra, an ambassador, a leader, an advocate, an entrepreneur, a polyglot, and a fashion enthusiast. Name it and she has it all. A well-rounded individual aptly suits her description.
Regine is a certified citizen of the world. She has Jewish heritage; her ancestors were Chinese and Spanish Jews. She speaks English, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, Japanese, Bahasa Malaya, and started learning Russian, too.
She has foreign education; she earned her master’s degree in Coexistence and Conflict Resolution from the Brandeis University in Boston and completed the Program on Negotiation at the Harvard Law School. She took her bachelor’s degree in AB Development Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University.
But more than her attributes, Regine remains humble and philanthropic. Her advocacies aim to promote human rights and social consciousness like peace, love for the environment, and global citizenship. She believes in “the Divine Order” and “putting oneself in the highest intent results in the highest good.”
She continues to look back at her grandparents' modest beginning from a farming village in Bicol, who she said, “have worked their way up to become industrialists and cultural beacons.” They founded the Radiowealth, the GUEVENT, the Guevara Foundation, and the Ikebana Foundation of the Philippines. Her grandparents' love for farming also inspired the foundation of the Farmacy Haven.
Her late father was her business mentor while her mother, a former beauty queen and award-winning fashion producer, continues to be her moral compass. Her parents inculcated to her the deep love for country and humanity. She manages the family’s real estate business.
Her pursuit to become a leader started at an early age when she ran as a member of the student council and a member of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) at their local community. She explored her global opportunities after her university studies. She had her internship at ONE Singapore. As an advocate of peace, this was an opportunity that further hastened her desire to champion peace.
Global pursuits
The International Human Rights Commission has recently designated her as the Goodwill Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines; she is actively participating in its various programs promoting rights of women and children, peace, justice, and other humanitarian issues. She is also part of the Secretariat of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute in the Philippines.
A recipient of the Global Youth Icon, Regine founded the volunteers wing of the Committee for ASEAN Youth Corporation based in Malaysia and represented youth organization at the UN Interagency Network on Youth Development, UN Major Group for Children and Youth, Global Coalition in Youth, Peace, Security, and Asia Pacific Interagency Network on Youth.
She channels her passion and enthusiasm in art and fashion by producing shows in the country and abroad. She is the producer at the Asia TV Studios, the platform she uses to promote her advocacies through art, music, and fashion locally and internationally.
She is one of the founders of the CreatiVerse, an organization that “brings together creative industries across genres, from Morocco, Africa, Asia, and the rest of the Global South.”
She recently produced a fashion show, in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy in Morocco, at the King of Morocco’s Royal Mansour Mansion in Marrakesh. She presented the works of designer Azizah Talusan of Cotabato City, the founder of HersLaha. She believes that “elegant design goes beyond mainstream fashion weeks.”
She facilitated the exhibit of French organic painter Savid G, produced the musical show of Brazilian DJ Jose D in Siargao island, and manages the career of international artist Xander Pratt.
“We want to provide a venue for rising artists where they can showcase their talents and creations and help them develop networks of market and connections globally,” she explained and stressed that “we aim to promote and co-create spaces for them to freely express themselves while finding deeper purpose in the way they communicate to the world.”
“The hybrid world of art and cultural diplomacy is a powerful tool to achieve sustainable peace,” she says.
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