DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES, POLITICAL ANALYST AND A TOP-NOTCH MEDIA CONSULTANT WITH 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE (1992-2016) AS FORMER SENIOR STAFF WRITER OF THE ARAB NEWS, SAUDI ARABIA’S FIRST ENGLISH DAILY
Abdul Hannan M. Tago is a public speaker, presentor and lecturer in various local and international events.
He has 35 years of academic and professional experience in the Middle East, of which eight years were devoted to studies in Cairo, and 25 years as media practitioner and advocate of the rights of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) in Saudi Arabia.
He was backed by the three million-strong OFWs in Middle East for his nomination for ambassadorship to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Has also leveraged his media resources to champion the cause of his compatriots in distress in mobilizing the support of mainstream media—including social media, for OFWs in death row in Saudi Arabia.
He worked as Special Adviser to the Director General of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for the Middle East for six months from April – September 2017.
He is also Executive Director of the Bangsamoro Federal Business Council, Inc. (BFBCI), the first high-profile Filipino Muslim business council in the country.
Due to his 25 years of media work and public relations experience in Saudi Arabia, he was commissioned to the oil-rich country twice prior to the state visit of President Rodrigo R. Duterte in April 2017 as advance party to reach out to Saudi top entrepreneurs and investors that resulted in signing nearly US$500-million investment deals.
He is notably the first Middle East media professional to conduct one-on-one interview with then presidential contender Duterte in February 2016.
He is the first Arabist Filipino multilingual journalist, political analyst and top-notch media consultant with deep insight into Arabic culture and Middle East affairs.
He is the only Filipino journalist who can write in chaste Arabic as regular contributor to leading Arabic newspapers in the Middle East.
He often represented not only the Arab News but also the Saudi media in various regional and international conferences on political and economic issues as well as on tourism.
He appeared on Saudi TV, both in Arabic Channel and the English service (Channel 2), to speak on current issues in Saudi Arabia.
He was Senior Staff Reporter of the Arab News, the Saudi Arabia-based English daily, from 1992 to 2016. His articles appear in well-known publications like Al-Sharq Al-Awsat and Al-Eqtisadiah frequently, besides other Arabic newspapers.
He also worked with Saudi government’s stocks regulator, Capital Market Authority (CMA), and the Saudi Stock Market in its Media and Investment Awareness Department for two years.
On September 12, 2012 he was awarded the title, “Doctor of Humanities AUGP Ambassador of Goodwill of Peace, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” with the approval of the AUGP (Academy of Universal Global Peace) Board of Directors, Founder and Chairman Most Rev. Dr. Madhu Krishan, for saving an OFW, Dondon Lanuza, from death row.
A Dubai-based magazine Illustrado chose him in 2015 as among the Top 100 Most Influential Filipinos in the Gulf with the title “Media’s Filipino Custodians” (http://www.illustradolife.com/most-influential-filipinos-in-the-gulf-abdul-hannan-tago-medias-filipino-custodians).
In 2016, he was chosen as Thoughtleader among Top 100 Most Influential Filipinos in the Gulf. (http://www.illustradolife.com/influential-filipinos-gulf-dr-abdul-hannan-tago-thoughtleader).
He was also conferred as Filipino Media Icon in 2016 for the 4th Global Official Dignity (G.O.D) Awards of the US-based humanitarian organization We Care for Humanity (WCH).
He is Vice-Chairman/Board of Directors and Senior Vice-President for International Relations and Cooperation with the rank of Goodwill Ambassador to Saudi Arabia for SPMUDA (Southern Philippines Muslim Unity and Development Association Inc.) International, a non-government organization (NGO) based in Dumaguete City and recognized by the United Nations.
He is CEO of a Mindanao-based NGO for peace, Bangsamoro International Solidarity Conference (BISC). While in Saudi Arabia, he founded the Riyadh-based Filipino Expatriates Council for Justice and Peace (Fil Expats Council) and also the Integrated Mindanao Economic Forum (IMEF).
In 1991, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Literature, with major in Mass Communications and Public Relations, from Al-Azhar University in Egypt.
In 2010, he obtained courses in Public International Law and Relations from Negros Oriental State University, Main Campus in Dumaguete City. In the same period, he also obtained certificate of training in International Diplomacy and Etiquette from the said university.
Due to his unequalled stint and great trust he enjoys from the business community and the good people and Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Bangsamoro Oil and Fuels Corporation (Moro Oil, for brevity) has appointed Dr. Abdul Hannan Magarang Tago as Business Consultant and Representative to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.