‘She clutched her chest and thanked God’: Ihawan owner hours before death

  DUBAI – The daughter of Dubai-based Ihawan restaurant owner Adlene Panis said that the Filipino businesswoman was her usual calm self in the last hours before her untimely death. Adlene died of heart attack on Tuesday (November 20). She was 43. She is survived by her husband and three children. She will be buried in the Philippines within the week, Adlene’s daughter, Denise Angelica Panis, told Expatmedia.net. “Our friends are helping us speed up the repatriation process,” she said. The 21-year-old told Expatmedia.net that they were in a restaurant with a relative when Adlene “clutched her chest and thanked God she didn’t have a heart attack”. “She had been battling hypertension, palpitations, atrial fibrillation for years now,” Denise revealed. “Last time for us to bond was when we were at Reef Mall. We were supposed to buy white shirts because she wanted us to wear white for our uniform in December. The shirts were expensive so we decided to look again the next day. She got hungry so stopped for a bite to eat,” Denise recalled. “When we were in the car she was very quiet on the way to Ihawan. When we were at the restaurant, I told her to come back because I will miss her. I was going to hand her bag to her so she can go home but when I got outside, she had already left for home,” she said. The Ihawan restaurant in Dubai had been the realization of Adlene’s dream of putting up a business since coming to the UAE to find work in 2006. The restaurant had served as her link to the Filipino community in the UAE whom she helped in her own way. “Her dream was to let lolo (grandfather) see all her achievements. We were supposed to fly lolo from the Philippines to Dubai in the early months of 2019,” Denise said. “She just wanted to improve our life and bring the entire family here for vacation,” she added.
Adlene with her family and father (second from right)
Adlene drew a lot of inspiration from her own father, a former overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia. She had worked in the fast food circuit in the Philippines – taking up jobs in Greenwich, Wendys, Chowking, among others—before taking the big leap to the UAE where she worked to make ends meet until she found a business partner to finance her dream of putting up a restaurant specializing in grilled Filipino street food. On November 18, just two days before her death, Adlene announced on Facebook that her restaurant, Ihawan, had been “successfully franchised”. “Ihawan is now open for franchising and they were looking for potential locations and also getting investors for a new restaurant venture called BNR Burgers and Roasters,” her daughter, Denise, revealed.
Denise said the greatest lesson she learned from her mother is this: “No matter how hard life is, if it’s for the family you will endure it all. Don’t wait because you don’t know what will happen next.”

Community mourns Adlene’s death

Members of the Filipino community took to social media to express their grief over Adlene’s untimely death. Ion Gonzaga called it a “sad day”, and described Adlene as the “woman with the kindest heart”. Junie Sorsano said Adlene never lacked kind words of inspiration. “Isa lang ang paulit-ulit mong sinasabi sa akin, unahin ang pamilya. ‘Bro, hanggat bukas ang Ihawan hindi ka magugutom dito sa Dubai. Parang tahanan mo na rin ito (There’s only one thing you keep on telling me: family first. ‘Bro, while Ihawan is still open you will never go hungry in Dubai. This is like your home)," Sorsano wrote on Facebook. “I was really shocked… You are very friendly, honest, helpful and supportive to the Filipino community. Thanks for those advice, especially on my haters,” said Noor Guiapal. “Heaven gained a new angel. You were an incredible woman, and you were an absolutely amazing mother and ,” Bea Avila said. ICA/Expat 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