From branch manager to Asia's most inspiring executive: The Samuel Cariño story
for Global Dominion
MANILA, Philippines — The recognition honors not just a president and CEO, it honors the journey, the financing company and its customers that molded him.
Samuel Cariño, Global Dominion president and CEO, has been named “Asia’s Most Inspiring Executive” by an international award-giving body for finance executives and finance firms.
The recognition arrives as the financing company is also projected to go beyond its best performance yet, hitting more than 1.2 billion pesos in loans disbursed in just a month.
Cariño is not a career executive who arrived at a lending company from the outside. He is a product of the institution he now leads, a fact that makes this recognition land differently than most award stories do. He was Global Dominion’s first branch manager overseeing their operations in Baguio City, after being a young account officer learning firsthand what it means for a Filipino entrepreneur to need capital and not know where to find it.
As a general manager for a division that holds an expansive network of branches nationwide, Cariño has seen it all: “From fresh grads wanting to just get a job, any job, to executives aiming to contribute more to society—safe to say I’ve met them all,” said Cariño when asked about the different character of employees he encountered or managed.
“The best part is when they choose to stay with my team, our company, because of our culture and our purpose,” he added.
Raised from humble beginnings, Cariño wants the best for his children, typical of a hardworking Filipino. The same could be said of how he treats his employees, not just his family. He recognizes how many of his countrymen need to secure more than one source of income, most through entrepreneurship. This understanding of reality formed his passion for growing businesses and compassion for people.
“Sir Sam showed us the way, showed us that it is possible, that we can make things happen,” said Eugenie Mabbayad, Global Dominion’s chief revenue officer and Cariño’s long-time colleague.
“His career story made us realize that with grit, dedication and integrity, any employee can one day become the president and CEO,” Mabbayad added.
The journey is just as important as the destination for Cariño. Being intentional in whatever he does helps him become more effective when executing business plans and fueling people’s motivation to join him in the same direction.
“His genuine concern for our customers shows in the quality of our accounts in Global Dominion,” said Ruben Lugtu 2nd, Global Dominion’s chairman. “More than just being able to hit loan disbursement targets, he wants to make sure our loans become instruments to our customers’ growth and success,” Lugtu added.
In Cariño’s own words: "I've worked in one small branch, and I've sat at the center of an organization with thousands of employees. I understand our customers and this business from the ground up, and that's what I'm proudest of."
This trajectory, inside the institution, through its ranks, from one borrower at a time to thousands, is what makes this award different from a recognition to an executive parachuted from the outside.
From general manager, Cariño—this year's most inspiring executive—became Global Dominion's deputy chief operating officer before leading another financing firm. Earlier this year, Cariño moved back to where he belongs and swiftly reconnected with the people and teams, as if he never left.
The gap became essential in allowing him to discover more about the Philippine lending landscape from another angle, breaking conventional assumptions that have been limiting micro, small and medium enterprises’ access to credit.
As of mid-2026, the company carries over 16 billion pesos in active loans across more than 170 branches, supported by nearly 2,000 employees, many of whom have spent an average of nine years with Global Dominion.
These are not abstract figures. Each peso in that active loan portfolio is a Filipino who was approved when another institution would have said no: a truck operator scaling from one unit to a fleet, a home cook building a food brand, a sari-sari store growing into a neighborhood mini-grocery, or a young professional making his dream business come true.
Financial inclusion, Cariño has made clear, is not a checkbox. It is Global Dominion’s actual growth strategy, because the success of the company and the success of Filipino MSMEs have always been the same story.
Now as the company’s president, he will continue igniting and accelerating growth of individuals and organizations to transform lives for the better.
Asia recognized a leader, but Filipino MSMEs whom he has spent his career serving recognized a “ka-partner” long before any award did.
Editor’s Note: This press release is sponsored by Global Dominion. It is published by the Advertising Content Team that is independent from our Editorial Newsroom.
