Duterte cites 23 outstanding overseas Filipinos, organizations

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte recently honored 23 overseas Filipinos and foreign-based organizations for their outstanding service to fellow Filipinos and the Filipino community.

He conferred on them the Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas (PAFIOO). Institutionalized in 1991 and organized by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, it is a biennial search for overseas-based individuals or organizations who have dedicated their work in the service of Filipinos; supported relief, rehabilitation, and development programs in the home country; or excelled in their field or profession.

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again,” Duterte quoted American missionary Stephen Grellet in his speech during the awarding ceremony at the Malacañang Palace.

The PAFIOO has 4 categories: Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino (Linkapil) Award, Kaanib ng Bayan Award, Banaag Award, and Pamana ng Pilipino Award. 

Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino (LINKAPIL) Awardees

The LINKAPIL Award is conferred on Filipino associations or individuals for their exceptional or significant contribution to reconstruction, progress and development in the Philippines. The LINKAPIL awardees are:

1. Edgar E. Aragones (Israel) – A Filipino caregiver who co-founded the OFW Israel Foundation, an organization which mainly assists Filipinos-in-distress in Israel;
2. Pagyamanin Likas Musika (United States) – A non-profit organization based in San Jose, California, which preserves and promotes the playing and appreciation of the Philippines’ native Rondalla instruments, and at the same time provides scholarship programs and livelihood assistance to communities in the Philippines;
3. Reunion e.V. Cloppenburg (Germany) – An association of Cloppenburg-based Filipinos and Germans which extends humanitarian assistance to the sick and less fortunate in the provinces of Iloilo and Romblon;
4. Marina R. Sulse (United States) – A Filipina accountant and philanthropist who established a scholarship and summer camp program for less privileged students and residents of Taft, Eastern Samar.

Kaanib ng Bayan awardees

The Kaanib ng Bayan Award is conferred on foreign individuals or organizations for their exceptional or significant contribution to Philippine reconstruction, progress, and development; for having significantly benefited a sector or community in the Philippines; or for having advanced the cause of overseas Filipino communities. The Kaanib ng Bayan awardees are:

1. Erlend E. Johannesen – the Norwegian founder of Streetlight Philippines, a non-profit organization based in Tacloban City dedicated to helping the city’s young vagrants reunite with their loved ones, and have decent life
2. Sabine Korth – a German nurse who established the Mabuhay-St Francis of Assisi Primary Health Care Program, which contributes to the welfare of the local residents of Bugko, Northern Samar
3. Sheikh Fahdel – a Pakistani hospital administrator who regularly offers free medical and mortuary services to Filipinos and their families in Lahore, Pakistan
4. Tzu Chi Foundation – a Taiwan-based international non-governmental organization conducting volunteer work, relief aid, medical missions, and other community services in different parts of the world, including the Philippines
5. Sabine Katharina Weiss – a German lawyer and current member of the National Parliament of Germany who provided legal and integration services to 10 Filipino human trafficking survivors in Germany, and established Pangasinan e.V., which delivers basic social services to local residents of Malasiqui, Pangasinan

Banaag awardees

The Banaag Award is conferred on Filipino individuals or associations for their contributions which have significantly benefited a sector or advanced the cause of overseas Filipino communities. The Banaag awardees are:

1. Marilou S. Chin – founder of Stairway to Hope Learning Center, an alternative learning center which provides educational services to stateless children in Sabah
2. Fidel M. Escurel – one of the founders of the Middle East and Africa Network of Filipino Diaspora (MEANFID), known for his invaluable service in advancing the interests of Filipinos in Qatar and the Middle East.
3. Kapit-Bahayan Co-Operative Ltd – a registered housing cooperative which leases and maintains rental accommodations to low-to-medium income Filipino-Australian families and individuals, and assists in the integration of newly-arrived Filipino migrants in New South Wales, Australia
4. Rodrigo B. Maristela – a strong advocate for Philippine culture, tradition, and arts in Germany, and the former president of the Association Lending Assistance in Exigencies at Home (ALA EH), an organization which provides charitable services for the less fortunate in the Philippines
5. Philippine Nurses Association of Metropolitan DC Incorporated – the oldest organization of Filipino nurses in Washington DC, the United States, which primarily provides assistance to Filipino nurses so they could be integrated in Metropolitan DC, and conducts medical missions and other volunteer work in the Philippines
6. Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers – Central Region Saudi Arabia – an organization of Filipino mechanical engineers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, dedicated in the professional advancement of OFW mechanical engineers, as well as providing outreach activities to fellow migrant workers

Pamana ng Pilipino awardees

The Pamana ng Pilipino Award is conferred on Filipinos overseas who have brought the country honor and recognition through excellence and distinction in the pursuit of their work or profession. The Pamana ng Pilipino awardees are:

1. Eduardo K. Araral Jr – the vice dean of research and the director of the Institute of Water Policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore, one of the leading schools of public policy in the world
2. Manuel G. Asuncion – a playwright, writer, newspaper columnist, Filipino teacher, translator, and co-founder of Dulaang Bayan Melbourne in Australia
3. Danilo P. Buan – an inventor, educator, and mechanical engineer, who registered 28 patents in the United States for designs on bookbinding and paper punch machines.
4. Guillermo B. Capati – a professional civil and environmental engineer in Queensland, Australia, with over 40 years of experience in waterworks and sewerage systems
5. Emmanuel B. Liban – spearheads the efforts of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency in the United States on environmental compliance, environmental remediation, energy and renewable energy, climate change, and water and resources management
6. Paulino M. Lim Jr – a critically-acclaimed novelist based in California, USA, whose fiction and literary works are mainly constructive criticisms of the political, social, and religious ills and situations in the Philippines
7. Hernan M. Reyes – an internationally recognized surgeon, who led the establishment of the Society of Philippine Surgeons in America, which has consistently served poor communities in the Philippines through its annual medical missions.
8. Rommel P. Sergio – an educator at the Canadian University of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates who has published scholarly works in the field of human resource management and organizational psychology

One of the Kaanib ng Bayan awardees, Erlend Johannesen, delivered the response speech on behalf of this year’s PAFIOO awardees. “The Filipino culture is truly the most remarkable, beautiful culture there is. The world has so much to learn from it. Where the Filipino spirit prevails, so will hope,” he said.

A total of 103 nominees from 22 countries were screened by 4 different committees: Philippine Diplomatic Posts, inter-agency technical committee, the multi-sectoral executive committee, and the Office of the President. – Rappler.com