10 Nov 2008

PRESIDENTIAL AWARD TO BE CONFERRED ON PCC

10 November 2008 – The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney reports that the Philippine Community Council (PCC) of New South Wales has been included in the Presidential Award for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas, which will be conferred by the Philippines’ President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Commission for Filipinos Overseas.

The PCC is among the 31 awardees from a total of 122 nominations from 29 countries considered by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas and approved by the Office of the President. The awardees will be honored during the Awarding Ceremony set on 9 December 2008 at the Malacañan Palace, Manila.

The Presidential Awards are recognitions to Filipinos and Philippine organizations for contributions to the development of the Philippines, as well as to Filipinos and Philippine organizations in other countries for excellence and distinction in their profession or programs. The first Presidential Awards were granted in 1991 and since then have been conferred upon 283 individual and organizational recipients.

For its promotion of the interests of the Filipino-Australian community in New South wales, the PCC will receive the Banaag Award, which is conferred on Filipino individuals or associations for contributions that significantly benefited a sector or community in the Philippines or advanced the cause of overseas Filipino communities. The PCC is led by its president Rey Manoto.

Philippine Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro said that the PCC is the only Presidential Awardee for the whole of Australia and that PCC has evolved into an organization which supports advocacies serving the causes and needs of the Filipino-Australian community.