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Envoy honours 4 Filipinos with Sentro Rizal awards

Quintana said the four have embodied Rizal’s ‘selflessness in contributing their knowledge, talents and skills for the nation’s interest’

Mariecar Jara-puyod, Senior Reporter

The Philippine Embassy-abu Dhabi has launched a new set of awards in conjunction with the 160th birth anniversary of the Philippines’ national hero, Dr. Jose Protasio Rizal, whose innate ideals, reinforced by his life as a student, novelist and propagandist in Europe, and his eventual exile in Mindanao Island by the Spanish Government in 19th century Philippines, continue to inspire his countrymen.

On June 19 (Saturday), Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn M. Quintana conferred the “Sentro Rizal Abu Dhabi Awards 2021” to four Filipinos.

The four were Lucille Ong for her contribution in ensuring that the “Bangkota” (Coral Reef) Philippine Pavilion at the October 2021 to April 2022 Expo2020 Dubai showcases the best of the country; Jamael Panda for taking the initiative to contribute towards the further strengthening of the Philippine-uae relations; John Paul Faderogao for contributing towards a strong Filipino community spirit through his extraordinary talent as a visual artist; and Aileen Alba for having shown an excellent example of civic responsibility for being vigilant and taking appropriate citizen action to ensure a positive image for the Philippines in the UAE.

Quintana said the four have embodied Rizal’s “selflessness in contributing their knowledge, talents and skills for the nation’s interest.”

The awards were given out for the first time this year, two years ater Quintana inaugurated the Sentro Rizal-abu Dhabi on June 19, 2019, the 158th birth anniversary of the Philippine national hero.

The Philippine Embassy-abu Dhabi is the 36th diplomatic mission to set up the Sentro Rizal whose “parent cultural centre” is Manila’s National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Other centres are at the Philippine embassies and/or consulates general in Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, and USA. At the inauguration in 2019, Quintana said: “Dr. Jose P. Rizal was a very interesting man. He had a lot of facets that needed to be discovered. He was the First Filipino Traveller as he travelled around the world such as New York, London and Spain…(sentro Rizal) is the re-discovery of our identity as a Filipino ( encompassing our diverse culture and heritage). It is similar to the Goethe Institut, Alliance Francaise, Instituto Cervantes, and the Korean Cultural Centre (of Germany, France, Spain, and South Korea respectively.)”

On Saturday, The Order of the Knights of Rizal-emarat Abu Dhabi Chapter, through its commander Blesil D. Apduhan, also joined the ambassador in giving tribute to the Philippine Nurses Association-uae Chapter whose members were represented by Harlene May Mogato and Annie P. Fernandez. The group was recognised for being selfless in the fight against the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.

The Order of the Knights of Rizal is the only knighthood in the Philippines established as a non-sectarian civic group that upholds the ideals of Rizal. It has over 25,000 members worldwide from 192 chapters in 90 countries.

Rizal (1861-1896) was among the well-to-do (Ilustrado) Indios (Christianised Austronesians) of Spanish Philippines able to study in Europe. From Spain, he went to France, Germany, the UK and Belgium and in the process, completed/published his novels “Noli Me Tangere” (“Touch Me Not”) and “El Filibusterismo” (“The Filibuster”) which ignited the Philippine revolution against Spain. His European experience and eventual four-year exile in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte province in Mindanao island, fortified and deepened his belief and understanding of love of family; patriotism; freedom; the need for civil government, education, knowledge, the sciences, and native language; human dignity; tolerance; and the significance of women towards nation-building.

Recently, the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines adopted a resolution expressing the profound appreciation of the Filipino people to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for his “gestures of compassion, concern, friendship, solidarity and support toward the Filipino people in times of natural disasters and during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Uae

en-ae

2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

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