News
20/11/2012: PH Ambassador Calls on Rizal Youth Awardees to Lead Purposeful Lives
PRESS RELEASE
WDC-188-2012
20 November 2012
WASHINGTON, DC. – Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. called on forty-three outstanding Filipino American students to use their talents and take part in activities that promote the interests of their communities and the Philippines. This was among the challenges posed by the Ambassador in his remarks during the 2012 Dr. Jose Rizal Youth Awards held at the Philippine Embassy’s Romulo Hall last November 17.
Now in its 20th year, the joint project of the Embassy and the Philippine American Foundation for Charities (PAFC) saw a record number of applications submitted. The Rizal Youth Award honors young Filipino Americans from D.C. and parts of Maryland and Virginia who have excelled academically and engaged in extracurricular activities including volunteer service.
“Rizal’s legacy serves as an inspiration for young people everywhere as they confront different challenges in today’s world,” Ambassador Cuisia said.
Providing the inspirational message was Anna Bantug-Herrera, Assistant Director of the Asia Foundation and a descendant of Dr. Rizal. “What has made Jose Rizal worthy of becoming the Philippines’ national hero is not merely his intelligence, personality, literary acumen, or his pacifist ideals but rather it was his patriotism, optimism, undying love for his country and his belief in his countrymen which set him apart,” remarked Bantug-Herrera.
Three awardees were selected from the group to read their essays during the program. Among them was Jo Justine Tablang-Jimenez, daughter of Dr. Danilo Jimenez and Dra. Marilou Tablang-Jimenez of Clarksburg, Maryland. In her essay, Jo Justine urged the Filipino American youth to get politically involved and empowered by showing them the extent to which their families are affected by local and domestic policies, and by emphasizing the significance of the Filipino in US past and present. Jo Justine graduated with honors at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, pursued her master’s degree at the London School of Economics, and recently graduated magna cum laude from Oxford Law School.
The awardees are:
- Aguda, Patrick
- Aranza, Aaron
- Argente, Katherine
- Argente, Kayla
- Atienza Jacinto, Sancho
- Bautista, Ailani Mae
- Buan, Eliza
- Capinguian, Erika Marie
- Chavez, Joane Marie
- Chwiki, Sarah
- Dela Torre, Jed Paolo
- Fernandez, Natalia
- Ferrer, Bernadette
- Filon, Jacob
- Filon, Luke
- Gonzaga, Janelle
- Gopiao, Joseph Brandon
- Gopiao, Timothy Robin
- Hammond, Nicole
- Honigford, Regina Verba
- Iriarte, Julian
- Iriarte, Madeline Ailyn
- Iriarte, Sabrina Marie
- Macasero, Alvin Jeffrey
- Manaloto, Marc Daniel
- Manaloto, Mavis Joy
- Mayuga, Christine Grace
- McHenry Chavez, Joseph
- Mendez, Theodore
- Quion, Alexander
- Quion, Katherine Michelle
- Ramada, Mark Andrew
- Ramada, Mary Anne Therese
- Ramada, Michael
- Sabatini, Charity
- Sambells, Carmela
- Sto.Romas Reyes, Ana Paulina
- Tablang-Jimenez, Jo Justine
- Tan Udquim, Alfred-Enberg
- Tan Udquim, Krizia-Ivana
- Tugado Marzan, Anjelica Misyel
- Van Kirk, Charmaine Amber
- Vertman, Benjamin
The awardees received a medal and certificate signed by Ambassador Cuisia; Mr. Ador Carreon, Chairman of PAFC; and Ms. Aylene Mafnas, President of PAFC and Chairperson of the Rizal Youth Awards Committee. Members of this year’s Awards Committee included Carlos Alvano, Elvi Bangit, Emil Fernandez, Lucille Ferraren, and Presy Guevara. (END)
PHOTO RELEASE
WDC-079-2012
20 November 2012
In a group photo, Ambassador Jose Cuisia (center) poses with the 2012 Rizal Youth Awardees and members of the Rizal Youth Awards Committee at the Romulo Hall of the Philippine Embassy on November 17, 2012.
