PR-004-2022
3 February 2022, Singapore – The Philippine Embassy congratulates the four (4) recipients of the 2021 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas (PAFIOO) in Singapore, namely, Dr. Sheila Maria A. Conejos (Pamana ng Pilipino Awardee), Ms. Cristy M. Vicentina (Banaag Awardee), The Philippine Bayanihan Society Singapore (Kaanib ng Bayan Awardee) and the Temasek Foundation Ltd. (Kaanib ng Bayan Awardee)
Dr. Conejos is currently the Head of Master of Built Environment and Facilities Management Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. She is an architect, building manager, urban conservator and urban planner whose focus is in developing urban and building sustainability tools for climate change adaptation.
Ms. Vicentina is the Region Head of Asia and Oceania at the Philippine National Bank Singapore. She has been providing exemplary service and assistance to our kababayans in Singapore, not only in their remittance and banking needs, but also through her active leadership and participation in Filipino Community activities. She also serves as the Honorary Treasurer of the Philippine Bayanihan Society Singapore (PBSS).
The PBSS has the primary objectives of promoting skills upgrading among Filipino workers and enhancing socio-cultural ties between Filipinos and Singaporeans. It has been providing social, cultural and personal development activities for Filipinos in Singapore through the Bayanihan Center for more than 20 years since it was formed in 2001.
Temasek Foundation (TF) is a Singapore-based non-profit organisation under the philanthropic arm of the Singapore state sovereign fund Temasek Holdings. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, TF has extended generous assistance to the Philippine Government through its estimated Php 700 million worth of donations of supplies and high-value hospital grade medical equipment to help the Philippines in its COVID-19 response.
They are among the 56 awardees who were selected from a total of 117 nominations received by the CFO-PAFIOO Secretariat from 31 countries through 39 Philippine Foreign Service Posts across Asia, North, and South America, Europe, and Australia.
The Pamana ng Pilipino Award is conferred on a Filipino overseas, who, in exemplifying the talent and industry of the Filipino, has brought the country honor and recognition through excellence and distinction in the pursuit of his or her work or profession.
The Banaag Award is conferred on Filipino individuals and organizations for their contributions which have significantly benefited a sector or advanced the cause of overseas Filipino communities.
The Kaanib ng Bayan Award is conferred on foreign individuals and organizations for their exceptional or significant contribution to Philippine reconstruction, progress, and development, or have significantly benefited a sector or community in the Philippines, or advanced the cause of overseas Filipino communities.
Institutionalized in 1991 through Executive Order No. 498, the PAFIOO is a biennial search for overseas-based organizations or individuals who have dedicated their work in the service of Filipinos in the Philippines or abroad, selflessly supported relief, rehabilitation, and development programs in the home country, or excelled in their field of work or profession.
Details of the awarding ceremony will be announced at a later time owing to the fluidity of circumstances due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (END).
