Kapampangan, 11 others named Bagong Bayanis

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- A Kapampangan overseas Filipino worker (OFW) has scored another honor for his cabalens after receiving recently the prestigious Bagong Bayani Award. Richard Gabriel of Arayat town, a sculptor, artist and painter in Italy, received the award in the category of Culture and the Arts at the Malacañang Palace last December 12 in simple ceremonies presided by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The President also conferred the award in various fields to 12 OFWs for their outstanding achievements notwithstanding the valuable contribution to the nation's economy through dollar remittances. The Bagong Bayani Awards, organized by a foundation of the same name, is an international search for the country's outstanding overseas workers. Four categories highlight this year's awards: Bagong Bayani Awards for Most Outstanding Employees, Bagong Bayani Awards for Community and Social Service, Bagong Bayani Awards for Culture and the Arts, and the Blas F. Ople Award Para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani. Those who received the Bagong Bayani trophy from the Mrs. Arroyo were Chitael Carmona, Vito de Raya, Cuadrato Gidoc Gaspi, Eduardo Gulmatico, Rolando Ocampo, Hazel Reposo, Jesus Sumook, Mary Jane Pajarillo Tupaz, Josefina Villarey, Roberto Abella, Francisco Roque and Gabriel. The awardees for the Most Outstanding Employees were Chitael Carmona, 54, of Bacolod City and presently working as superintendent of Refrigeration Industries and Storage Co. (Risco) in Kuwait; Vito de Raya, 58, of Cavite, now employed as education officer/senior lecturer of the College of Nursing, Ministry of Education in Brunei Darussalam; Marine Captain Cuadrato Gidoc Caspi, 48, of Sorsogon, a master mariner of Wallem Ship Management Ltd.; Eduardo Gulmatico, 55, of Tangub, Bacolod City, a senior house officer of Technip/NPCC Corp. in the United Arab Emirates; Rolando Ocampo, 53, of Bacoor, Cavite, a restaurant manager in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Hazel Reposo, 30, of Iloilo City, a housekeeper in the US; Jesus Sumook, 35, an able seaman of the Day Star Shipping Ltd. In Sweden; and Josefina Villarey, 46, of Quezon City, a housekeeper and personal secretary in Kuwait. The recipients of Bagong Bayani Awards for Community and Social Service were Roberto Abella, 65, a project and senior engineer of the First Engineering Group of Companies in Libya, and Francisco Roque, of San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, a landscape engineer at the Public Authority in Agriculture Affairs and Fisheries Resources in Kuwait. Gabriel, who stays in Milan, has been an OFW for the past 15 years in which he practices his craft for a living. - Sun.Star