GK Youth Australia's Correspondent in the Philippines RHONA CUARESMA reports
Date Posted: July 07, 2007
Thousands of people gathered last Thursday, 21st June 2007 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Manila, Philippines, where the 3rd annual celebration for GK1MB (Gawad Kalinga Isang Milyong Bayani) was held.
Over 100 buses were hired for the event as transport for the GK Kapitbahayan members from different GK Sites in Luzon alone. Guests vary from corporate partners of GK, different government organizations including the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines, overseas delegates, famous Filipino celebrities and of course, the GK beneficiaries from all over the country.
There were four Australian delegates who were present during the event, namely Denis Reyes (CEO of GK ANCOP Australia), Marisa Vedar (GK ANCOP Melbourne - Marketing), Maric Vedar (YFC Melbourne) and Rhona Cuaresma (newly appointed GK Coordinator of ANCOP Australia, who is currently based in the Philippines).
Individual seats at the Araneta Coliseum were covered with colourful GK1MB shirts as a gift to the audience, from SMART Communications Inc. When the celebration began, everyone was asked to take the shirts and put them on. You can no longer identify which group everyone belonged to after the shirts were worn; rather, everyone belonged as one for GK1MB.
The event was hosted by a Filipino celebrity, Epi Quizon (son of the famous Filipino comedian star, Dolphy Quizon), together with three GK fulltime workers. The list of performers for the event includes All Stars (World Class Hip Hop Dance Champions), SAGIP Payatas 13 Choir, Fil-Am comedian Rex Navarete and individual overseas singers from Singapore and USA. The crowd went wild when special guest Billy Crawford came out on stage and performed with the SIGA members of Baseco.
Tony Meloto introduced to the audience the first ever batch of SIGA from Bagong Silang, and where GK began. Josan Reyes, one of the first SIGA members and currently a successful Nursing Teacher at FEU University, gave his testimony about the impact of GK in his life.
Honourable Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija shared about the struggles they had in her area during the recent 2007 Elections. Owners of the Nuestra Senora Dela Soledad GK Village in Tabon, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija were threatened that they would lose their house & land if they did not vote for the other running Mayor. Despite all this, Mayor Lorenzo was re-elected as Mayor for the town due to the support & loyalty of the GK homeowners in her area. She won the election without even putting up any advertisements!
The GK Movie (Paraiso) Trailer was also shown during the event and producer Bobby Bareiro talked about how the idea of a GK Movie was established.
The celebration concluded with a live band dance party and the audience was all excited about being one of the ‘Isang Milyong Bayani’ (one million heroes) for GK!
There were four Australian delegates who were present during the event, namely Denis Reyes (CEO of GK ANCOP Australia), Marisa Vedar (GK ANCOP Melbourne - Marketing), Maric Vedar (YFC Melbourne) and Rhona Cuaresma (newly appointed GK Coordinator of ANCOP Australia, who is currently based in the Philippines).
Tony Meloto introduced to the audience the first ever batch of SIGA from Bagong Silang, and where GK began. Josan Reyes, one of the first SIGA members and currently a successful Nursing Teacher at FEU University, gave his testimony about the impact of GK in his life.
