Night of awards

At a dinner hosted Monday by Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. and his lovely wife Gina at their Makati residence, Congressional Medals of Achievement were given by the Speaker to Rev. Fr. Pierre Tritz SJ, the Earthsavers Dreams Ensemble founded by Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, and to the Philippine National Oil Company through Ambassador Thelmo Y. Cunanan.

Each award-citation was bestowed on behalf of the Filipino nation in accordance with a Congressional resolution signed by Speaker De Venecia.

Fr. Tritz was cited for his outstanding role during the past 50 years of sending more than a hundred thousand of the poorest Filipino children to school through the ERDA Foundation established by the French-born, naturalized Filipino Jesuit; for rescuing thousands of street children from destitute and hopeless lives; for providing the poor with technical training through the ERDA Technical-Vocational High School, thus giving the poorest students from Metro Manila employable skills; for soliciting funds, here and abroad, despite his advanced age, for scholarships for the street children.

The Earthsavers Dreams Ensemble was cited for bringing honor to the country by reaping numerous awards, most especially the UNESCO "Artists for Peace" in the presence of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for propagation and promotion of UNESCO’s message of peace, tolerance and hope, dedication to the aims and ideals of the UN, and contributions to the performing arts.

The citation continued: "In admiration of Ms. Cecile Guidote Alvarez, founding director of the Ensemble, who has masterminded a creative strategy of training and mobilizing the disadvantaged, disabled and indigenous members of society; In gratitude to the Philippine Center of the International Theater Institute (ITI) and International League of Folk Arts/Mass Media for Communication and Education for developing a breakthrough in making its cultural resources and media expertise available to the UN Systems in fight against human and ecological degradation. In acknowledgement of the impact of their artistic talent and diverse skills, undimmed by their physical handicap, shared at instructive workshops and performances at the 30th ITI Congress in Mexico as DOT Goodwill Ambassador, for which the Philippines was chosen the next venue for the 31st ITI-UNESCO Congress in 2006."

After dinner that night at Speaker De Venecia’s residence, the Dreams Ensemble performed an integration of Christian, Muslim and ethnic songs and dances, each participant giving his/her all – body, mind, spirit. There were two blind singers, a paraphlegic, a one-armed boy, a young girl with Downes Syndrome, deaf singers, etc. They drew the admiration of the audience, UN Representative Deborah Landey among them.

Samples of glowing praise garnered by the ensemble from ITI officers and members of various nationalities follow: "Very moving performance. It was great to see performers who weren’t letting disability stop artistic excellence. Great work."

"Very touching and heartfelt and hopeful. Keep it as energetic and positive."

"Miravilloso. Gracias por el amor trasmitido." (Marvelous. Thanks for the love conveyed.)

"I was delighted and amazed by the wonderful performance of the Ensemble and had the great pleasure of seeing it in the context of the ITI 30th World Congress in Tampico. I was struck by the high-level professional quality of their work, their movement and timing, the touching beauty of the melodies, and the force and truth of their lyrics. This troupe should travel the world and be seen by all. I wish you all much joy and pleasure in your work as artists who are acting effectively to change the world through your art." – ITI General Secretariat.

"I was very impressed and moved." – Perinetti Andre Louis, former secretary general and honorary president of ITI.

Cecile took the Dreams Ensemble to its latest destination (Mexico) on sheer guts and courage – plane tickets advanced by the travel agency of Sony Lopez Gonzales and the promised funding of Speaker de Venecia and DOT Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan. Look what it accomplished.

The third recipient of the Congressional Medal of Achievement, the Philippine National Oil Company, was cited for its vision and mission to bring to millions of the poorest Filipinos in off-grid rural communities clean, affordable and alternative sources of energy in order to integrate them into the mainstream of national life.

The award was in tribute to its leadership in spearheading and promoting the use of solar energy through its "PNOC Solar Home System Distribution Project" in cooperation with the Dutch government, to energize our inaccessible communities, thus opening them up to the outside world, enhancing prospects of livelihood and uplifting their living conditions.

The PNOC brought singular honor to the Philippines for winning in Austria in November of 2003 the "Energy Globe Award for Sustainability" – acknowledged as the premier award for energy – having been chosen from among 972 projects submitted by 95 participating countries.

The PNOC Award is the first-ever given to an Asian country for sustainability which, it said, "is an essential precondition to achieve responsible prosperity for all, especially for people in developing countries."

The award was in appreciation of Ambassador Thelmo Cunanan’s outstanding and exemplary public service to the Filipino people through his three-year stewardship of PNOC as President and CEO, during which the Solar Energy project was implemented and internationally recognized.

Journalists present at the ceremonies were Belinda O. Cunanan, the recipient’s proud wife, Alejandro Roces, Jarius Bondoc, Nap Rama, Chit Pedrosa and 1.