From left: Consul Lilybeth Deapera, Rachalle Magturo and Labor Attache Vivian Tornea
The Philippine Consulate General in Macau has recently recognized two Filipinas for their contributions to the Filipino community in Macau during its 2016 National Women’s Month celebration in the city.
“We’ve always been trying to identify the best of the Philippines in the community because we want them to be an inspiration to the other members of the community,” said the Philippine Consul General of Macau, Lilybeth Deapera.
With over 25,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) living in the city, the diplomat revealed that the consulate is cooperating with its labor office to provide short courses for the OFWs to learn extra skills. These include skills such as bartending, massage, leadership and social entrepreneurship, money management and others.
“In one of my talks with the government leaders, they recognize that one of the reasons why the country has developed is the contributions of our ‘kababayans’ [a Tagalog word for fellow Filipino] who have been here,” reveals Deapera.
“We have several programs, and the idea is to recognize positive contributions to the Macau society and Filipino community,” said the consul general.
One of those awarded was Remedios Salamanes, a local resident who has been working in the city for over 28 years. She is also a finalist of the “Gawad Geny Lopez Jr. Bayaning Pilipino Awards,” an annual search for modern-day heroes that recognizes ordinary people who have performed heroic acts and extraordinary deeds in the Asia-Pacific region.
“It’s the first time that the search has included Macau. They only used to include Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. So we disseminated the information,” says Deapera.
“She was shortlisted,” the consul general continued, “and we recognize her because [poverty] was not something that stopped her from achieving her goals. She has helped in raising her nieces and nephews […] she’s able to help a lot of our ‘kababayans’ [in Macau].”
Meanwhile Salamanes, a librarian at a local school, told the Times about a few issues that Filipino migrant workers face in the city.
“They worry so much about their children [in the Philippines] and also the influence of wrong friends, friends who like to gamble. Some are facing low wages and high rent for boarding houses,” explained the awardee, who is also a financial council officer for the Filipino pastoral care program for migrants.
The diplomat also said that the consulate is on its third intake of students for its Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship course.
“The plan is to be able to qualify them for the “Technical Education and Skills Development Authority”, commonly known as “TESDA” [an agency of the Philippine government responsible for managing technical education and skills development]; that’s our goal. We’re trying to work on that,” says Deapera.
She explained that there are numerous workers who have come to the territory as tourists. However, she hopes that at some point in time they’ll be able to take the exams so as to be “certified by an assessing body in the Philippines,” which she believes adds to the chance of a salary increase.Staff reporter
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