Press Release No. 105-2012
27 June 2012
The Filipino community from various regions of the Kingdom celebrated the 114th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence in Buraidah with Filipinos from Qassim, Hail, Al Jouf, Arar and the Northern Border Regions meeting at Al Nawadeer Esteraha, Buraidah, Qassim last 22 June 2012.
Opening the program with briefing remarks, Labor Attaché Albert Q. Valenciano reminded the audience of the significance of the celebration. Right after the reading of messages of the President, Vice President, the Secretary of Labor and OWWA Administrator, the Singing Competition followed. Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago was scheduled to attend the affair as the guest of honor but he had to be in Riyadh to be with Vice President Jejomar Binay who was in Riyadh for a short visit to present to the Saudi King the condolences of President Aquino and the Filipino people on the death of HRH Crown Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz.
Almost one hundred (100) raffle prizes were drawn and won by lucky OFW-winners present during the event. The highlight of the program was the awarding of plaques of recognition to Filipino Community Groups under the jurisdiction of Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Central Regional Operations (POLO-CRO). These groups have been actively supporting the programs of the Philippine Embassy/POLO-OWWA.
This is the first time since the creation of POLO-CRO that all Embassy-accredited Filipino Community Groups under its jurisdiction participated in an event. Three Filipino community groups from Sakaka, Al Jouf and Arar travelled more than 800 kilometers just to attend and join the celebration. More than 500 Filipinos attended the event, joining the fun until the program ended at which point everyone stood up, held each other’s hand while singing a Filipino song, “Hawak Kamay”.
