Bayaning Pilipino sa Asya Pasipiko 2001

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY

Agalyn Salah-Nagase (Country Winner)

• Saitama-Ken, Japan
• General Santos City

Separated from her family at a tender age, AGALYN SALAH-NAGASE or AGA of the Muslim Tribe of Sanggil, already displayed an amazing strength of will and an incessant determination to help others. Growing up amid sporadic and indiscriminate shootings and bombings in a remote part of Mindanao, her experience of being a “child of war” only intensified Aga’s desire to assist others like her.

Aga got her first official break when she volunteered in the Mindanao Christian Service Foundation (MCSF) Inc. where her main responsibility was to ensure that the needs of the Muslims and other tribal groups living in the SOCSARGEN (South Cotabato Sarangani, General Santos City) area were being met. Not long after, a German missionary who witnessed Aga helping widows and orphans displaced by the war in Mindanao, recommended her for a scholarship to a German-based institution. But it was only after her graduation that Aga was finally able to make full use of her life in helping others. By being actively involved in interfaith programs between Muslims and Christians for the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and by establishing the Moro Women Center (MWC), she earned the support and recognition by both local and international communities as well. Among the most notable efforts of MWC under Aga’s helm is the group’s campaign to give justice for Sarah Balabagan and the creation of jobs for their fellow Muslims thru the continued promotion of their handicrafts abroad.

Living in Japan and after getting married to a Japanese social worker, has not slowed Aga down. She even took the responsibility of heading the Filipino neighborhood association, “Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN)” while simultaneously functioning as the Executive Director of MWC, which she also founded.

To promote Filipino culture and values to Japanese-Filipino children thru its various programs are KAFIN’s foremost objectives. Through its inception of “Eskuwelahang Pinoy,” KAFIN provides multi-cultural education and interfaith understanding between Fil-Jap children and their mothers by educating them with our nation’s history and hopefully providing them with a solid sense of Filipino patriotism. A value which Aga exemplified when she exposed the offenses committed of a Philippine government official in Japan.

And as if all these are not enough, Aga is also the only Filipino and the only Muslim member of the Philippine Committee of the National Christian Council of Japan (NCCJ), the main council of Japanese Protestant churches and Christian organizations.

Indeed, this Filipina who once ran for her life to evade bullets and bombs, has come a long way. From being a “child of war” … she has successfully become one of the staunchest advocates of peace and interfaith harmony through her own little ways. Thus, the Gawad Geny Lopez Jr. Bayaning Pilipino 2001 is proud to honor Agalyn Nagase as this year’s BAYANING PILIPINO SA ASYA PASIPIKO.

Marites Ogawa (Special Award)

• Hita City, Japan
• Sampaloc, Manila

MARITESS OGAWA had hoped for a better life for her family. Being underprivileged, she wasn’t able to complete her college education. Thus, Marites sought for greener pastures in a foreign land just like the many other OFWs who came before her. At the age of 24, she came to Japan in order to effectively provide for her family and to ensure a brighter future for herself. But as young as she was when she first arrived, Marites admits, that it had been easy for her to get caught up in the fast-paced and highly-modern lifestyle, so much so that she soon found herself living a life based only on superficiality while working as an entertainer.

Eventually finding her life incomplete after working for 10 years in various cities in Japan meeting her husband once fateful day couldn’t have come at a better time. For by then, she was all too willing to bid her old life goodbye and was set to welcome a new chapter – that of be a housewife.

But the Lord had other surprises for Marites, because soon after she began attending religious services and spending most of her free time at the Catholic Church near her home. Gradually, Marites’ life began to change, she suddenly found herself inviting her old co-workers and other Filipinos living in Japan to renew their relationships with the Lord by hearing mass and participating in various church activities, just as she had done. Aside from this, she also devotes time to teaching Japanese kindergarten kids English – which she does almost free of charge. Marites keeps in coin banks the honoraria she receives from her classes which she then sends to different institutions and organizations in the Philippines. Mindless of the many sacrifices she has unselfishly offered to those who are in dire need of assistance, she now feels complete. Especially since nothing compares to the joy of seeing her Japanese husband baptized to Catholicism.

For everything Marites does, she does in Christ’s name. Her religious fervor and her unwavering faith in God, indeed inspires many. And for this, the Gawad Geny Lopez Jr. Bayaning Pilipino 2001 is please to present MARITES OGAWA, with the BAYANING PILIPINO SA ASYA PASIPIKO – SPECIAL AWARD.

COUNTRY FINALISTS

1. Ramiro Trinidad - Saipan; Las Piñas City
2. Ronnie Albeus - Singapore; Naga City