05 February 2006

NSW Parliamentarians Visit to Philippines promotes Goodwill and stronger Inter-Parliamentary Relations

New South Wales Speaker and MP for Riverstone John Aquilina was conferred the Philippines’ Congressional Medal of Achievement, the highest honour awarded by Philippine Congress to foreign dignitaries and parliamentarians, during an official visit last week.

Mr. Aquilina, who was among several NSW parliamentarians, was presented with the award by Speaker of the House Jose de Venecia at a special ceremony at Shangri-La Makati Hotel.

The Philippines’ Consul General in Sydney, Maria Theresa Lazaro, said the visit was “not only historic as the first visit of NSW parliamentarians to the Philippines but also a step in strengthening the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Australia as well as a recognition of the Philippine Government of the contribution of the 64,000 strong Filipino-Australian community in NSW”.

The visiting NSW parliamentarians included MP for Wallsend John Mills, MP for Bankstown Tony Stewart, MP for Lake Macquarie Jeff Hunter and MP for Strathfield Virginia Judge.

At the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives, the NSW Parliamentarians discussed a wide range of issues with their Filipino counterparts on inter-parliamentary cooperation and common concerns which has a bearing on the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Australia.

Mr. Aquilina traveled to Subic, Zambales to meet with Father Shay Cullen, of the Preda Foundation, which is supported by Father Chris Riley, of the Sydney’s Youth Off the Streets that assists in rehabilitating juvenile delinquents in the Philippines.

He visited the Australian Village at Payatas, Quezon City, accompanied by Tony Meloto, who heads the Gawad Kalinga project to provide housing to poor families, Mr. Aquilina made a personal contributed towards building one house.

The Speaker also met with the OIC Fe Hidalgo of the Department of Eucation and discussed a wide range of issues on education such as recognition qualification and sister relationship between Philippine and Australian universities.

The activities of the visit were arranged by the Philippine Consulate General and the Department of Tourism Office in Sydney.