Philippine government recognizes Hawaii lawmaker with prestigious award

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Philippine authorities conferred one in every of its most prestigious awards to state Sen. Bennette Misalucha this week.

The Presidential Banaag Award acknowledges a Filipino particular person or group for advancing the reason for Filipinos abroad and the diaspora. “Banaag” means glimmer or ray of sunshine in Tagalog.

Misalucha is the primary Philippine-born Filipina lawmaker in the US and has served communities in Hawaii for greater than 30 years.

“A lot of our second technology Filipinos have been denying their ethnicity, their heritage. They labeled themselves as locals or Chinese language Spanish. It was a painful time in our historical past, simply popping out of the plantation interval, we admittedly face unfavourable stereotypes as an ethnic group,” she mentioned.

“This was not acceptable to me. It was then that I made a decision that I couldn’t merely sit again. I wanted to do my half, my share in uplifting the group and advocating for points and values.”

Misalucha famous that whereas the Filipino group has come a good distance, youthful generations nonetheless want assist.

Previous winners of the Presidential Medal from Hawaii embody human rights activists Dr. Amy Agbayani and Dr. Belinda Aquino.

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