RIYADH, 26 November 2005 — When Gerico A. Canlapan donated all profits of his calendar featuring sceneries in the Philippines’ key tourist sites of Vigan, Boracay and Corregidor to the housing projects of the Gawad Kalinga movement, winning awards was apparently the least of his concerns.
But come Dec. 2, Canlapan will be reaping his reward, being among the winners of this year’s Bagong Bayani (“new hero”) Awards. He will receive his award for the Culture and Performing Arts category personally from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at Malacanang Palace in Manila.
An OFW for 9 years, Canlapan is the commercial and medical photographer of King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. He is the sixth Filipino in the central region to receive such a distinction.
A dynamic character who has been supporting cultural activities of the community and the Philippine Embassy, he was earlier recognized by Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla last year as an exceptional leader in the field of culture and arts.
What may have convinced the judges in the Bagong Bayani Awards to give their vote for Canlapan was his willingness to share his artistic talent for charitable concerns.
Apart from his donation to the Gawad Kalinga or GK-777 project, he also gave away the entire proceeds of his other calendars to the victims of typhoons Winnie and Yoyong in Aurora and Quezon that occurred three days before a tsunami hit Indonesia and 10 other countries just before the year 2004 ended.
“I have a soft spot in my hear for the less fortunate among us,” quipped the 36-year-old Canlapan, who said he himself is from a poor family. He said it was his way of thanking God for giving him a talent, and his parents for shaping him into being kind especially to the underprivileged. Born in Orani town of Bataan province, west of Manila, Canlapan is a graduate of mass communication.
He also credited his brother Nixon for inspiring him to be “strong and responsible.” He said he was dedicating the honors to his wife, Flor, and to their only child, Nigel, whom he called his “driving force.”
Canlapan also stressed that without the support of the organizations called UNCLE and Cameraderie, he would have not stood out among the nominees.
The Bagong Bayani Awards is a national search for the country’s outstanding and exemplary Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) as “modern-day heroes.”
The awards recognize and pay tribute to OFWs for their significant efforts in fostering goodwill among peoples of the world, enhancing and promoting the image of the Filipino as a competent, responsible and dignified worker, and for greatly contributing to the socio-economic development of their communities and our country as a whole.
This year’s awards cover four categories to provide proper recognition of specific contributions of OFWs corresponding to the different areas of their involvements, namely Most Outstanding Employee, Community and Social Service, Culture and Performing Arts, and the highest honor being the Blas F. Ople Award.
Other awardees from Saudi Arabia for this year include Leonor Mohammad F. Gile (Jeddah) for Community and Social Service and Jaime C. King and George R. Palencia (both from Alkhobar) for the Outstanding Employee category.
The Eastern Region has the most number of “bagong bayanis” — 8 — since the search started in 1989. The first awardees came from Jubail, also from the Eastern Region.