4 stages to be a presidential awardee

Filipinos in the Commonwealth are being invited to nominate overseas Filipino workers for the 2006 Presidential Awards.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in a ceremony, will confer the Presidential Awards on distinguished Filipino individuals and organizations overseas during the observance of the “Month of Overseas Filipinos.”

This year there will be four awards to be given to outstanding migrant workers across the globe: the Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino Award, Banaag Award, Kaanib ng Bayan Award and the Pamana ng Pilipino Award.

There will be four stages that nominees will have to go through to get the award this year.

The first stage of the selection process will be the review, validation and recommendations from the Philippine embassies and consulates across the globe. The Awards Committees shall review and summarize all nominations, verify compliance with all the required documentations, request for additional documents and endorse nomination documents to the Technical Committee.

Next would be the evaluation and short-listing of nominations. The Technical Committee shall evaluate all nomination documents and prepare a short-list of nominees based on the agreed rating scheme. The committee will endorse the short list to the Executive Committee.

Endorsement of the short-list of nominees to the President of the Philippines is the third step. The Executive Committee will review and evaluate the short-listed nominees as submitted by the Technical Committee. After the review and evaluation, the committee then either endorses the short-listed nominees or makes its recommendations before endorsing the same to the Office of the President.

The fourth and last stage will be the final selection and approval of the President of the Philippines. The President approves the final list of awardees.

The criteria for the selection this year are specific for each award. Some of the criteria for all the awards generally include outstanding or significant services or contributions to benefit the Filipino people or nation. The nominees must have shown success, impact or effectiveness in the contribution, which could be in the form of personal or professional service, financial or material contribution, or technology that has proven to be beneficial.

The nominees must have shown dedication and commitment to work or profession or activities to contribute to progress and development in the Philippines.

If the contributions cited as bases for their nominations are specifically required to be among their official functions and duties, they are not eligible for nomination for this year’s awards.

Former awardees, either in the same or other categories, are also not allowed to participate anymore.

Any individual or organization, whether Filipino or foreign, based in the Philippines or overseas, may submit nominations for the awards. Nominations must be made on the prescribed form and submitted together with supporting documents.

A duly completed nomination form must contain the following information: personal data, a summary of the relevant contributions made by the nominee, completed endorsement form to be completed by the Post’s Awards Committee, constitution and by-laws and organizational logo or seal and excellent photographs in black and white.

The deadline for filing for nominations is on or before May 15. Failure to submit the required documents attached to the forms could cause the disqualification of the nominee from the awards.

For specific details on the criteria and other information visit the Philippine Overseas Labor Office at the Nauru Bldg. in Susupe.