Neriza Sarmiento - Saito's On the Road to:
BRINGING HEARTS TOGETHER FOR HARMONY AMONG FILIPINO COMMUNITIES IN KANSAI With the Philippine Community Coordinating Council (PCCC) The first of May in 2019 will be remembered in history as the beginning of a new era in Japan REIWA which was derived from an anthology of 8th century Japanese poetry, Manyoshu. Like most jubilant Japanese, Filipino residents in Japan including myself waited until the name of the new era was announced. Like a refreshing cool breeze in May, the meaning of REIWA is “Beautiful Harmony“. In comparison to the other eras in the past, MEIJI (1868-1912) “Enlightened Rule “, TAISHO (1912-1926) “Great Righteousness”, SHOWA (1926-1989) “Enlightened Harmony”, and HEISEI (1989-2019) which means “Achieving Peace “, Heisei ended when Emperor Hirohito abdicated the Chrysanthemum Throne and his son, Naruhito ascended as Emperor and his wife Masako became Empress. On this auspicious occasion, we also accepted new challenges and responsibilities as the new officers of the Philippine Community Coordinating Council (PCCC) for 20192020. The 2017-2019
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officers headed by Atty. Jeff Plantilla (Chairperson), Aya Hongo (First Vice Chairperson), Ma. Luz Shimizu (2nd Vice-Chairperson), Jorge Takara (Secretary), Sherill Torres (Asst. Secretary), Delia Nakashima (Treasurer), Annabelle Sosogi (Asst. Treasurer) and Herbert Benzon (Auditor), ended their term with laudable achievements and projects especially that of strengthening member communities. As founder of PCCC, which was named then as Philippine Community Executive Council that started as an Adhoc Committee in 1998 and later elected as the first Chairperson in 2002, I felt a deep connection to the Heisei era, at that time when we were struggling
MAY - JUNE 2019
to reach out to member communities and making efforts to improve the image of the Filipinos in Kansai, at least. We tried to connect to the local government by participating in events like the APEC summit, Midosuji Parade, local festivals in Osaka’s Naniwa, Takatsuki, Kadoma, Hirakata, Sakai, Kobe, Nara, Kyoto, Shigs, Minoo, Ibaragi, Suita, Yao, Kashiwara and as far as Hiroshima. This year from 2019-2021, the following elected officers were inducted into office by Consul-General Ma. Ailynn Bugarin, of Philcongen Osaka at the International House in Osaka. Chairperson - NERIZA SARMIENTO-SAITO (Kansai Nippi Tomo no Kai) First Vice Chairperson - MA. LUZ SHIMIZU (IFFIK, Hirakata)
