Peace Post Asia Healthier News For The World
By Peace Post Staff
The Sino-Phil Asia International Peace Award Foundation has awarded two new laureates in the spirit of Easter: Fernando Feliciano “Sonny” Racimo Belmonte Jr, KGCR, former Speaker of the House of the Representatives to the Philippines and Mayor of Quezon City, and Professor Kevin “Kit” Carson, master of the University of Macau’s Moon Chun Memorial College.
Speaker Belmonte Jr. was lauded by senior civil society business and government leaders in Manila such as Sino-Phil Laureate Dr. Reghis Romero lll and the Ambassador of Romania; and Professor Kevin “Kit” Thompson was applauded in Macau by diplomats, business leaders, and academics from China, Portugal, East Timor, Mozambique, and the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe.
“Speaker Belmonte Jr. has established an extremely high bar of public service for the people of the Philippines, ASEAN, Asia and the world to admire. His work has championed healthcare, education and the greater good for all Filipinos,” said Sir Manson Fok, President Emeritus of the Sino-Phil Asia International Peace Award Foundation.
“I am completely humbled by Speaker Belmonte Jr.’s lifelong dedication to the people of the Philippines. As Mayor of Quezon City, as a representative and then Speaker of the House of the Representatives, he has exhibited courageous efforts to improve the livelihoods everyday Filipinos,” said Sir Billy Chan, Chairman of the Sino-Phil Asia International Peace Award Foundation. “This is why we salute him for public service,” added Sir Chan.
“Professor Kit Thompson is an outstanding humanitarian whose contributions to musical and cultural education in this part of the world and Europe are commendable. We wish him well with this award on his next chapter as a fellow in Cambridge, United Kingdom. He and his wife Dr. Patricia Thompson will be truly missed here in Macau,” said Sir Fok.
“For the people living in Macau, Hong Kong and around China, Professor Kit Thompson has enriched musical and cultural education with profound passion and professionalism. Professor Thompson’s work in this field from his roots in the United Kingdom to the waters of the Greater Bay Area have left indelible imprints. We salute him with an award for performing arts and his wonderful wife Dr. Patricia Thompson tonight with our special friends and board members present of the Sino-Phil Asia International Peace Foundation,” said Sir Chan.
Despite the pandemic, the Sino-Phil Asia International Peace Award Foundation has found creative ways to maneuver in 2022 to increase awareness of extraordinary peacemakers and empower healthcare workers in particular. The foundation has donated medical equipment and PPEs to the Philippines and Cambodia since the pandemic struck.
“Our collective efforts with humanitarians such as Speaker Belmonte Jr. and Professor Thompson enable greater global discussions for solutions to the full-time job of peacemaking. Peace takes concerted time, energy and dedication. We must be constantly vigilant to be diplomatic, patient and understanding. We must never lose focus of our goals for a better world of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility,” added Sir Chan.
And with tradition for the Sino-Phil Asia International Peace Award Foundation, Sir Chan sang Imagine by piano in the spirit of Easter, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
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