06
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 6 Number 7 | APRIL 2016
NEWS
NEW PCC-NSW
OFFICERS
The Philippine Community Council-NSW elected its new set
of officers at its AGM last month held at The Hub in Mt. Druitt.
Kate Andres (seated, 3rd from left) has been elected as its new
president. In photo are the new officers: Joy Robinson, Lillian
delos Reyes, Kate Andres, Consul General Anne Jalandoon Louis,
Alric Bulseco, Darrell Swadling, Ethel Singzon, Penny Perfecto. At
the back (from left) Nerissa Revesz, Mercy Jones, Demi Robinson,
Evelyn Beed, Emily Rudd, Serna Ladia, Albert Prias. Photo: Bob
Reyes
TESS SAYAS
Blacktown Woman of the Year
SHE has been at the forefront of community
service for many years. Last month, community
leader Maria Theresa ‘Tess’ Sayas was awarded
by the Blacktown City Council as one of the
Blacktown City Woman of the Year 2016 at a
ceremony marking International Women’s Day.
Tess Sayas (3rd from right) with Mr. Kevin Conolly MP and Michelle Rowland MP with other
awardees/nominees at the recent Blacktown City Woman of the Year 2016 awarding ceremony.
Photo supplied.
THE active Filipina who has
contributed valuable time, effort and
commitment to both the FilipinoAustralian community and the
mainstream currently serves as
president of the Rotary Club of
Blacktown City.
She also currently serves
as member of the Sister Cities
Committee of Blacktown City
Council and a local business partner
with Plumpton High School (for
Beacon Program with Beacon
Foundation)
Tess has been a tireless volunteer
for fundraising projects to support
underprivileged children in the
Philippines such as through the
Rotary Club ‘Gamit Aral’ Project
which provides school supplies to
poor schoolchildren. She was also
active in the ‘Abot Kamay’ charity
concert under the auspices of the
Australia Philippines Chamber
of Commerce and Industries, Inc.
(APCCII) to help victims of Typhoon
Ondoy. She is the immediate past
president of APCCII.
She has been an advocate of
youth development as a BREED
(Education, Employment &
Economic Development) partner
providing youth skills training for
employment pathways, supporting
the Global Filipino Youth Awards
2009 and the Australian Filipino
Youth Symposium for high school
students in Rooty Hill, Doonside
and Plumpton High Schools among
others.
A recipient of the Paul Harris
Fellow by Rotary Interantional, her
past community services involvement
included being a Volunteer Family
Counsellor with Hillsong CityCare,
participating in Christian Mission
trips to Sri Lanka, New Zealand,
Fiji and the Philippines, and as
Committee member of the Blacktown
Relay for Life.
Tess is a UST cum laude graduate
(BS Commerce major in Accounting)
and is a CPA (Phils). She completed
EDP systems project management
programme at IBM Philippines and,
in Australia, completed an advance
diploma in counselling and family
therapy at the Australian Institute of
Family Counselling.
A successful entrepreneur,
Tess is wife to Atoy Sayas, also an
active and recognised community
leader. The couple is at the helm of
the Zignal Travels which has been in
operation in Blacktown for 24 years
and a consistent PAL top producer
awardee.
Tess cites her receiving the award
as a “humbling experience.”
“It is an honour and at the same
a humbling experience to be in the
company of most amazing women of
Blacktown. I am so blessed,” she says
in a recent Facebook post.
Former senior constable Tom Baena, RSL Sub Branch President, former detective superintendent Gary Raymond and former detective chief inspector James Frederick Bostock, RSL Sub
Branch Honorary Treasurer. Photo supplied
Nat’l Police Medal
for RSL execs
ACTIVE Filipino-Australian community
leader Tom Baena was one of two senior
executives from the Blacktown RSL Sub
Branch who received the National Police
Service Medal last month.
BLACKTOWN RSL Sub Branch
honourary treasurer former
detective chief inspector James
Frederick Bostock and Mr Baena,
a former senior constable, w W&P