Historic rendezvous with Philippine Embassy and Filipino Humphrey FellowsL-R: Monette Singh, Robert Borje, Ronnie Amorado and Reggie Junio
The great Vice Consul and Third Secretary Robert Borje works with the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC. Vice Consul Borje comes from Mindanao, Philippines. He used to be with the giant network of the ABS-CBN News and the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) before joining the Department of Foreign Affairs and got assigned in the Washington Embassy. It was a very pleasant experience to meet the very young, promising and awe-inspiring Vice Consul during the State Department Reception Dinner hosted by the Department of State for all the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows for 2009-2010 last October 20, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Mabuhay si Robert! Hail Robert!
Keep up the good work, Vice Consul!
The country is proud of you!
The Philippine Fellows
Maria Filomena Singh is a Fellow at the Washington University's College of Law in Washington, DC. She is a presiding judge in the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City in the Philippines. She is also a professor of law at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law and at the Philippine Judicial Academy in Manila. She specializes in the field of law and human rights with focus on more efficient court management, alternative dispute resolution, and programs which could unclog the local court's heavy dockets. During her Humphrey year, she hopes to gain new knowledge and skills that will help her advocate for a more efficient case management system, and a more independent judiciary to help perpetuate better Philippine internal and international stability. Judge Singh holds a Juris Doctor degree (Doctor of Law) and a recipient of the Judicial Excellence Award. In 2007, the Society of Judicial Excellence named Judge Singh as one of the Top First Level Court Judge in the Philippines.
Regina Junio is a Fellow at the Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Ithaca, New York. She is a professor at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University back in the Philippines. She handles natural science courses, leads the various university social development programs and conducts research on solid waste management, natural resources management and minerals development. She mentors development programs with partner communities on natural resources management in the Philippines. Her Fellowship program is focusing on conflict management for communities in conflict over natural resource use, best practices for sustainable development and environmental economics. Prof. Junio holds a Master of Science in Chemistry Education.
Ronnie Amorado is a Fellow at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of the Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. As a Humphrey Fellow, he is working on his post-doctorate research on anticorruption and citizenship with special focus on policy analysis and evaluation especially as it relates to good governance and anti-corruption reforms. His research interest revolves around the dark side of social capital, notions of integrity and betrayal theory among others. He has been working for numerous years with government agencies and private sector organizations on discourse formation, conducting anticorruption research, providing training and public lectures on management, good governance and corruption issues. Currently, he is the Country Coordinator of the Ehem Anticorruption Group, a major anticorruption movement run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. He holds a doctorate degree in development studies specializing in governance and anticorruption studies. He is author of Fixing Society: The Inside World of Fixers in the Philippines (2007), which won a National Book Award/Outstanding Book Award for 2008 given by the prestigious Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).
Click on this link for more photos of the Filipino Humphrey Fellows.
Click on this link for more photos of the 2009 Humphrey Global Leadership Forum Opening Tour in Washington, DC.
Click on this link for more photos of the State Department Reception Dinner.
I also visited the Smithsonian Space Museum (click here) and the Natural History Museum (click here).
As they say, pictures speak a thousand words. And museums make a great country's national identity greater!
