SPAIN TO HONOR ANGARA FOR REVIVING PHIL-SPANISH RELATIONS

The Barcelona-based cultural institution Casa Asia has chosen Senator Edgardo J. Angara to receive the prestigious "Premio Casa Asia" for 2010.

This annual award is given to individuals and institutions from Spain and Asia Pacific who have made exceptional contribution towards promoting knowledge, understanding and dialogue among the societies of Asia and Spain.

Angara is the father of the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day Act that sets June 30 of every year as a day to commemorate the historical and cultural ties between Spain and the Philippines.

Since its first celebration in 2003, the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day has given birth to major initiatives in the area of legislation, culture, education, language, sports.

Angara has also led the signing of a landmark cooperation agreement between the Philippine Senate and the Spanish Senate. Under it, parliamentary exchanges shall be organized to discuss poverty alleviation, the promotion of sports, arts and culture and tourism and infrastructure as vectors for economic development. This is the first time that an accord of this kind was signed by the two parliamentary organs of both countries.

Angara is also the representative of Union Latina to the Philippines.

Union Latina is an organization composed of 37 member-countries of the neolatina languages. The Philippines entered the organization in 1985 when Spanish was still an official language.

Today, with the reintegration of Spanish language teaching in the high school curriculum, Union Latina hopes to see renewed interest in the language and culture of Spain and Latin America.

Angara is currently spearheading the celebration of the Dia del Galeon, which highlights important aspects of the Galleon expeditions and brings together Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Casa Asia was born in 2001 with the objective of promoting and carrying out projects and activities that contribute towards greater mutual awareness, stronger relations between Spain and Asian and Pacific countries, particularly in institutional, economic, academic and cultural spheres.

Previous recipients of the Premio Casa Asia include Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, playwright of the opera Quiros, based on the life of Spanish navigator Pedro Fernandez Quiros; the Prefectural Museum of Art in Nagasaki and the Marugame Hirai Museum in Japan for the preservation of an extensive collection of Spanish art; and Indian Prof. Raimon Panikkar for his studies of the links between East and West, and for encouraging dialogue between the two continents.