Pinay nurse hailed by Obama to get award in PH


By Jing Castañeda, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 08/16/2013 12:17 PM | Updated as of 08/16/2013 12:18 PM
First lady Michelle Obama is applauded by Menchu Sanchez (second from right) along with Dr. Jill Biden prior to U.S. President Barack Obama's State of the Union Speech on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 12, 2013. Photo by Jonathan Ernst, Reuters
MANILA - A Filipina nurse hailed by no less than US President Barack Obama is back home to receive yet another award.
Obama praised the heroism of Filipino-American nurse Menchu Sanchez during his State of the Union Address back in February.
At the height of hurricane Sandy, Sanchez led her team in evacuating 20 infants to safety from the neo-natal intensive care unit of the hospital she worked for.
Sanchez became an instant celebrity being interviewed by the international press and receiving awards from various organizations.
Now, she has come home to receive the Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan award.
Sanchez arrived in Manila on Thursday morning.
She wasted no time, heading to a Filipino restaurant to enjoy some of her favorite Pinoy dishes.
Sanchez shares she still cannot believe that at one point in her life she was honored by the most powerful leader in the world.
"Inakap niya ko nang mahigpit. Sabi niya 'thank you for coming'. Sobrang overwhelming," said Sanchez.
   
Beaming with pride, Sanchez said she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and tell the world that she is a Filipina.

"Kasi likas sa atin yung bayanihan, yung pagtulong at pagligtas ng iba. Nag-yellow blouse pa nga ako kasi love ko si Cory," she said.
The second of three children, Sanchez came from humble beginnings in Catanauan, Quezon.
At the age of 3, her father died leaving the responsibility of raising the family to her mother who she considers her hero.
"Siya ang inspirasyon ko, ang dami niyang pinag-daanan para sa amin," she said.
Sanchez may have come a long way. But her dreams remain simple: to be able to give her children a good education and to continue bringing pride to her country.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more