News and Events

Jimmy’s Cambodian Dream

Posted on Oct 15, 2012

Jimmy is 24 years old and looked just like any other Cambodian we’ve met – small-built, welcoming, his eyes smiled along with his lips. He also wore long sleeves even in the dead of the heat.

But there was something else about Jimmy that made him a bit different – his dream.

Pinoy peace prize awardee Kesz Valdez dedicates award to guardian

Posted on Sep 25, 2012

Do not lose hope even if you live on the streets. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you can do something to change the world. – Kesz Valdez, 2012 International Children’s Peace Prize awardee

Desmond Tutu praises 13-year-old Pinoy peace awardee for giving voice to street children

Posted on Sep 21, 2012

Where you are should not determine what you become. Well done, Kesz, well done – Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Int’l Children’s Peace Prize awardee Kesz Valdez

Filipino teener in Holland walks for orphans in The Philippines

Posted on Jul 20, 2012

15-year-old Filipino teener Kyle Baleva is walking for the fourth time to help orphaned Filipino children back home. He is traversing the cities of Elst, Wijchen, Groesbeek and Cuijk in the western part of the Netherlands through the Four-Day Nijmegen Marches on this exceptionally rainy week in the country. His goal: to raise much needed funds for the Children’s Rehabilitation Center’s (CRC) “A Hand for an Orphan” program.

Wilhelm Geertman remembered through memorial service

Posted on Jul 17, 2012

There was an outpour of emotions as family, friends, former colleagues and comrades of Willem Geertman filled the Old Catholic Church on Ruysdaelstraat in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His comrades were in black and red, organizing Filipinos donned Filipiniana and his brothers wore identical white t-shirts with the words: “Katarungan para kay Kuya William” which brother Ton brought in from The Philippines. Ton Geertman and sister Maria went to The Philippines weeks ago to bury their brother. Ton however has more to tell of the experience. While it was a sad moment, it was also...

Remembering Willem

Posted on Jul 9, 2012

This is a sidebar story to this news report published on Saturday. Last Friday’s march to the Philippine Embassy in The Hague, The Netherlands brought Willem Geertman’s fellow NGO workers to tears – of hate and sadness. They fondly remembered the environmentalist and activist as kind, welcoming and crazy about the Philippines. Maitet Ledesma of IBON Europe burst to tears during the meeting with Philippine Ambassador Lourdes Morales. She still cannot believe that someone can think of murdering Geertman. Grace Punongbayan of Migrante Europe also clearly remembered her encounters with...

Independent, impartial investigation sought for Dutchman killed in PH

Posted on Jul 7, 2012

Several Holland-based NGOs condemned the killing of development worker Willem Geertman who was murdered in front of his office in Pampanga, Philippines Tuesday afternoon. Amsterdam-based groups Bayan Europe and Dutch-Filipino Solidarity Group asked for a swift non-partisan investigation of the case and quick justice for the 67-year-old Dutchman. The National Democratic Front of the Philippines blamed the Aquino administration for the death of the Executive Director of Alay Bayan Inc. who championed the rights of farmers. It called the Aquino regime a killing machine and cited the death of...

Fil-Dutch ‘Michael Jackson’ to send Pinoy street children to school

Posted on May 7, 2012

While the Filipino community reels from a recent boxing event at the NAIA, here’s some good news from the Filipino community in The Netherlands published on GMA News Online. content if browser does not support...