12 November 2014 – The Filipino Communities Council of Australia (FILCCA) presented the Filipino-Australian of the Year Award 2014 to Mr. Ignatius Jones during the Gala Night of its 13th Annual Conference held on October 25 at the Novotel Hotel in Parramatta City, New South (NSW) Wales.
The event was attended by Philippine Ambassador to Australia Belen F. Anota, Philippine Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells who represented Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Federal Member of Parliament for Greenway Michelle Rowland, State Member of Parliament for Parramatta Geoff Lee representing NSW Premier Mike Baird, State Member of Parliament for Fairfield Guy Zangari, Parramatta City Mayor Scott Lloyd, and Councillor Jess Diaz of the City of Blacktown, a former FILCCA President.
Ambassador Anota congratulated Mr. Jones on receiving the award and lauded him for being an inspiration to Filipinos in Australia.
Born in Singalong, Manila, in 1957, Ignatius Jones, whose real name is Juan Ignacio Trapaga, is the son of Basque-Chinese and Catalan-American parents. He trained in classical ballet and branched out to rock music, jazz, journalism, theatre, television and major event production. He is a leading major event director, creative strategist and event script-writer, and has directed international events such as the 2000 Sydney Olympic Ceremonies, the Doha 2006 Asian Games Ceremonies, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and the opening of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.
Mr. Jones has been the Artistic Director of the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade since 2011. He is the Executive Producer/Creative Director of the Vivid Sydney Festival 2014, which broke all records achieving attendance of 1.43 million people. He took over the helm of the Vivid Sydney Festival in 2011.
Mr. Jones has won numerous awards for his works.
In accepting the award, Mr. Jones traced his Filipino ancestry and emphasized both the diversity of his roots and the multicultural beauty of the Philippines. He also noted the rich pool of artistic talents in the Filipino community in Australia. He was accompanied during the Gala Night by members of his family including his sister, Ms. Monica Trapaga, who is herself an accomplished artist and best known for her work on the Australian series, “Play School”.
The FILCCA is the national umbrella organization of Filipino community councils in various states in Australia. The Association holds its national conference every two years. During the Conference held in Perth in 2012, Mr. Rudy Gomez, a metallurgist/mining engineer with 47 patents who discovered the Carrapateena copper deposits in South Australia, was awarded as Filipino-Australian of the Year. END