23 September 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to Belgium Victoria Bataclan led the Embassy personnel in hosting the graduation ceremony of the Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship (LSE) II Brussels training program on August 19.
Now on its second year, the program, organized by the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG), ran from March 21 to August 19. In her speech, the Ambassador expressed hope that more and more Filipinos in Belgium will join the LSE training program to help them learn to be financially literate and independent, and to realize their potential as leaders and social entrepreneurs. The Ambassador congratulated the graduates and expressed pride that Embassy personnel had also participated in the program.
Mr. Antonio Gabriel Maestrado La Viña, a Filipino lawyer, educator, and environmental policy expert and currently dean of ASoG was the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony.
Dean La Viña, in his three-part speech, thanked the LSE partners: the Philippine Embassies in Europe, Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc. (SEDPI), UGAT Foundation, Overseas Filipinos Society for the Promotion of Economic Security (OFSPES), Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the collaborators, alumni, faculty, mentors and students of LSE. He shared that to date, LSE has already nearly 1000 OFW graduates in Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan, Turin, Brussels, Paris, The Hague, Dubai, Hong Kong and Macau and that they intend to open programs in Barcelona and Canada soon. He then proceeded to talk about current issues in the Philippines. Towards the end, Dean La Viña told the audience that LSE is about helping people to help themselves and their families so that they can all help our country, the Philippines.
This year’s graduates include a general surgeon from the Philippines who is currently involved in cancer research in Belgium, Dr. Carmela Caballero. Embassy driver Leopoldo Sevilla who plans to set up a food business in Belgium, also finished the Course. Other graduates were: Malou Vicente-Dwyer who is also involved in cancer clinical research studies who submitted a business plan on furniture design; Ma. Fe Paeste-van Linthout, who was recently widowed, intends to build a dormitory in her province, and Remy Pontillo-Devos, a Filipino community leader in Luxembourg who is involved in various agricultural programs in the Philippines.
Last year’s LSE graduates helped organize this year’s graduation ceremony. Maricar Macapagal, graduate of LSE I Brussels, was the emcee of the program.
The first LSE program in Brussels was held from 14 September 2013 to 08 March 2014. Graduates receive a certificate from the ASoG which may later be credited for future Masters in Public Management degree. END