The PHCM held its first meeting for 2020 on Thursday, February 20 at DMCI. At the well-attended event, the theme for this year’s celebration was revealed as ‘Ani ng Kalinga at Pagmamahal’ (Harvest of Caring and Love). The full Meeting Agenda can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/phcm-feb20-meeting.

After the meeting, the attendees shared coffee and cake in celebration of President Perla Javate‘s birthday. Before presenting the cake, Assistant Secretary Gani Casalla read off birthday messages from a star-studded list of well-wishers that included Health Minister Cameron Friesen, MP Kevin Lamoureux, Premier Brian Pallister, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself.

Tita Perla also met with community figure Kris Ontong to formalize the partnership with Barangay Manitoba to look after PHCM’s web and social media presence. In addition, PHCM will be able to reach kababayan communities in rural areas visited by Barangay Manitoba. Barangay Manitoba is the provincial chapter of Barangay Canada, a nationwide media project which aims to learn and share the stories of how kababayan communities across the country are integrating and thriving in their respective locales. The project expects that the shared knowledge will allow these communities to connect and support one another, much like a ‘barangay,’ the Filipino term for a small village.