DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                        2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                     Tel. No. 834-4000 
SFA-AGR-638-06                                                                                                                                                                                                                             27 July 2006

AUSTRALIA’S REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSISTS LOW INCOME FILIPINO FAMILIES 

27 July 2006 – Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ernesto H. De Leon informed the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Regional Express (REX), Australia’s largest independent airline with more than 1,100 weekly flights across a network of 28 destinations in South Eastern Australia, is embarking on a project involving gifted but less fortunate Filipinos. 

Charlene Audrey Sim, Corporate Communications Manager of REX informed Ambassador De Leon that as part of the airline’s 4th Anniversary in August 2006, it will present a special handcrafted anniversary memento to customers and friends. 

REX, in cooperation with the Care Channels, will create bookmarks as giveaways during the August celebrations.  Each bookmark features real flowers and leaves, handpicked, dried and pressed against a backdrop of a REX aircraft flying over natural landscapes. 

Over four labor-intensive months, an impressive 100,000 bookmarks were handmade by 25 low-income Filipino families, a total of 63 members ranging from as young as 16 to 60 years of age. 

Ambassador De Leon thanked REX in giving importance to a pool of talented and gifted Filipinos who may not have the means to find productive expressions of their talents. “With 100,000 bookmarks passing hands, you would have narrated stories of resilience, hope and artistry among people who needed help to discover themselves,” the Ambassador said.

/gary

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