17 May 2006 - The Philippine Embassy and the Filipino community in Israel notched another success with its Bayanihan sa Israel project, when it was joined by the Israel Youth Volunteers and employees of the city government of Tel Aviv in painting a city school house last 30 April.

In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, Ambassador Antonio C. Modena, Philippine envoy to Israel, said that putting a new coat of paint on the walls of Rogozen High School was an expression of solidarity by the Filipinos with the Israelis in celebration of the nation's National Day, which fell on 3 May in the Jewish calendar.

Rogozen High School is a multi-cultural school where children of immigrants and foreign workers are normally enrolled. The school is located at Neveh Sha'anan, which has been the site of two suicide bombings that killed more than twenty persons this year.

In his remarks before city and school officials, Ambassador Modena said that Bayanihan sa Israel: Makulay na Paaralan is more than just painting a school. "It is a Filipino way of showing solidarity with the Israelis by bringing color and the jovial Filipino spirit to an area which has been visited twice by the grim blackness of death and terror of suicide bombing," he said.

The Ambassador was referring to the recent suicide bombing incident in the area which killed a total of twenty-three people and injured more than a hundred others. "We would like Israelis to know that the Filipinos care. We hope that by this simple gesture we would somehow ease the painful memory of the violence that visited this place," Ambassador Modena said.

Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Arie Shommer expressed the city government's appreciation to the Filipinos. He praised the Filipino community's initiative and stressed that "this initiative has never been thought of or done by any foreign community in Israel."

He lauded the Ambassador and the Philippine Embassy's dedication to strengthen the ties between the Israelis and the Filipinos. "This is the kind of people to people cooperation that creates a true bond between our nations," Mr. Shommer said.

Ms. Karen Tal, Principal of Rogozen High School said that Bayanihan sa Israel: Makulay na Paaralan "is an important event which will always be imbedded in the history of the school".  She said that the project echoed the schools objective of bringing different cultures together through joint endeavors. The project should demonstrate to the students of the school that solidarity among peoples bring understanding between cultures, understanding that points the direction towards world peace,"

Speaking on behalf of the Filipino Community, Mrs. Justina Sales, President of the Filipino Communities in Israel (FFCI), reiterated the community's commitment to pursue social and environmental projects in cooperation with the Municipality of Tel Aviv and the Philippine Embassy as an expression of the Community's solidarity with the Israelis. "As the only Asian country that voted for the UN Partition, the resolution that created modern Israel, the project reiterates the Philippines' commitment to the Israeli people by expressing in deeds rather than words our way of honoring Israel's National Day".

Throughout the entire three hours, Filipinos and Israeli volunteers wore smiles on their faces and sang Filipino songs while painting the entire block of the school walls. Despite security risk and the extreme heat of the sun, Ambassador Modena donned the volunteer shirt and joined in painting the walls during the entire period to amazement of the Israeli media which covered the event.

Perspiring and full of paint, the Ambassador thanked the Filipino Community for their efforts and congratulated them for the success of another important project "which we could all be proud of.”   He also thanked Western Union and the Israel Youth Volunteers for donating the T-shirts and the city government for donating the paint and paint roller brushes.   (Please refer to the accompanying photo releases on this subject matter.)

Makulay na Paaralan is the second activity undertaken by the Filipino Community through the federation of Filipino Communities in Israel (FFCI), the Philippine Embassy and the Municipality of Tel Aviv under the Bayanihan Sa Israel project. Earlier, 300 members of the FFCI cleaned up the Tachana, the Tel Aviv central bus station, as a way of celebrating the Pesach with Israelis.

Pesach, which commemorates the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt, is synonymous with an annual thorough house cleaning as part of the religious ritual. The "Clean Tel Aviv," program of the Bayanihan sa Israel reaped praises from government officials, Israelis and the media. END