CEBU – Cebuano businessman and philanthropist Roberto E. Aboitiz, who marks his 30th year as honorary consul of the Netherlands, was conferred the Knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau by the Dutch government.
On behalf of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Dutch Ambassador Robert Brinks made the surprise conferment last Friday at the Casino Español during a reception celebrating the ties of friendship between the Netherlands and Cebu.
The Royal Decoration was bestowed upon Aboitiz in recognition of his services as honorary consul for a considerable period of time, as well as his socio-civic achievements and activities.
Ambassador Brinks said that through the “pro-active” leadership of Aboitiz, the Netherlands Embassy has been given a multi-faceted presence in the Visayas.
More than just operating as a venue for processing visa applications, the consular office in Cebu has undertaken major economic partnerships, strengthened possibilities for bilateral trade, and has in the past extended assistance in the field of development cooperation.
In 1990, the City of Cebu and the City of Haarlemmermeer established a city twinning relationship. This led to the formation of the Vereniging Haarlemmermeer-Cebu (VHC) Association which conducted exchange programs between Dutch and Cebuano youths. In 2008, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) became the official representative of the VHC in Cebu.
“My government owes immeasurable gratitude to Consul Aboitiz for the tireless efforts undertaken in the course of many, many years serving Dutch interests in a wide variety of fields and fostering ties of friendship between Cebu and the Netherlands,” Amb. Brinks said, also citing Consul Aboitiz’s work of being at the helm of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., which has “demonstrated a brand of corporate social responsibility dedicated towards improving the quality of life of marginalized communities through people-centered programs.”
“Much of what he has accomplished is certainly due to his brand of leadership—a man-for-others, as his Jesuit mentors would call it,” Amb. Brinks said of Aboitiz, who graduated from Ateneo de Manila University with a BA degree in Behavioral Science.
As the first Cebuano to receive such rare honor, Consul Aboitiz said that he is humbled and is full of gratitude for the “very unexpected” recognition for his 30 years of service as consul.
The Royal Decoration came on the heels of the most recent of his awards such as last year’s Doctor Honoris Causa from the Cebu Normal University and the Perlas award for meritorious citizens of Cebu.
The reception also served as the occasion of the signing of three memorandums of agreement between RAFI and the City of Cebu on the reinforcement of the OB-GYNE ward and construction of a trauma unit at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC); RAFI and Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW) Foundation for water, sanitation and hygiene project of four barangays in the Buhisan watershed; and RAFI and the Fellowship for Organizing Endeavors (FORGE) Inc. for the computer literacy project benefiting urban poor children in Cebu. The latter is also supported by the Meerlanden Youth Cebu, a group of Dutch youth who visit Cebu annually and immerse in local communities, in cooperation with Vereniging Haarlemmermeer-Cebu, among others.
Apart from the “thriving twinning” of cities, Ambassador Brinks also noted during the reception the other proofs of the growing bilateral relations between Cebu City and the Netherlands. These include the ongoing technical cooperation between Philexport-Cebu and CBI-Rotterdam.
Senior Dutch advisers have also assisted in the implementation of more than 80 projects under the government-funded Senior Experts Program since 2001, and several Cebuanos have already been awarded fellowships from the Netherlands Fellowship Program.
In September of last year, Cebu was also visited by the heir to the Dutch throne, Prince Willem Alexander, to lend support to the Asia-Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production held in Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort. — /LPM (THE FREEMAN)