TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Envoy to PH awarded for outstanding work on citizen protection
The Foreign Ministry has recognized the outstanding contribution of the Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines, Johny Lumintang, in protecting Indonesian citizens abroad.
Change Size
Three Indonesian sailors released on Sunday and handed over to Philippine authorities in Zamboanga will fly to Manila to undergo a medical check-up before being flown home to Indonesia on Tuesday. (JP/ Haeril Halim )
Tama Salim
The Foreign Ministry has recognized the outstanding contribution of the Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines, Johny Lumintang, in protecting Indonesian citizens abroad.
He was awarded the 2016 Hassan Wirajuda Citizen Protection Award (HWPA) on Friday evening for his leadership at the helm of the Indonesian Embassy in Manila, which saw a string of difficult challenges this year.
The retired army general was at the forefront of the government's efforts to rescue more than two dozen Indonesian nationals abducted by the notorious Abu Sayyaf militant group, which operates in and around southern Philippine waters.
Johny was also largely responsible for repatriating 283 Indonesian haj pilgrims and pilgrimage candidates who were caught up in an alleged identity fraud scam in Manila.
"I thank you for this award, but let the record show that this was the result of our collective hard work. If this prize could be broken down into many pieces, they would be distributed to every one of us," the envoy said in his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony.
(Read also: Indonesian hostage escapees probed by authorities)
The government has managed to rescue a total of 25 Indonesians taken hostage in the Philippines this year, with four fishermen still in captivity.
Johny is joined by 16 other recipients of the HWPA, including Jahar Gultom, the Indonesian Consul General in Kuching, Malaysia, Elly Kamsir, an Indonesian resident in Mauritius, and Cassiem Augustus, a South African of Indonesian descent working as an inspector with the International Transport Workers' Federation.
(jun)
