Sen. Nikki Coseteng leads 2025 APPCU Laureates
PNP shines in this year’s awarding ceremony
FORMER senator and known nationalist and intellectual, Anna Dominique ‘Nikki’ Coseteng, headed the 12 Filipino ‘Laureates’ in the recently concluded ‘Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding (APPCU) for 2025’ held last June 3 at the Manila Hotel.
Started in 2021, the APPCU is an annual joint undertaking spearheaded by the Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU) and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Philippines.
It is a novel award-giving body that pays special tribute to Filipinos who have made efforts through time in strengthening friendly ties and promoting mutual understanding between the Philippines and China using their respective advocacies and expertise in the various fields and disciplines of mass media and public service; trade and commerce; and arts, culture, and the sciences.
The search for this year’s awardees started in February and concluded the following month under the careful guidance of APPCU chair Atty. Raul Lambino and President Sixto Benedicto. The awardees include two members of the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) who helped rescue two Chinese kidnap victims.
Coseteng joins the growing number of illustrious Filipinos and Fil-Chinese in the APPCU’s prestigious ‘Hall of Fame’ for their unstinting effort to foster closer relationship and understanding between the peoples of the two countries.
They include former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos and Ambassador Francis Chua (2021); former President Joseph Estrada and businessman Francisco Chua (2022); former President Rodrigo Duterte and businessman and former special envoy to China, Carlos Chan (2023); and, Gabriel ‘Gabby’ Lopez, former APCU president and Larry Tan Villareal, president of Dowell Group Philippines and chairman of the Philippine Soong Ching Ling Foundation.
HE Huang Xilian, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, often described the APPCU as a “flagship project for enhancing the traditional friendship between the Philippines and China and promoting mutual understanding and amity between the two countries.”
This year’s occasion is made more meaningful as the Philippines and China commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their formal diplomatic relations on June 9, when then President Ferdinand Marcos officially visited the People’s Republic of China in 1975.
Aside from Coseteng, also recognized for their contributions are: Edgard A. Cabangon, successful businessman and among the pillars of the Philippine media and Maynard Ngu (Outstanding Contributions); Quezon City mayor Ma. Josefina ‘Joy’ Tanya Go Belmonte, Ng Siu Seng, Joaquin Sy, and Teodoro Nebres Dofiles II (Major Contribution);
Marianne Lourdes Leonor, an English teacher in China’s Hubei province, Police Staff Sergeant Nelson Garcia Santiago (posthumous), Police Chief MSgt. Eden Batangoy Accad, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairperson Shirley Agrupis; and, Justin Clarence Leo Tembresa, Tiktok content creator (Amity Award).
In 2022 and 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has obliged to join the APPCU to show his appreciation of its works.
However, since pivoting towards the United States by mid-2023, Malacañang has snubbed further APPCU invitation to attend any of its events.
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