Mother of the Year

The Filipino-American Association of Philadelphia, Inc. started the tradition of celebrating Mothers Day with the selection of a Mother of the Year in the 1950s. The founder of FAAPI, Mr. Agripino Jaucian, delegated the program and selection to Mr. Eligio “Carl” Garlitos. At that time, there were no criteria in choosing the Mother of the Year.

It was only when Mrs. Medy Garlitos was chosen as Mother of the Year that a draft criteria was initiated. During her term, she formed a Mothers Day Committee whose responsibility was to select a Mother of the Year. Since there were several candidates then, selection was made through secret balloting by all the members of the committee and submitted to the President for verification. Initially, the selection was limited only to existing members of FAAPI. Later on, non-members were invited to be candidates and were asked to submit their curriculum vitae if they think they are qualified to be a Mother of the Year. Mrs. Flory Laurencio was the first Mother of the Year selected outside the organization.

In 1997, a new Mothers Day Committee was created and entrusted to concoct new criteria in selecting the Mother of the Year. The committee was composed of the following three permanent members knowledgeable of the FAAPI organization: Dr. Raymond Soriano, Mrs. Medy Garlitos, and Mrs. Dolores Ventura; other members were: the current President and the outgoing Mother of the Year. These criteria were presented to the general membership and were subsequently approved. These criteria have since then been used to select the Mother of the Year.

1. Must be mother who has remained married, never got separated nor divorced from her husband
2. Must be of good moral character.
3. Must be a typical Filipino woman or of a Filipino-American descent.
4. Must personify a true Filipina with dignity and grace
5. Must be a role model for the children
6. Must project a good image for the Filipino-American Association of Philadelphia, Inc.
7. Must be able to represent Filipino-American Association of Philadelphia, Inc. in any civic and social activities in the community.
8. Must be able to help in the sale of tickets and solicit advertisements.

For nominations and inquiries, please contact sspadaro@faapi.org