CHICAGO, Illinois – An eight-year old Filipino-American schoolboy was awarded by California State Senator Ellen M. Corbett with a Certificate of Accomplishments as Honorable Mention in the 2009 “Habitat Means Home” poster contest.

Angelo Marie Chua-Basa was the bet of his Pioneer Elementary School in Union City, a suburb of San Francisco, California.

His poster painting of an egret, waiting calmly in the open water pond for its prey beside a mountainous background under a blue sky, illustrates areas of environmental science and arts integration.

Present at the awards ceremony were school superintendent Kari McVeigh and the boy’s parents, Ernesto Basa and Dr. Marie Lynn Louella Chua Basa, eldest brother Christian Ernest, and visiting grandparents from the Philippines, Dr. Primitivo D. Chua and Mrs. Marilou A. Chua.

Doctor Chua was the former president of the Philippine Medical Association, a past district governor of the Lions Clubs International in Manila, and a past governor of the Philippine National Red Cross.

During the awards ceremony, Dr. Chua also informed Corbett that he is going to nominate her as Laureate in the Gusi Peace Prize on November 24, 2009 in Manila for promoting peace and environmental protection. The Gusi Peace Prize is the equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize in Asia.

Corbett had been to Bicol and Manila during the Sister Cities Twinning of San Leandro, California and Naga City during her earlier stint as a city mayor.