RP Calls for More Concrete Actions to Combat Piracy at a High-Level Meeting in Seoul
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9 June 2009 – The Philippines called on the international community to come up with more concrete actions
to combat piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Aden and the Western Indian Ocean.
The Philippine delegation, led by Oscar Orcine, Executive Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA)
Ocean Concerns Office, expressed the necessity for continuous collaboration among countries to solve the
scourge of piracy, citing the Philippines’ serious concern in view of the presence of at least one Filipino
seafarer on board eight of 10 vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden or the Indian Ocean.
There are at present 44 Filipino seafarers in four vessels in the custody of Somali pirates.
“The Philippines is directly affected by the problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia. We therefore support all
efforts for collaboration and coordination and in having a coherent policy to address piracy off the coast of
Somalia. We would like to see concrete actions from the international community and the other delegates
participating here,” Mr. Orcine told delegates attending the Seoul High-Level Meeting on Piracy Off the Coast of
Somalia on 9-10 June.
During the meeting, Mr. Orcine also expressed the Philippine Government’s gratitude to the governments and
navies of the United States, China, and Germany for the assistance they extended to Philippine flag vessel MV
Stolt Strength and its all-Filipino crew which was released by Somali pirates in April.
At the 3rd Seoul Maritime Forum held on 8 June, DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs
(OUMWA) Executive Director Ma. Agnes Cervantes called for clearer procedures whereby a country can make
request for timely assistance, including oil bunkering and other requirements, given the experience of a
Philippine flag vessel earlier released by pirates.
The Seoul High-Level Meeting is hosted by the Republic of Korea in coordination with Japan and the
International Maritime Organization. The meeting is attended by delegates from 35 countries, 16 international
organizations, and private entities in the maritime industry. END
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Reports from Philippine Embassies and Consulates (As of 9 June 2009)
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Buenos Aires PE
* 215 reported laboratory confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in Argentina.
* No cases of Filipinos getting infected with the disease in Argentina.
Chicago PCG
* 4,761 reported confirmed and suspected cases of A(H1N1) with five deaths in 16 Midwestern states under
Post’s jurisdiction.
* There are no reported cases of affected individuals of Filipino / Filipino-American descent in Post’s
jurisdiction.
Honolulu PCG
* 115 reported laboratory confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in Hawaii.
* There are no reported cases of affected individuals of Filipino / Filipino-American descent in Post’s
jurisdiction.
Macau PCG
* No reported case of A(H1N1) in Macau.
* Post consistently updates the Filipino community on A(H1N1) situation in Macau through its meetings with
Filcom leaders, issuance of advisories and announcements during Filcom events.
New York PCG
* 1, 836 reported confirmed and probable cases of A(H1N1) with seven deaths in 10 Northeast states under
Post’s juisdiction.
* There are no reported cases of affected individuals of Filipino / Filipino-American descent in Post’s
jurisdiction.
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Independence Day Parade in New York
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09 June 2009 - Filipinos in the East Coast marked the 111th Anniversary of Philippine Independence with their
annual parade in Manhattan, New York, on Sunday, 7 June 2009. Photo shows members of Filforce, the
largest Filipino airsoft team in the United States, carry a large Philippine flag as they march down Madison
Avenue. Vice President Noli de Castro was the guest of honor in this year’s festivities. New York has the
distinction of hosting the biggest Philippine independence day parade in the United States. END
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Ambassador Benavidez makes Farewell Call on the Sultan of Brunei
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09 June 2009 - His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam received outgoing
Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Virginia H. Benavidez at Istana Nurul Iman on 30 May 2009.
Benavidez has been the Philippine Ambassador to Brunei since 29 May 2002. Previously, the outgoing
ambassador had also served as Minister Counsellor and Consul General at the Embassy of the Republic of
the Philippines in this country. END
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Family Day in Jakarta in Celebration of the 111 Years of Philippine Independence
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09 June 2009 – The Philippine Embassy in Jakarta reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo
that the Filipino Community of Indonesia (FILCOMIN) organized a Family Day in celebration of 111 years of
Philippine Independence.
The celebration dubbed Kapamilya, Kapuso, Pinoy Tayo Kahit Saan, Kahit Kailan was held at the Keman
Village in South Jakarta on 07 June 2009.
The event, attended by more than 300 adults and children, kicked off with a celebration of the Holy Mass, a
short program and a lunch thereafter.
The afternoon had fun-packed parlor games for the families highlighted by a series of sudden death bingo
games, the grand prize being two million rupiah (around US$200.00) END
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Kultura at Kasarinlan: Celebrating Philippine National Heritage Month and the 111th
Anniversary of the Declaration of Philippine Independence
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09 June 2009- The Philippine Embassy in Hanoi, in cooperation with the Filipino community, observed
National Heritage Month and the 111th Anniversary of the Declaration of Philippine Independence with two
events that showcased distinct elements of Philippine culture, particularly the “Santacruzan”, Filipino music,
and the indigenous dance “Pangalay.”
On a bright Sunday morning, the 31st of May, Filipinos, mostly based in Hanoi, together with family and
friends, flocked to the Hanoi Press Club for the community’s Independence Day program.
The program started with a Santacruzan participated in by children of Filipino community members and other
expatriates in Hanoi. The Santacruzan participants rode on cyclos, the Vietnamese version of the pedicab, and
went around the historic Sofitel Metropole Hotel and the roundabout in front of the Hanoi Opera House.
After the cyclo parade, the young “Reynas” and their escorts formed into a procession and entered the Hanoi
Press Club Hall as the Cua Bac International Fellowship choir was singing the traditional “Dios Te Salve.”
The other highlights of the program were performances from the AlunAlun Dance Circle and Mr. Joey Ayala.
The AlunAlun Dance Circle (ADC) came to Hanoi upon the invitation of the Philippine Embassy and with
support from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. The ADC performed the “Pangalay”, an
endangered pre-Islamic and pre-Christian dance style indigenous to the Sulu Archipelago - home to the
Tausug, Samal, Badjao, and Jama Mapun groups–in the southern Philippines. This little-known dance style
has the richest movement vocabulary among Philippine dances and is a living link to traditional dance
cultures in the Asian region.
Mr. Joey Ayala, on the other hand, is a popular contemporary artist, best known for mixing the sound of Filipino
indigenous instruments, such as the hegalong and the kulintang, with the sound of modern pop music to
come up with songs that tell stories about the environment, the travails of the common man, different forms of
love, nationalism, among others.
Mr. Ayala joined this year’s community Independence Day celebration upon the invitation of the Filipino
community.
Not to be outdone, Filipino community members also took the opportunity to wow the audience at the event
with their performances of the cariñosa and the maglalatik.
During the program, Ambassador Laura Q. Del Rosario took the opportunity to inform the audience about
important updates from the Embassy, particularly on consular matters, such as the availability of machine-
readable passports and continuing registration for Overseas Absentee Voting.
Vin d’honneur in celebration of the 111th Anniversary of the declaration of Philippine Independence, 01 June
2009
On 01 June 2009, the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi commemorated the 111th Anniversary of the Declaration
of Philippine Independence with a vin d’honneur at the Sofitel Plaza Hanoi. Vietnamese government officials,
members of the diplomatic corps, and prominent members of the academic, business and cultural
communities in Hanoi, including those from the Filipino community, were in attendance at the reception.
The Embassy decided to hold the celebration early to give an opportunity to the diplomatic corps to watch a
repertoire of Philippine pangalay dances performed by the AlunAlun Dance Circle. The cultural presentation
demonstrated the pre-Hispanic linkage of the Philippines to the Hindu/Buddhist-based cultures of Indonesia
and Indochina.
The Embassy received very positive compliments from the diplomats present at the reception.
The EU Ambassador, in particular, said that if all Embassies in Hanoi planned their receptions the way the
Philippine Embassy planned theirs, the female Ambassadors will have control over the cultural diplomacy
agenda in Hanoi. The Indian Ambassador likewise noted the performance’s high-level quality while the Italian
Ambassador and the Director General of Vietnam’s UNESCO remarked that it was an excellent performance.
During the toast, Ambassador Laura Q. Del Rosario took the opportunity to mention recent developments in
the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Vietnam, such as the exchange visits between Vietnam’s
Minister of Public Security and the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, meetings between
Philippine and Vietnamese maritime experts and the upcoming meeting of Senior Officials from the
Philippines and Vietnam under the Joint Commission framework to prepare for the sixth Joint Commission
meeting at the Ministerial level.
The guest of honor, Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung, also took note of these developments and
expressed happiness at the further expansion and development of Philippine-Vietnam bilateral relations. He
also expressed appreciation over the impressive performance of the AlunAlun Dance Circle and extended his
thanks to the Embassy and the NCCA for bringing the group to Vietnam.
Guests at the reception also had the chance to drink San Miguel beer and C2 iced tea courtesy of San Miguel
Beer Vietnam Limited and URC Vietnam Corporation. END
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527 New Overseas Absentee Voters Register in Abha, Saudi Arabia
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09 June 2009 – The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G.
Romulo that the standing record of 524 overseas absentee voting registrants in two days established in Taif
on 30 April and 01 May 2009 has been surpassed in the Consulate’s conduct of its second field registration in
Abha on 04-05 June.
The Consulate’s OAV team was able to enlist 527 new overseas absentee voters.
Consul General Ezzedin H. Tago expressed his elation on the record-breaking Abha OAV field registration and
immediately thanked the Abha-Khamis Mushayt Filipino community profusely for its cooperation and
enthusiasm to register. Consul General Tago commended the Philippine International School in Abha for its
hospitality in hosting the activity and the Consulate’s Area Coordinator, Virgilio Crisostomo, for another
coordination job well done.
Consul General Tago attributed the success of the Abha field registration to the confluence of the following
factors:
1. the all-out support of Filipino community organizations;
2. the unqualified and untiring support of the Consulate’s area coordinator and his supporters;
3. the full cooperation of the administration, faculty and staff of the Filipino curriculum school venue (Philippine
International School, formerly the Assir Filipino Community School);
4. the early, continuous and wide dissemination of information on the field registration conducted through the
ABS-CBN TFC Global Pinoy segment, newspapers and text messages; and the
5. manifest fervent desire of FilExpats in Abha to really register so that they could exercise their constitutional
right of suffrage in the national elections in May 2010.
Consul General Tago expressed hope that the Abha experience will inspire the Filipino community and
organizations in Jeddah to come out in droves and register in the last 3 months of the registration period
which ends on 31 August.
OAV registration is on-going in the Consulate on 7-days a week basis from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. END
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Shanghai PCG conducts Mobile Registration for Overseas Absentee Voting
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09 June 2009 –The Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai conducted mobile registration for Overseas
Absentee Voting during the 111th Philippine Independence Day Picnic held at the Garden of The Eton Hotel
Shanghai as part of its Serbisyo Para sa Republika mobile consular mission.
In a report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, Philippine Consul General Rowena Sanchez stated
that 78 Filipinos registered during the event.
The Philippine Consulate General also offered other consular services such as passport renewals, notarials,
community registration, and assistance to nationals to the community.
The Philippine Consulate General will visit Suzhou City in Jiangsu Province for its next mobile consular
mission. END
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Philippine Products Big Hit among Israeli Students
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09 June 2009 – Philippine products turned out the top seller during the International Festival at the
Interdisciplinary College (IDC) in Herzliya held June 8. The Philippines was among the 20 participating
countries in the festival aimed at providing foreign students at IDC the opportunity to showcase food items,
drinks and crafts.
Philippine Ambassador to Israel Petronila P. Garcia, Vice Consul Bertrand Theodor L. Santos and Mr. Alvin L.
Conchas III were among the Embassy officials who went to Herzliya to provide moral support to Filipino
students and their Israeli friends who were manning the Philippine booth.
The booth also distributed tourism brochures aside from selling San Miguel products and Filipino snack
items.
The highlight of the participation was a demonstration of arnis by Master (Guro) Jon Escudero and IDC
student Angelo Victor Garcia. To the delight of the students, the duo demonstrated the graceful but deadly
moves and techniques of the Filipino martial art. END
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