GOVPH

Marriage Banns: Mr. Nikko Cunanan Reyes and Ms. Mariel Lizette Ruales Buan

“Young Journalists” cover PH Consulate General, round up highlights of PH-China Friendship

03 December 2021 –  Twenty-one kid reporters aged 7 to 12 and drawn from Grades 2 to 6 went “on assignment” today to the Consulate General and left with a greater appreciation of the Philippines and its links with China, following a four-hour engagement.

Drawn from various schools by the Shanghai Power of Children Foundation, the grade schoolers learned about the Philippines via an interactive audio-visual presentation by Tourism Attaché Ireneo H. Reyes and his team.

The aspiring journalists further satisfied their curiosities about diplomatic life and various aspects of Philippines-China friendship in an interview with Consul General Josel F. Ignacio in individual Q&As. The questions spanned the Philippine’s agricultural trade with China, school system, indigenous peoples and environmental protection.

The Consulate General’s lobby later took on a fiesta atmosphere as the children gamely learned and nimbly performed the spirited steps of Bacolod City’s famous Masskara dance. The kids decorated their own masks using kits provided by the DOT team and guest instructor Ms. Jen Geronimo, a Chinese-speaking Filipino school teacher based in Shanghai.

A halohalo snack gave a literal taste of the Philippines to the young reporters, who each gleefully scooped their mélange of sweet ingredients and preserves of choice into glasses before topping and mixing these with the obligatory crushed ice and milk.

Following an exchange of tokens of appreciation, the Young Journalists symbolically “invested” Consul General Ignacio with the hónglǐngjīn – the traditional Red Scarf donned by “Young Pioneer” Chinese school children – as a gesture of respect and friendship.” END

“Batang Pinoy Ako” event steeps Filipino children in Shanghai in PH heritage, culture and games

14 November 2021 –  The delighted shrieks of Filipino children filled the grounds of the Parkyard hotel in the New Pudong District as 40 Filipino children and their families gathered for the second iteration of the “Batang Pinoy Ako” cultural awareness event.

Following up on the success of the event’s first staging on 26 December 2020, Batang Pinoy Ako 2 was again helmed jointly by the Pinoy Teachers Association in Shanghai (PITAS) in collaboration with the Philippine Consulate General and the Philippine Department of Tourism Office in Shanghai.

Batang Pinoy Ako 2 packed various activities and an immersive, enriching experience overall within a 4.5-hour program. Part 1 exposed participating kids to colorful presentations about key facts and aspects of Philippines’ geography, history and culture.

Part 2 saw the children breaking into groups and taking turns visiting the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao stations where they learned about and tried their hands (and feet) at indigenous dances, games, and handicrafts.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat honored the gathering by extending greetings by video to the kids and participants and congratulating the organizers of the project. Consul General Josel F. Ignacio also addressed the event with brief remarks in Filipino. He underscored the importance of projects such as Batang Pinoy in steering Filipino kids living abroad to be invested in their Philippine heritage and preserving their links with the motherland. END