GOVPH

PCG attends premier performance of “Chinese Musical Painting” at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall

SHANGHAI – Officials of the Philippine Consulate General joined other consular missions in marveling at the premier performance of the Chinese orchestral suite “中国音画” (Zhōngguò yīnhuà, “Chinese Music Painting”) at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall on April 1.

The piece was composed by renowned Chinese composer-lyricist Wu Songjin, and was written for a traditional Chinese orchestra. It spans five movements of altogether 22 pieces, namely “Lingnan Musical Paintings”, “Northern Musical Paintings”, “Southern Musical Paintings”, “Frontier Musical Paintings”, and finally, “Four Seasons Musical Paintings”. It is bookended by an overture and a finale.

With movements composed to represent each region, the piece serves as a masterful expression of Chinese cultural diversity of major Chinese ethnic groups.

The piece was originally scored and performed for a western orchestra, debuting in 2023. The April 1^st performance marked the premier of the opus as scored for Chinese traditional instruments. The performance was by the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra, under the eminent baton of maestro Peng Jiapeng.

Attending for the PCG were the Acting Head of Post John Francis S. Herrera, Vice Consul Richard L. Recella, and Attachés Jeannie F. Petrola, Joany G. Margallo-Lucas, Mark Z. Geguera, and Jennifer Ranches.

Participation in major cultural activities and engagements in Shanghai and the provinces of Anhui, Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang form an important part of the Consulate General’s diplomacy. END

Shanghai PCG holds training on competency-based customer service

SHANGHAI – Aiming to equip its personnel with the necessary skills and attitude in addressing the evolving needs of its clientele, the Philippine Consulate General held an echo training on Competency-based Customer Service Workshop on 28 March 2025 at the Consulate’s reception hall.

Post’s Consular Assistant and Attaché, Gigi Marie U. Llanera conducted the two-hour training session highlighting her learnings from the virtual workshop she attended last August.

During the session, Ms. Llanera talked about the value of service and how expectations arise from the kind of service delivered. She also discussed the power of communication and the need to adapt to different communication styles of clients and colleagues in order to deliver the highest quality of customer service.

The highlight of the session was the role-play activity where PCG staff took turns in addressing the most common and complicated scenarios they encountered when providing consular, notarial, ATN and other services to the Consulate’s clientele. END

PCG joins the Filipino nation in celebrating the 2025 National Literature Month

The Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai joins the Filipino nation in celebrating the 2025 National Literature Month (NLM) this April, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 968 of 15 February 2015.

This year’s NLM theme is "SIKAD Panitikan: Kultura at Panitikan ng Kaunlaran". According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Sikad, a Cebuano term that means to kick, also communicates a sense of energy and highlights the continuing enthusiasm, significant action, and meaningful reflection of the nation's literature. The overall theme will once again open the door for our nation to express its culture through literature, discover innovative methods, ideas, and literary expressions through the new generation of writers in the field of literature, and highlight various folk arts and traditional practices that form part of the foundations by which literature is explained to the community.

The NLM is an annual celebration spearheaded by the NCCA, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and the National Book Development Board, to promote Philippine literature, its history, and cultural legacy.