17 March 2023
BEIRUT - The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon in partnership with the Collège de la Sagesse St. Jean Brasilia organized the first Philippine Week Festival on 13-17 March 2023. The closing ceremony on 17 March 2023 was a culmination of the week-long activity planned by the Embassy and the school.
The program commenced with Ambassador Raymond R. Balatbat’s tour of the school premises to visit the students’ artworks and activities, accompanied by Collège de la Sagesse’s Director Rev. Fr. Jad Chlouk.
The school’s Special Education students welcomed the guests with a short interactive game where Ambassador Balatbat had to guess a phrase after the students correctly answered a series of questions about the Philippines. The students also distributed handmade paper flowers as a gift to His Excellency, the Philippine Embassy staff, and the teachers. The campus tour continued with the preschool students waving Philippine flags to greet the delegation.
Rev. Fr. Chlouk presented to His Excellency murals and various artworks by the students on Philippine history and culture, among other themes. The exhibit also featured different aspects of the Philippines from geography, national heroes, languages, food, and national costumes.
The Philippine Embassy set up a booth with different cultural items from the Philippines ranging from national attires, posters of Philippine festivals, and various cultural handicrafts. There was also a food booth for students and teachers for Filipino food tasting. Filipino cuisines such as maja blanca, puto, pancit bihon, lumpia, dried mangoes, locally-made chocolates, and hot tsokolate were served.
The second half of the ceremony was held at the school’s theater where the Lebanese students sang a touching rendition of the Lupang Hinirang in Filipino... watch now
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Balatbat expressed deep appreciation to the school for giving the Philippine Embassy the opportunity to share the Filipino heritage with the students and teachers. He fervently hopes that through months of preparation and collaboration for the Philippine cultural week, students were able to gain new insights and appreciation of Philippine culture. He also imparted an important advice to the students by quoting Dr. Jose Rizal that the youth is the hope of the future.
Rev. Fr. Chlouk expressed his gratitude to the Embassy’s support in the Philippine week festival and highlighted the common values between the Lebanese and the Filipino peoples such as strong family ties, respect for elders, hospitality, and diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. He also praised Filipino’s inherent resilience and optimism.
A group of students performed the sakuting and the tinikling, leaving the audience captivated by their talents and skills, while third graders wearing Filipino national attire delighted the crowd with a fashion show. As a tribute to all the participants, a video compilation of the months-long preparation and activities was shown during the program. The school gifted the Ambassador a plaque and a painting as a token of appreciation.
Throughout the week, students from different grade levels immersed in various activities such as playing Philippine games, preparing tsokolate/sikwate, and creating art and science projects which they conducted throughout the week and presented during the culminating program. The cultural activities were an effective way to celebrate and increase awareness and appreciation of Philippine history and culture among students and teachers.
The Embassy plants to expand its collaboration with academic institutions in Lebanon to promote awareness of the Philippine culture, heritage, and values especially among the youth.
