27 June 2014 - The Filipino Community in the Czech Republic celebrated the 116th Philippine Independence Day in a series of activities held for four days in June.
They started with the Flag-Raising ceremony and the Panunumpa sa Watawat at the Philippine Embassy on June 12. This was followed by the reading of the Independence Day Messages of President Benigno S. Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay by Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros and that of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario by First Secretary and Consul Juan E. Dayang, Jr. After some exchanges of views between Embassy staff and those present, everyone partook of a simple Filipino-flavored breakfast.
In the evening, the Embassy sponsored a Concert at the Czech Museum of Music featuring the Philippine Sandalphon Singers under the baton of Professor Katherine “Kitchy” Molina, resident choir of the EDSA Shrine whose members are mostly alumni of the U.P. Concert Chorus. Other than members of the Filipino community, also in the audience were Czech government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and business people.
The program consisted of selections from classical music to Filipino folksongs -- which manifest the Filipinos’ religiosity as well as their joie de vivre. The Singers opened with sacred works, reflecting their 20-plus years of service in the music ministry of the venerable EDSA Shrine, and ended the first part with a Black Spiritual.
The group showed how music is deeply interwoven into everyday Filipino life by their renditions of varied chants, folk, contemporary and patriotic songs from several regions in the Philippines.
The next day, The Sandalphon Singers paid a visit to the City of Litomerice, hometown of Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt. The group was received by Mayor Ladislav Chlupac. Making the most of their time there, the singers also visited the small park dedicated to Jose Rizal just behind City Hall and also the fairly extensive exhibits at the Rizal-Blumentritt Bastion nearby. They even managed to render some songs along the way, to the pleasant surprise of the locals.
The weekend saw them singing at the Saturday anticipated Mass at St. Thomas Parish; on Sunday they sang a full Misa Cantada at the Church of Our Lady Victorious, which houses the world-famous Sto. Nino de Praga. Both times, the congregations showered them with applauses.
Fittingly, that Sunday ended with a “salo-salo” – also at the Sto Nino Shrine – with members of the Filipino community, a number of whom came with their Czech spouses.
All told, these activities had some people talking about Philippine “National Day” in the days that followed. ENDa