DFA, PSaysay, Ibarra Partner to Spread the Words of Filipino Heroes Overseas

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter S. Cayetano leads the descendants of great Filipinos Apolinario Mabini, Gregoria de Jesus, Hadji Butu, Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio, Antonio Luna, Mariano Ponce, and Celemencia Lopez in unveiling the portraits of their forebears during the turnover ceremony of the Project Saysay-Ibarra posters to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at the DFA Building on 22 May 2018. (DFA photo)

MANILA 25 May 2018 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) received on 22 May around 300 posters from Project Saysay and Ibarra Watches featuring the portraits of ten out of 50 great Filipinos to be distributed to the Sentro Rizal cultural centers in various Philippine Foreign Service Posts.  This initiative is in line with the goal to spread the ideals and values of great Filipinos in the Philippines and around the world.

“With joy, we receive these portraits, which we will be passing on to each of the Sentro Rizal cultural centers in our different Foreign Service Posts.  These portraits will help us not only to inspire our fellow Filipinos overseas but more importantly, to share with the world our collective aspiration for humanity,” said Dan Erwin Bagaporo of the DFA Office of International Economic Relations who received the portraits and delivered the response on behalf of the Department.

Although the turnover of the Project Saysay-Ibarra posters is the first collaboration with DFA of this scale, Project Saysay and DFA previously collaborated to produce a special social media series called “Common Vision” featuring the founding fathers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the Philippine Chairmanship of ASEAN 2017 and the 50th Anniversary of the regional organization.

The Philippine Embassy in Madrid also received through the National Historical Commission a set of 10 Project Saysay posters for Sentro Rizal on May 2017 during Project Saysay’s first attempt to bring its advocacy overseas.

“It’s been our dream for Project Saysay to reach our mga kababayan abroad so they can draw inspiration from the lives and legacies of our heroes,” said Stacy Danika Alcantara-Garcia, the overseas flagship program manager of Project Saysay.  “Sharing the words of our great Filipino forebears not only to our mga kababayan abroad but also to everyone from every culture and every creed is our way of honoring their contributions. Borrowing the words of the late senator Jovito Salonga, ‘A nation is measured by the quality of men and women it honors.’”

DFA officials led by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter S. Cayetano, and representatives from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) joined the families of Apolinario Mabini, Gregoria de Jesus, Hadji Butu, Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio, Antonio Luna, Mariano Ponce, and Celemencia Lopez in unveiling the portraits of the great Filipinos who were honored that afternoon.

“A new emphasis on looking at heroism must be introduced:  admiration tempered with critical thinking,” said de La Salle History professor and the event’s Guest of Honor Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua during his keynote address.  “Critical thinking encourages us to venerate with understanding.  To recognize that nothing is black or white, we will be able to see the wrongs made by people we admire, and to see the good side of the people on the other side.”

Ibarra, a premium Filipino watch brand sponsored the production of all 300 Project Saysay posters.   The portraits of the 50 great Filipinos, including those featured in the first ten posters given to DFA, were painted by Mark Villanueva.

Project Saysay is a youth-led advocacy founded by Ian Christopher Alfonso and is aimed at disseminating relevant, useful, and inspiring posters geared towards making Philippine history relevant and engaging to Filipinos around the world.

Project Saysay was established on 22 May 2013 and has since been distributing for free, poster prints bearing the words of wisdom of great Filipinos.  Project Saysay has distributed 3,666 posters to 1,755 classrooms, offices, and libraries across 171 institutions in the Philippines and abroad.  Project Saysay is able to do this through the generosity of donors who sponsor a certain number of posters to be produced and distributed to their chosen beneficiary institution. END