26 March 2014 - The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), in observance of National Women’s Month with the theme “Juana, ang Tatag Mo ay Tatag Natin sa Pagbangon at Pagsulong!,” is organizing “Tatag ni Juana sa Saliw ng Tinig at Tula”- an event filled with music and poetry as tribute to the strength and resilience of Filipinas in the country and all over the world. This event will be held at 2:30 p.m on Friday, March 28, at the Carlos P. Romulo Library, Ground Floor, DFA Building, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

Dr. Rebecca T. Añonuevo will give a short lecture on the depiction of women in literature. Dr. Añonuevo has a PhD in Literature and the author of six collections of poetry. These collections have won major awards, including the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, and earned citations and nominations from the Manila Critics Circle for the National Book Awards.

Officers and staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the FSI, partners and advocates alike will share their self-composed and favorite poems that capture the strength and passion of women. Notable songs and compositions will also be performed in appreciation of men and women and their unique relationships.

The roster of poetry readers includes women’s rights advocate and Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) proponent Ambassador Minerva A. Falcon, the youngest commissioner of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission Atty. Johaira A. Wahab, Palanca awardee for Fiction and Foreign Service Officer Ms. Cathy Torres and the DFA’s very own published author of poetry and Executive Director of the Middle East and African Affairs, Mr. Neal Imperial.

The Foreign Service Institute encourages everyone to be part of this event that aims to showcase women’s contribution to literature, music, and poetry.

Let us listen. Let us be moved. END