DFA-OPCD Celebrates Milestones with Diplomatic Corps, Media and Stakeholders in Year-End Networking Event

DFA-OPCD Deputy Assistant Secretary Gonaranao B. Musor delivers the Welcome Remarks.

PASAY 22 December 2023 –The Department of Foreign Affairs - Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy (DFA-OPCD) hosted a year-end networking event on 18 December 2023 at Hilton Manila Hotel to celebrate OPCD’s milestones in public and cultural diplomacy made possible by the Department’s diverse networks – members of the diplomatic corps, the media, partners from other government agencies, and private stakeholders. The event was also an opportunity for the Department to strengthen diplomatic ties and partnerships that could yield potential cultural and public diplomacy collaborations. 

OPCD Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) Gonaranao B. Musor delivered the welcome remarks during the event. He lauded the milestones of the three (3) divisions of OPCD: Division 1 - Media and Public Affairs, Division 2 - Strategic Communications, and Division 3 - Cultural Diplomacy. He recognized the Department’s accomplishments in public diplomacy which included the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information System, regular engagements of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs with members of the DFA Press Corps, hosting of the Mabini Dialogue on Public Diplomacy and Public Relations with the Foreign Service Institute, the ongoing crafting of a DFA Soft Power Roadmap, and the conduct of Photography and Press Release Writing Workshops for DFA personnel.

DAS Musor also commended the successful projects of the Cultural Diplomacy Division, such as the continued expansion of the Philippine Studies Program that now involves 19 universities abroad; update of the Cultural Diplomacy Framework that continues to guide Foreign Service Posts in their conduct of cultural diplomacy; successful hosting of the 2nd Cultural Retooling Course held in Baguio City in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines; holding of the panel discussion and exhibit on Senator Geronima Pecson for the National Women’s Month Celebration in partnership with the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines; as well as hybrid events such as the “Laro, Sining at Imahinasyon,” an interactive learn and play experience in partnership with Museo Pambata for the 2023 Museum and Galleries Month, and the “Pahina and Bukana Book Fair” that featured selected literary treasures that enrich the heritage of the Philippines.

The event also featured contemporary performances from Legit Status, a professional dance group hailed as the 2023 World Hip Hop Dance Champions who competed against 55 countries, and Tala, a female singer-songwriter with a considerable huge following across Southeast Asia. Around two (2) hundred members of the diplomatic corps, media and other stakeholders attended the event. END

Members of the Diplomatic Corps and OPCD Officers during the DFA-OPCD’s Year-End Networking Event

OPCD Personnel from Division 1: Media and Public Affairs, Division 2: Strategic Communications and Division 3: Cultural Diplomacy

OPCD Officers with project partners from various cultural institutions.

Legit Status performs their winning set for the 2023 World Hip Hop Dance Championship. 

Filipina Singer-Songwriter Tala serenades the audience with her ethereal voice.