PH Embassy in Warsaw Celebrates 2024 Philippine Independence Day and Conducts Hybrid Bagong Pilipinas Town Hall Meeting

The Warsaw PE Team and Family with MWO-Prague join hands to celebrate the 2024 Philippine Independence Day

WARSAW 09 July 2024 – The Philippine Embassy in Warsaw hosted the 2024 Independence Day Celebration, Thanksgiving Holy Mass and traditional salo-salo with the Filipino Community at the Philippine Embassy Grounds in Warsaw.

The event was attended by approximately 230 Filcom members including a number of Polish guests and representatives from the business sectors and educational institutions in Poland.

The proceedings started at 9:30 a.m. with the traditional Flag Raising Ceremony and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance led by outgoing Finance Officer Marden Garduque, followed by the reading of the Independence Day messages of the President, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and Department of Migrant Workers Secretary led by Philippine Ambassador Leah M. Basinang-Ruiz, Consul Alena Grace Borra, and MWO Prague-based Labatt Llewelyn Perez, respectively, while the Bagong Pilipinas Pledge was led by Consul Geronimo C. Suliguin, Jr. The ceremony concluded with Ambassador Ruiz delivering brief Independence Day remarks to wish everyone present a happy and meaningful celebration of Philippine Independence.

At 10:30 a.m. Fr. Tirso Alcover Jr., RCJ officiated the Independence Day Thanksgiving Mass, at the end of which Ambassador Ruiz delivered her traditional Independence Day Message. Everyone then lined up to partake of pork and chicken adobo, beef afritada, pork menudo, desserts, and various other salo-salo delicacies generously shared by members of the Filipino community.

Members of the Embassy family gave a special performance to entertain the guests: Marley Jane Garduque who played the violin, Michaela Alexandra Ruiz who played the drums, and Aquilles Juan Ramirez who played the piano, which were greeted with warm applause.

At 1:30 p.m., the hybrid Bagong Pilipinas Town Hall Meeting was conducted at the Consular Section area of the Embassy, attended in person by Filcom members and 20 online participants.

Ambassador Ruiz delivered the welcome remarks and introduction to the Bagong Pilipinas Town Hall Meeting and also gave a brief highlight of developments in the Philippines’ bilateral relations with Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. 

Consul Borra briefed the participants on the economic program of the PBBM Administration while Consul Suliguin outlined the consular and ATN services of the Embassy. MWO Labatt Atty Perez briefed the attendees on the services of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), which was then followed by a Q&A session, with questions also coming from the online attendees. After the meeting, the participants happily posed for a souvenir photo. END

The Embassy Officers and Staff