PHL Consulate General in San Francisco Launches Pamana Series Featuring Museo Pambata
08 November 2017 SAN FRANCISCO — The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, in support of its movement to Spark*Connect*Empower* the Filipino-American Community, launched at the Kalayaan Hall on October 30, a series entitled “Pamana,” which means “legacy” in English, aimed to provide the youth opportunities to acquaint themselves with their Philippine culture, values and traditions.
Consul General Henry S. Bensurto, Jr. welcomed to the Consulate Ms. Malen Gutierrez, Terra Nova High’s Department Chair, AP Environmental Science, Chemistry and Physical Science, as well as the Asian Club Advisor, and Ms. Eleanor Villanueva-Obedoza, Terra Nova Math Department Head, who brought with her 14 students of Filipino descent, to launch the program, which was held in partnership with Museo Pambata.
A video of the movement was shown to the students to concretize the Consulate’s desire to reach out to the third- and fourth-generation Filipino-Americans, whose connections to their Filipino heritage are growing distant and more remote as the years go by.
Through Mrs. Mariza Bensurto, Museo Pambata’s Executive Director, Ms. Maricel Montero, led the students through a highly interactive three-hour program that showcased Philippine history, textiles, indigenous games, and dances. The students also learned to write their names in baybayin, an ancient script that was used in the Philippines in the 16th century. Ms. Montero was assisted by Mrs. Bensurto and her friends, Ms. Hedy Bascon, Ms. Fe Domingo, Ms. Rona David, and Ms. Vanessa Yap to give the students an opportunity to see the different textiles of the country.
A storytelling session capped the program, with the students taking turns recounting the thoughts of an Ifugao girl who was learning to chant the hudhud, a famous epic from the Ifugao region. The students were given books and tokens by Museo and the Tourism Office as a remembrance of the event. END
For more information, visit www.sanfranciscopcg.dfa.gov.ph / www.philippinessanfrancisco.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSF/.