PH Ambassador’s Declamation Mi Último Adiós in Spanish Highlights Rizal Day in Belgium
Ambassador to Belgium Eduardo José A. de Vega, together with members of the Order of the Knights of Rizal, leads the wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 122nd martyrdom of Philippine National Hero Dr. José P. Rizal on 30 December 2018 at the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. (Brussels PE photo)
BRUSSELS 31 December 2018 — Ambassador to Belgium Eduardo José A. de Vega’s poignant delivery of Rizal’s famous poem Mi Último Adiós was the highlight of the Philippine Embassy in Brussels’ commemoration of the 122nd anniversary of Dr. José Rizal’s martyrdom on 30 December 2018.
The commemoration activities held at the Embassy chancery opened with a wreath-laying ceremony before the Embassy’s bust of Dr. Rizal, led by Ambassador de Vega and members of the Order of the Knights of Rizal (KOR) based all throughout Belgium.
This was followed by speeches and musical numbers by the members of the different chapters of KOR from all over Belgium, as well as the Las Damas de Rizal and the Kababaihang Rizalista, who all extolled the virtues of Dr. Rizal and his continued relevance to this day. A simple salu-salo capped the day’s activities.
Prior to reciting from memory the full 14 Spanish-language stanzas of Dr. Rizal’s swan song, Ambassador de Vega recalled how Dr. Rizal stayed in Brussels in 1890 to finish his second novel, El Filibusterismo, which was published in Ghent in 1891.
He then narrated to the guests that during the oral examination part of the Foreign Service Officer Examination which he took in 1991, he was asked as an examinee to deliver an impromptu speech under the assumed identity of the Philippine Ambassador in Belgium about to unveil a statue of Dr. Rizal in Ghent.
Thus, Ambassador de Vega felt that his journey as a diplomat has now come full circle, with him leading the commemoration of Rizal Day in Brussels not as a prospective entry to the Philippine Foreign Service, but as the actual Philippine Ambassador in Belgium.
“No less than noted British historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto has extolled Dr. Rizal as being the last exemplar of the European Renaissance, and our national hero’s life and works in Europe and in other parts of the world should continue to inspire and be an example to all Philippine diplomats and overseas Filipinos,” Ambassador de Vega added. END
For more information, visit www.brusselspe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinBelgium
Ambassador to Belgium Eduardo José A. de Vega recites from memory Philippine National Hero Dr. José P. Rizal’s poem Mi Último Adiós to commemorate the 122nd martyrdom of Dr. Rizal on 30 December 2018 at the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. (Brussels PE photo)
Ambassador to Belgium Eduardo José A. de Vega poses with members of the Order of the Knights of Rizal to commemorate the 122nd martyrdom of Dr. José P. Rizal on 30 December 2018 at the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. (Brussels PE photo)