24 January 2014- Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos C. Salinas, together with Biblioteca Nacional de España (BNE) Director Ana Santos Aramburo, inaugurated the Andres Bonifacio exhibit at Sala Memoria del Saber of the BNE on January 20 as part of activities of the Philippine Embassy in Madrid to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Bonifacio.
In his brief remarks, Ambassador Salinas declared the exhibit as an “…affirmation of the ties that unite our two countries, Spain and the Philippines. A nation behind another to give honor to the former’s heroes as a gesture of friendship.”
The said exhibit showcased various books and brochures about the Katipunan that form part of the BNE´s exhaustive collections on the Philippines. Exhibited works included Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino’s “La religión del Katipunan” (1899), Jose del Castillo’s “El Katipunan o El filibusterismo en Filipinas” (1897), and Emilio Aguinaldo’s “True Version of the Philippine Revolution” (1899), among others.
The inauguration was graced by National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chairperson Maria Serena Diokno as guest of honor, BNE Cultural Director Carlos Alberdi Alonso, Agencia Española para la Cooperación y el Desarollo (AECID) Director for Cultural and Scientific Relations Itziar Taboada, known Filipinistas (researchers and professors who specialize in the Philippines) and friends of the Embassy.
The exhibit, which will run at the BNE until March 23, was organized by the Embassy, in coordination with the Museum of the BNE, the NHCP, the Agencia Española para la Cooperación y el Desarollo (AECID), and the Embassy of Spain in Manila. END