27 February 2014 – Philippine Ambassador Victoriano M. Lecaros presented his credentials to the President of the Czech Republic, H.E. Miloš Zeman, on  January 28 at the Prague Castle.

Ambassador Lecaros was accompanied by his wife, Ms. Melissa C. Lecaros, First Secretary and Consul, Mr. Juan E. Dayang, Jr., the Philippine Honorary Consul General in Brno, Mr. Břetislav Skácel, the Embassy’s Finance Officer and Attaché, Mr. Mario D. Simbulan, and Communications Officer and Attaché, Mr. Arcangelo S. Sta. Ana.

The ceremony itself went flawlessly.  In fact, the ceremony was beautifully punctuated by the stirring rendition of the Philippine  national anthem by the Czech Honor Guard Marching Band.

Two things stood out in the brief chat with President Zeman following the ceremony:

When Ambassador Lecaros mentioned “economic diplomacy” as being at the top of his marching orders from Manila, President Zeman enthusiastically agreed with him and, at the same time, urged the new ambassador to maintain his focus on this agenda.

Among the areas he touched on was the supply of mass transport equipment. The Ambassador, in turn, expressed the Filipino community’s admiration for the Czech Republic’s well-organized mass transport system.

In addition, the Czech President voiced out his wish that President Aquino pay a visit to the Czech Republic, saying that, perhaps, President Aquino could drop by Prague on his next trip to Europe.

On the other hand, Ambassador Lecaros expressed the PHL’s appreciation for the quick response of both the Czech government and the Czech people to the natural calamities that struck the Philippines last year, specifically, the October earthquake in Bohol and super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda last November. END