PH Embassy in Vienna Sends Message of Hope in Online Celebration of PH Independence Day
Philippine Ambassador to Austria Maria Cleofe R. Natividad (center) leads the Embassy personnel in singing the Philippine National Anthem on 12 June 2020 at the Embassy’s Chancery. (Vienna PE photo)
VIENNA 19 June 2020 – The Philippine Embassy in Vienna celebrated the 122nd Anniversary of Philippine Independence through an online event that was live-streamed on the Embassy’s official social media accounts on 12 June 2020 at 12:00 NN (Central European Time) / 6:00 PM (Philippine Standard Time).
With the ban on indoor public gatherings still in place in Austria until July 2020, the Embassy had to forego the traditional diplomatic reception in favor of a digital production that allowed the Embassy to touch base–virtually–with Filipinos in its four countries of jurisdiction, namely: Austria, Croatia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The Embassy’s eight-minute production featured a joint singing of the Philippine National Anthem and a short welcome remarks from Philippine Ambassador to Austria Maria Cleofe R. Natividad, who lauded the Filipino spirit of “bayanihan”. Messages from the Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. were also flashed onscreen.
An independently-produced video of the Filipino pop song “Tuloy Pa Rin,” as sung by the Embassy’s Chorale, was the highlight of the presentation. Striking a triumphant and hopeful tone, their “Tuloy Pa Rin” rendition showed frames of the group’s virtual singing, interspersed with a “slice of life” montage of the Embassy “in action”. The result is a production that brings to the fore the Embassy’s sustained pursuit of its multilateral and bilateral advocacies and its continuous delivery of its Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) and consular services amid the COVID–19 pandemic.
For Ambassador Natividad, the collaborative nature of the project has made its product more than the sum of its parts. “The creative and logistical challenge was to cobble together an original video–in less than two weeks–that seeks to convey a message of hope and persistence. Our relentless optimism allowed us to adapt to the circumstances, without diminishing the significance of the event. In the end, we were able to come up with a video that–we hope–entertains, uplifts, and resonates with our kababayan,” said Ambassador Natividad.
The live-streamed event, which also marks the launch of the Embassy’s official YouTube account, heralds the Embassy’s intent to enhance its social media presence through alternative promotional platforms in order to respond to changing realities. The Independence Day video, which has garnered more than a thousand views on the day it was launched, may also be viewed at the Embassy’s Facebook page. END
The Philippine Embassy in Vienna unites online to sing a spirited rendition of “Tuloy Pa Rin”–which has become its battle cry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Vienna PE photo)
For more information, visit https://www.viennape.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.at or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinAustria/ or https://www.twitter.com/PHLinAustria.