29 October 2014 – Philippine Consul General Mario L. De Leon was invited as a guest speaker by Temple Emanu-El Senior Rabbi Joshua Davidson, AJC New York Director Mr. Michael Schmidt and Mr. Alex Bronzo, AJC Associate Director, during celebrations of the Jewish holiday, Sukkot, at Temple Emanu-El in New York last October 15. Prominent members of the New York’s Jewish community were present during the celebrations.
The Sukkot festival is an important Jewish festival commemorating the Jewish exile as they wandered the desert before they reached the Promised Land. Sukkot is also a time for thanksgiving signified by an elaborate housing made up of indigenous materials and harvest offerings called a sukkot prominently displayed in Jewish homes and temples during this season.
Citing parallelisms in Filipino and Jewish diaspora in his remarks, Consul General De Leon said that with more than 10 million Filipinos abroad, Filipinos are increasingly finding success in the fields of medicine, entertainment, education, business and science. He also cited the life in exile of Dr. Jose Rizal, the contribution of President Manuel Quezon’s administration which welcomed 1300 Jews who escaped Nazi Germany and fled to the Philippines at the beginning of the World War II, and the ultimate sacrifice by former Senator Ninoy Aquino.
“These three exiles in history, all caused by political conflict and power struggle, led to Philippine independence and freedom – whether temporary and long-term. Much like the Jews seeking the refuge of the Promised Land, Jose Rizal, Manuel Quezon, and Ninoy Aquino, all endured being away from the motherland with the vision that someday, their country will be free from foreign colonization, tyranny, oppression, and dictatorship,” he added.
Consul General De Leon was recognized for his pioneering work in establishing deeper cooperation between the Philippine Consulate General in New York and the AJC which became the foundation for sustained dialogue and cultural and economic exchanges. Ambassador Sandra Fuentes-Berain, the Consul General of Mexico in New York, was also invited as speaker to share her country’s experience with international migration.
In his remarks, Rabbi Davidson welcomed and paid tribute to efforts of the diplomatic community to reach out to AJC and the Jewish community which resulted in increased people-to-people exchanges and understanding.
The Philippine Consulate General and AJC partnership continues to be robust and has helped enhance ties between the Filipino and Jewish communities in New York. Since 2012, the Consulate General has undertaken a several projects with AJC such as public film screenings of the film Escape to the Philippines at the Philippine Center, at the AJC Headquarters in Lexington Avenue, and at the United Nations; a luncheon co-hosted by Consul General De Leon in honor of Jewish Holocaust survivors who went to the Philippines; a presentation on Philippine-made kosher products attended by Jewish people, and a turnover of prosthetic medical equipment worth almost US$1 million dollars for the Philippines in 2013 by Ability Prosthetics in cooperation with 3Roads Production, producer of the film Escape, at Kalayaan Hall. END