18 December 2014 – The Philippine Embassy in Ankara held its first ever Parol Parade in Turkey on December 14 with the special participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Director General for Asia Pacific Ambassador Ersin Erçin and Head of the Department Mr. Akil Öktem and family, UN Resident Coordinator Kamal Malhotra and wife, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Country Representative Meera Sethi, Thailand Ambassador  Mr. Tharit Charungvat, Singapore Chargé d’ Affaires Lorling Lee and Mr. Chris Puckett, Pastor of the International Protestant Church in Ankara.

With lit parols, Philippine Ambassador Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez, Minister and Consul General Robert Ferrer Jr. with the Filipino community in Ankara, led the parade along Mahatma Gandhi Caddesi while Filipino Christmas songs were sung to complete the festive event.  

Bystanders stopped and watched the parade while some locals looked on from their window residences. Ankara Police ably managed the traffic and closed the street for the occasion.   

Prior to the Parol Parade, the event’s VIPs were requested to judge the parols which were submitted for the first ever Parol-Making contest followed by the announcement and awarding of winners.

The Parol entry from ‘Barangay Birlik’ headed by Ms. Mary Jean Zaimoglu won the first prize for the group category while ‘Barangay Kuleli’ headed by Ms. Marisa Isbilir and ‘Barangay Goksen’ headed by Cecilia Eguia won the second and third prize for the group category, respectively. For the individual entries, Ms. Rona Jane Saavedra’s entry got the first prize while Ms. Diane Lima’s entry got the second prize.

After the parade, the Filipino Community in Ankara gathered for a short Christmas ‘salo-salo’.  END