03 July 2015 – The Philippine Embassy in Vientiane kicked-off the month-long celebration of the 117th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence with a flag-raising ceremony with the Filipino community on June 12 at the Philippine Embassy grounds. A traditional Filipino breakfast was served right after the ceremony.
A festive celebration, “Pistang Pinoy 2015”, showcasing Philippine culture, food, music, and products was enjoyed by around 200 Filipino community members, as well as some local and foreign friends at the official residence of the Philippine Ambassador on June 14. During the event, children of overseas Filipinos were treated to a story-telling session of Filipino folk lores, and participated in the traditional Philippine games of “Basagan ng Palayok” and “Pabitin.” A highlight of the Pista was the cooking demonstration featuring various products of Clara Olé Philippines, which supported the event by providing samples of its products for distribution to the Filipino community.
The 4th annual Palaro sa Vientiane 2015 kicked off with an opening ceremony held at the Lao People’s Revolutionary Youth Badminton Center on June 20. The Palaro is an annual Filipino Community sports festival which aims to foster greater camaraderie among the members of the community. This year’s sports events included mixed doubles badminton, bowling, men and women’s volleyball, and men’s basketball.
Filipinos working in the Vientiane Capital and the provinces of Lao PDR, particularly Xayabury, Khammouane and Vientiane province, took part in the Palaro scheduled over the two weekends of June 20 to 21 and June 27 to 28.
The awarding of trophies and medals to the winners of the Palaro was held right after the basketball championship game at Vientiane International School on 28 June 2015.
In line with its program to encourage Filipino community members to register for the 2016 national elections, the Philippine Embassy conducted on-site overseas voters registration (OVR) services. OVR services were conducted specifically during the flag-raising ceremony on June 12 at the Philippine Embassy, at the Pistang Pinoy on June 14 at the grounds of the Philippine Ambassador’s Residence, and during the Palaro sa Vientiane on June 21 and 27 at the basketball court of the Vientiane International School. Over the period the Embassy was able to gather 72 OV registrants.
As a fitting end to the month-long celebration, the Embassy hosted a diplomatic reception at the Lao Plaza Hotel on June 29 to commemorate the 117th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence.
In her message, Philippine Ambassador to Lao PDR Belinda M. Ante highlighted the Philippines’ various cooperation activities with the Lao PDR in in its 60 years of diplomatic relations. Ambassador Ante also expressed hopes that, with the impending integration of the ASEAN Economic Community by end of the year, the two countries could bring their relations to a higher level through the active implementation of over fourteen bilateral agreements and closer economic cooperation.
The reception was attended by Minister of Industry and Commerce Mme. Khemmani Pholsena, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alounkeo Kittikhoun, who joined Ambassador Ante for the ceremonial toast and cutting of the cake. END