10 December 2014– Philippine Consul General Julius Caesar A. Flores gave a lecture last December 04 on the role of the Consulate General  in relation to the overall Philippine presence in China to a group of 25 Ateneo de Cebu high school students and five faculty members who comprised the pioneering Ateneo Hearters Adventures (AHA) program in China.

The AHA program is a 35-day academic immersion program with the aim of deepening and strengthening the students’ appreciation of China as well as understanding their ancestral roots in Fujian.

Consul General Flores highlighted the many facets of the work of the Consulate General covering political, economic and public diplomacy functions, relative to other posts in China and in greater context, in the Philippine foreign service. The students were encouraged to join the Philippine foreign service but reminded them that it would require long preparation and they could do it by focusing on their studies early on.

Consul General Flores underscored that Xiamen/Fujian is the most deeply historically and culturally link with majority of the overseas Chinese in the Philippines. This is exemplified by the 30-year sister-city partnership between Xiamen and Cebu.

This is another excellent accomplishment of a people-to-people exchange program which should be encouraged to nurture friendship and understanding between the Philippines and China. END