16 November 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda F. Basilio led the ladies of the Philippine Embassy in hosting the monthly tea gathering of the ASEAN Ladies Circle (ALC) in Beijing on September 29 at the Sentro Rizal Beijing. The ALC is composed of lady ambassadors, wives of ambassadors and officers and staff, as well as the lady diplomats of the 10 ASEAN embassies in Beijing. 

The theme of this year’s hosting was “Philippine Visual Arts At Its Best,” wherein the Philippine Embassy invited two outstanding Beijing-based Filipino visual artists to show their works and conduct a live painting demonstration during the event.

Visual artists Ms. Jensen Moreno, visual art teacher at the Beijing International Bilingual Academy and at the Bluebridge International Bilingual Academy; and Mr. Peter Espina, Art Director of the English edition of the Global Times, the first national English tabloid newspaper in China, impressed the ASEAN ladies with their outstanding achievements in the field of visual arts, as well as with their talent and creativity as they jointly conducted a live painting demonstration during the event.

An accomplished painter, Ms. Moreno did an international solo exhibit in Vietnam in 2011 and has since joined several art exhibitions in Vietnam, China and the Philippines. Mr. Espina has been Art Director of China Daily, the Hong Kong Standard as well as of the Far Eastern Economic Review. The two visual artists shared some of their experiences in their respective art careers during the short talks that they gave on art appreciation.

During the live painting demonstration of Ms. Moreno and Mr. Espina, a drawing contest was held where the two artists served as judges. The submission by a representative from the Embassy of Indonesia garnered top honors. She was awarded an on-the-spot artwork made by the two artists.

Ms. Machelle Ramos, Ms. Jade Xian and Ms. Vera of China Radio International-Filipino Service covered the event live for a feature on the CRI-Filipino Service website.

The ASEAN ladies and special guests were treated to Filipino merienda fare of  piping-hot arroz caldo, pancit palabok, fried vegetable lumpia, maja blanca, puto and buko pandan salad.

All the ASEAN ladies and guests were sent off by Ambassador Basilio and Philippine Embassy ladies with giveaway bags containing chocolate-covered Philippine dried mangoes and note cards/all-season greeting cards featuring the works of Ms. Moreno. END