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PHL EMBASSY IN BRUSSELS, FILIPINO COMMUNITY CELEBRATES 116^TH ANNIVERSARY OF PHL INDEPENDENCE, CALLS FOR VIGILANCE AND HEROISM

Ambassador Bataclan delivered the speech at the Independence day celebration organized by the Kapisanan Para Sa Kalayaan (KPSK) at the Basilique du Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) in Koekelberg, Brussels, Belgium on June 15.

This year’s organizing association is the Kababaihang Rizalista Inc. – Brussels Chapter led by its president, Lady Celanie Francisco Perez and  its founding president and adviser, Lady Antonina Fernandez.

The whole day event commenced with a Eucharistic celebration and ended with a cultural show.  The traditional ‘baon mo, baon ko’ salu-salo scheme was observed during the salu-salo.  A parade of all Filipino community organizations present also ensued.

Filipinos and Belgians alike, members and friends of Filipino community organizations based in Brussels and its environs trooped to the Basilica grounds to join in the day-long merrymaking. 

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PHL EMBASSY IN BRUSSELS JOINS MONTH-LONG INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS IN KICKOFF EVENT IN BRUGGE

 

30 June 2014 - In commemoration of the 116^th anniversary of Philippine Independence, throughout the month of June, a series of Filipino community celebrations all over Belgium commenced on June 14 at Brugge Beurshalle with the event sponsored by the World Mission for Peace and Development (WMPD).  Embassy officials, led by First Secretary and Consul Ivy Banzon opened the program.

Mrs. Consorcia De Leon-Shultz, Founder and Chairman of World Mission for Peace and Development organized an array of cultural performances, highlighted by a beauty pageant and an arnis presentation.  “This annual celebration is in line with the World Mission for Peace and Development humanitarian objectives and to help beneficiaries in the Philippines”, Ms. De-Leon-Shultz stated.  

The event catered to a bevy of Filipino food and Filipiniana item enthusiasts who enjoyed the stalls all over the venue.

One thousand five hundred people from the Flanders area attended the event.  Proceeds of the event will be donated to the Irayang Sulong Elementary School in Camarines Sur, Damay sa Kapwa Kababayan movement in Taytay, Rizal, the Our Lady of the Poor Institute, and the tuition and other fees of some WMPD scholars. As founder and chairman, Ms. De Leon-Schultz also personally manages the building of schools in the Bicol region and Palo, Leyte, one of the most devastated areas during the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).