BALLET PHILIPPINES PERFORMS MASTERPIECES AT KATARA DRAMA THEATER IN DOHA, QATAR

18 August 2015 - Ballet Philippines, the Philippines’ flagship company in ballet and contemporary dance, performed MasterPieces at the Katara Drama Theater on August 12. 

This performance is part of a five-city performance tour in the Gulf Cooperation Countries where Ballet Philippines showcased the MasterPieces repertoire, a collection of Ballet Philippines' most celebrated works in its 45-year history, highlighting both classical and contemporary dance and offering a rich cultural experience to the foreign audience.

The MasterPieces repertoire included notable Filipino works like Halik and Lakambini by Paul Alexander Morales, Bungkos Suite by National Artist for Dance and Ballet Philippines founder, Alice Reyes, Duha and Lahat ng Araw by Alden Lugnasin, and the Tambol and Padyak by Tony Fabella, as well as famous classical works such as Bach Concerto, Esmeralda Pas d Deux, and Nocturne.

The Doha leg of the tour was organized by the Philippine Embassy in Doha in cooperation with the Cultural Village Foundation, Qatar's center for art and cultural exchange.

Prior to the performance, the Philippine Embassy in Doha also hosted a cocktail reception in honor of the country's premier ballet company.

"Dance is another form of universal language," said Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Wilfredo C. Santos as he addressed the audience in the 430-seat theater which was filled to capacity on the eve of the Ballet Philippines performance.

"The practice of diplomacy is all about building friendships, and culture and the arts are effective tools of fostering such friendly relations," the Ambassador added. Together with the Ambassador in viewing the performance were the Qatar local community, government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, members of the Filipino community in Doha and representatives from the business sector.

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PINOY WISE HOLDS TRAINING OF TRAINORS PROGRAM IN DOHA

25 August 2015 – Around 23 participants received certificates of completion after undergoing the 2-day Training of Trainors programs of the Pinoy Worldwide Initiative for Investments, Savings, and Entrepreneurship (Pinoy WISE) held from July 31 to August 01 at the Embassy Chancery. The graduation ceremony was held at the Philippine School Doha (PSD) Auditorium on August 07.

Pinoy WISE is a program initiated and spearheaded by Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative Inc. (Atikha), a Filipino non-government organization that provides financial education to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families on both sides of the migration corridor, and links financial education to concrete savings and investment programs of selected cooperatives, microfinance institutions, social enterprises, insurance companies, banks and other agencies in the Philippines.

Atikha also assists OFWs in looking for other investment opportunities in the Philippines.

Athika Executive Director Estrella Dizon-Anonuevo was in Qatar recently for the training. “The idea of investing in Qatar’s food industry has been a perennial topic among participants of the Pinoy WISE training held at the Philippine Embassy,” she said

“The Philippine Embassy in Qatar emphasizes the need for financial management among OFWs to dissuade them from unnecessary spending. Being an OFW is only a short-term arrangement; there will come a time when the person will retire and he or she must have some form of investment to come back to after retiring from overseas employment,” Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Wilfredo C. Santos said

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PHL CONSULATE GENERAL IN JEDDAH WELCOMES ARRIVAL OF 2015 PHILIPPINE HAJJ PILGRIMS IN MADINA

03 September 2015 - The first two batches of Philippine Hajj Pilgrims arrived at the newly opened Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madina on August 23. The pilgrims, who were on board two different flights via Saudi Airlines SV871 and Emirates Airlines EK807, were welcomed and assisted by the Muslim officials of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah headed by Consul Germinia V. Aguilar-Usudan, Acting Head of Post.

The officials from the Philippine Consulate General  and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) also welcomed and assisted the subsequent arrivals of more than 2,500 Hajj Pilgrims on board different flights from August 24 to 28. 

The Hajj pilgrims were reminded of the need to comply with the Saudi Anti-Money Laundering Law requiring pilgrims to declare upon arrival, the amount of currencies they possess that exceeded SR60,000 (USD16,000) to avoid any penalty.

The number of Hajj pilgrims arriving in the Holy City of Madina in the coming days before the 2015 Hajj, will be the highest number of arrivals from the Philippines to be recorded. In the past, Jeddah was the port of entry for the majority of Philippine Hajj Pilgrims