25 November 2019 – The Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt held its fourth consular outreach mission for the year in Munich, Bavaria last November 22.  The outreach mission was undertaken in cooperation with Dr. Stefan Detig, Philippine Honorary Consul for Bavaria, who secured the use of the community hall of Pullach, the municipality where he previously served as mayor, as venue for the outreach.  Deputy Consul General Emil Fernandez headed the team, with Administrative Officer Bayani Sibug and Consular Assistants Lolit Balansag, Dona Mallari and Violeta Bautista as members.  Mr. Rene Mangune of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office attended to labor-related concerns and accepted applications for OWWA membership.

Bavaria is home to the largest number of Filipinos in Germany.  According to latest figures, there are 4,700 Filipinos living and working in the state, comprising 19 percent of the country’s total.  Many of the Filipinos in Bavaria are married to German nationals, with professionals also present in the engineering, information technology and healthcare sectors.  (END)

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Consul General Evelyn Austria-Garcia participated in the 24th General Assembly of the Consular Corps of Deutschland (CCD) in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg last November 15 and 16. The two-day event included activities with high-level officials of the State Parliament, Justice and Economic Ministries, and City Government, notably Deputy State Parliament President Sabine Kurtz, Minister of Justice and European Affairs Guido Wolf, Ministerial Director Helmfried Meinel of the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy, and Stuttgart City Mayor Dr. Ing. Martin Schairer. Founded in 1995, CCD is the nationwide association of honorary and professional consuls of all sending states in Germany.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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13 November 2019- Consul General Evelyn D. Austria-Garcia, serves as the guest of honor during the monthly gathering of the prestigious International Women’s Club e.V. (IWC) at the Hotel Intercontinental. The Consul General hopes that the Consulate could explore possible areas of collaboration with IWC in the future. Both organization share the common goal of cultural understanding.

 

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11 November 2019- The Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt conducted the first-ever consular outreach mission in Erfurt, Thuringia on 9 November 2019. The five-member consular team, led by Vice Consul Fatima Mueller, provided passport renewal, certification and notarial services, and one-on-one consultations on consular matters.

To coincide with the consular mission, and as part of the centennial celebration of Philippine cinema as well Post’s gender and development activities (GAD), Post conducted a free screening of the documentary film, “Ang Babae sa Likod ng Mambabatok.” During the brief program, Vice Consul Mueller encouraged the Filipino-German audience to partner with the Consulate in  promoting Philippine culture in this part of Germany. The film screening, which focused on the life of legendary tattoo artist Apo Whang Od,  was warmly welcomed by the Filipino-German audience.

The Consulate also took the opportunity to organize a salu-salo in cooperation with members of the Filipino community in Thuringia, who contributed Filipino food such as pancit, adobo, and kakanin during the event.

Thuringia, which is about 3 hours away from Frankfurt, is located in central Germany. It is the sixth smallest German state by area and the fifth smallest by population. There are about 150 Filipinos in Thuringia, most of whom are married to German nationals, while others work in hotels, logistics and other companies. END

Vice Consul Fatima Mueller commended the efforts of the Philippine Foundation Rhein Neckar Kreis e.V. in promoting Philippine culture and providing scholarship programs and educational assistance to deserving Filipino students from different provinces during their 20th anniversary celebration held on 2 November 2019 in Oftersheim, Baden-Württemberg. The event, which was attended by some 200 Filipino-German guests, also featured a beauty pageant dubbed as “Queen of Queens Germany.”

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A stronger partnership was formed today among the Office of Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, the Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt, National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Philippine book publishing industry during dinner hosted by Consul General Evelyn Austria-Garcia in honor of Deputy Speaker Legarda, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella and the members of the Philippine delegation to the 2019 Frankfurt Book Fair.

 

18 October 2019 – The man at the helm of the world’s largest trading place for print and digital content, Dr. Juergen Boos, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), warmly welcomed on 17 October 2019 the Honorable Loren Legarda, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, at the city’s Convention Center, which is currently hosting the 71^st running of the FBF.

Dr. Boos expressed his appreciation to the Deputy Speaker for the gracious hospitality shown to him during his recent visit to the Philippines.  As President and CEO of FBF, Dr. Boos is responsible for staging the gathering of several thousand representatives of book publishers, multimedia and technology companies and content providers from all over the world, who negotiate international publishing rights and license fees.

Deputy Speaker Legarda congratulated Dr. Boos for another successful Fair, tipping her hat to the German business executive for again spearheading the overall management of the event.  A total of 7,450 exhibitors from 104 countries, including the Philippines, are taking part in the Fair, which is running from October 16 to 20.

Deputy Speaker Legarda is leading the largest-ever Philippine contingent to the annual Book Fair, with 16 co-exhibitors from the country’s publishing industry and officials representing the National Book Development Board, Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Trade & Industry.  Moreover, the Philippine pavilion has expanded in size – from 48 square meters in 2018 to 120 square meters this year.

The Representative from Antique has been a staunch advocate of the Philippines’ participation in the world’s most significant cultural events, including the Frankfurt Book Fair and Venice Biennale.  “Our continuing presence with 16 participating publishers has been made possible by Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, especially during her term as senator.  She is also responsible for our continuing participation at the Venice Bienale, focusing on Philippine visual art and architecture,” said National Book Development Board Chair Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz.  Prior to her support of such cultural gatherings, Philippine attendance were irregular and subject to the whims of past officials.

Deputy Speaker Legarda was among the special guests at the Book Fair’s ceremonial opening last October 15, which was graced by Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, this year’s Guest of Honor country.  The guest country presents its literature and culture at the Fair in Frankfurt, as well as many other locations throughout Germany.  The Deputy Speaker is leading efforts for the Philippines to be accorded such status within the next few years, a feat that would provide the country with unparalleled recognition and attention in the literary field.  (END)

 

 

17 October 2019 – The National Book Development Board (NBDB), with support from the Office of Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda and the Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt, led the Philippine participation in the 2019 Frankfurt Book Fair, held from 16 to 20 October 2019 at the Messe Frankfurt. With the brand, “Books Philippines,” NBDB curated books from co-exhibitors and established activity areas to conduct business meetings, networking activities, cooking exhibitions in various fora at the Book Fair.

“I congratulate the members of the Philippine delegation who have come together to create and introduce the country’s cultural brand at this year’s book fair,” Consul General Evelyn Austria-Garcia said during the opening reception of the Philippine stand on 17 October. “I commend the efforts of the NBDB in the Philippine publishing industry and in the global creative economy,” she added.

In her speech, Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda expressed her full support in the Philippines’ continuous participation in the “olympics” of the book publishing world which is the Frankfurt Book Fair, and the country’s bid to be the Guest of Honor Country in 2024.

“I was glad to have taken part in this year’s Book Fair, as it gave me new insights and ideas to pursue to communicate the Philippine narrative,” Undersecretary Abella said. Meanwhile, Ambassador Ma. Theresa Dizon-de Vega hoped “to see an improved and bigger Philippine stand in next year’s Book Fair.

NBDB Chairperson Flor Marie Sta. Romana-Cruz vowed to continually develop the book publishing industry through participation in different international book and rights fair such as the FBF. “For easy access among visitors, the books on display were curated by genre produced by the participating publishing houses, ranging from children’s books to young adult literature, biographies and history books to contemporary fiction, and text books to hardbound books on Philippine arts and culture,” she said. The NBDB Chair invited everyone to attend the side events at the PH stand featuring literary and cultural luminaries such Mr. Ambeth Ocampo, Chef Claude Tayag and Ms. Abi Goy.

This year’s Philippine stand witnessed a growth in size and increased participants, showcasing diverse content from key players in the local publishing industry, namely, ABC Educational Development Center Children’s Book, Adarna House, Anvil Publishing, Ateneo de Manila University Press, C&E Publishing, Inc., Good Intentions Books, Inc., Inkies, Inc., Lampara Publishing House, Inc., Marigold Marketing Services,Inc./Mama Sita’s Foundation, Precious Pages Corporation, Rex Group of Companies, Seanjaikim Book Gear, Inc., University of the Philippines Press, Vicarish Publication and Trading Inc.

The NBDB, Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP), and the Philippine Educational Printers Association (PEPA) were instrumental in bringing participants together for the collaboration.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest international trade fair for the book publishing industry, serving as platform to launch new titles and content, as well as to negotiate the international sale of rights and licenses. The five-day annual event held every October in Frankfurt, brings together more than 7,000 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors from more than 100 countries, including publishers, literary agents, authors, illustrators, media professionals, and trade associations. END

15 October 2019 – Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda today represented the Philippines during the ceremonial opening of the 71st Frankfurt Book Fair which was attended by leading officials from government and movers-and-shakers from the corporate world, particularly the publishing sector.

Delivering remarks was a lineup of distinguished personalities that included Juergen Boos, President/CEO of Frankfurter Buchmesse, Heinrich Riethmüller, President of the Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels, Peter Feldmann, Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main, Volker Bouffier, Prime Minister of Hessen, Heiko Maas, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Erna Solberg, Norwegian Prime Minister. Among the concerns addressed by the various speakers were issues such as climate change and the environment, digitization and the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, migration and developing democracies.

Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda delivered an engaging lecture on Philippine weaving  tradition  entitled, Piňa-Seda  Weaving and Embroidery in  the Philippines,  before students and professors of Ruhr University on 15 October 2019 in Bochum, Germany.

She  underscored   that “the piňa–seda weaving and embroidery are only a few of hundreds of stories of the  Philippine weavers.”  She expressed  hope that through the combined  efforts of her office and the Consulate, the Philippines can further enrich the Philippine weaving tradition and make the  piňa–seda  textile a prized item in Germany and the rest of Europe.

The  Deputy Speaker  explained  the process  of piňa-seda weaving  and embroidery  for piňa-seda, and expounded on the importance of promoting traditional textiles as they bring together industries, communities,  and people.

“The strengthening of the local tropical fabrics industry is attuned to our advocacy of promoting sustainable  development  and preserving  our rich  heritage. It will also provide jobs especially for  those  in  the  countryside.   Furthermore,  it  unlocks  the  creativity  of  Filipinos,  which  is overflowing,” the Deputy Speaker said.

Consul General  Evelyn D. Austria-Garcia expressed appreciation to Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) officials, professors  and students  and  hoped that the  Deputy  Speaker’s  lecture  has sparked further interest in Philippine culture and studies.

The event is the first time that a high-level elected Philippine government official delivered such lecture at the German University.  The activity forms part of the Consulate’s efforts to promote Philippine  culture under its jurisdiction.  It  is also an offshoot  of the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Travelling Exhibition,  an exhibition  featuring  piňa-seda woven and embroidered  fabrics from Aklan weavers and Laguna embroiderers,  that was presented by the Consulate  in November last year.

The lecture signals the start of a series of lectures, conference, seminars, and other activities concerning  the Philippines at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) in line with the agreement  that was signed by the Consulate and RUB to promote Philippine studies earlier in the day. END