Pinoy envoys to promote Cebu

“HOW can we help promote Cebu and help in post-Yolanda rehabilitation efforts?”

This was the question raised by newly-appointed Philippine Ambassadors who paid courtesy calls on Mayor Michael Rama at the City Hall and Gov. Hilario Davide III at the Provincial Capitol.

Rama asked the group to help raise awareness of Cebu City and its location in countries where will they will soon be posted.

The mayor showed them a video documentary of the accomplishments of the 4-year Rama administration and how the city overcame the ill effects of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake which hit on October 15, 2013 and supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) on November 8, 2013.

Rama also spoke of the city’s efforts to rebuild the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) and its disaster preparedness initiatives before he serenaded them with the song “Kahit Isang Saglit.”
Davide told the envoys: “My request is for you to help us in promoting Cebu in your respective posts, wherever you are in the world,” said Davide.

“We needed this because once you’re outside of the country, losing touch is very likely. We get our salaries from the Filipino taxpayer’s money so we are bound to know this country more than anything else,” the envoys told Davide.

Ambassadors visited the office of the mayor shortly before noon time yesterday as part of their Cebu tour. They also dropped by the Cebu provincial capitol.
The group consisted of 11 ambassadors, 12 office heads and eight personnel from the Department of Foreign Affairs Manila and Cebu offices.

Dignitaries present included Cebuano Ambassador Vicente Vivencio Bandillo (Dhaka), Consul General Bayani Mangibin (Agana), Amabassador Edsel Barba (Baghdad), Ambassador Antonio Morales (Beijing), Consul General Ma. Amelita Aquino (Chongquing), Ambassador Catalino Dilem Jr. (Mexico), Ambassador Narciso Castaneda (Muscat), Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros (Prague), Ambassador Eduardo Martin Menez (Tehran), Ambassador Jaime Victor Ledda (The Hague) and Ambassador Ma. Angelina Sta. Catalina of DFA.

Also present was Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Raul Hernandez.

While their discussions where held behind the closed doors of the mayor’s conference room, personnel from the Public Information Office said that ambassadors asked Rama how they can help in the city’s tourism promotions.

Some of them also asked where they could get the famous Cebu guitars.

Yolanda rehab

During the hour-long discussion, Ambassador to Israel Petrolina Garcia asked Davide about the extent of involvement of the international community and Filipino communities abroad in the rehabilitation efforts in north Cebu.

She also asked the provincial governor the conduct of the response of the Cebu provincial government to the string of calamities that flattened a massive area of the province last year.
“We want to know how we can help as well as relay the information to the people and communities in our respective posts,” said Garcia.
In response, Davide said relief aid flooded from other nations and said he personally knew a number of families living overseas who extended their help.

Lapu-Lapu’s 500th anniv

Meanwhile, Marciano de Borja, Special Assistant to the Office of the Undersecretary for Administration at the DFA, informed Davide of the mammoth preparations to be mounted by Cebu to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the coming of Magellan in the country.

He voluntarily offered his services to Davide as an advisor to the Cebu provincial government when it starts to plan for the event on 2021.