The Filipino community in Kunming gathered together in the dinner organized by the Philippine Consulate General in Chongqing at the Kaiwah International Plaza Hotel on 13 June 2015 to celebrate the 117th anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine independence.

Before the dinner, the Consulate conducted a consular outreach mission where it rendered the following services: consular registration, issuance of Tax Exemption Certificates, taking of fingerprints for the NBI Clearance, processing of passport applications, registration of Overseas Absentee Voters and one-on-one consular consultations / asking for advice.

The dinner started with the singing of the Philippine National Anthem and Panunumpa sa Watawat. In her message, Consul General Palala expressed gratitude for the attendance of the members of the Filipino community in the event and assured them that wherever they are, the Consulate will try to reach out and extend necessary assistance to them, echoing President Aquino’s policy of inclusiveness, “Walang iwanan.” The Consul General then read the message of President Benigno S. Aquino III while the messages of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert F. Del Rosario and Department of Labor and Employment Rosalinda D. Baldoz were successively read by Vice Consul Duke Villanueva, Ms. Maria Victoria Tambag and Ms. Anna Edrisse Magsumbol.

The evening was enlivened by singing of Philippine popular songs in the Filipino, Ilocano and Visayan languages. The children of the Filipino community also rendered a dance number and participated in a trivia game about the Philippines and Philippine independence.

About 60 guests from the different districts of Yunnan Province attended the dinner. A member of the Filipino community from Honggou, Guizhou province, a seven-hour travel by land from Kunming, also joined the celebration. END