Philippine Embassy officials and Filipino community leaders and members celebrate Women’s Month under the theme: WE Gender Equality & Inclusive Society #WEcanbeEquALL 

(Santiago, 18 March 2023) As part of its Women’s Month celebration and to highlight the central role and sacrifices of OFWs from across the world—especially women—the Philippine Embassy in Chile screened a rendition of renowned Filipino playwright Bienvenido M. Noriega, Jr’s Bayan-Bayanan: Letters from Home, which was adapted into a live musical and for digital viewing by award-winning playwright/director and professor, Dr. Anton Juan.

The Philippine Embassy elected to screen Bayan-Bayanan as it crucially and effectively portrays the colorful stories of Filipinos working abroad as well as their sacrifices and struggles to build better lives for themselves and their loved ones back home.  Equally important, the play touches on timely issues of gender equality and inclusivity, consistent with this year’s Women’s Month theme. The Embassy also surprised the all-Filipino and female audience with a personalized welcome and video message sent by Dr. Anton Juan exclusively for them and this special viewing.

In his opening remarks, Philippine Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Jim Tito B. San Agustin emphasized the importance of women empowerment in Filipino society and the Philippines’ notable progress and victories on Gender and Development (GAD) as measured by UN indices and other international benchmarks. The Embassy’s Alternate GAD Focal Point and Finance Officer Vanessa Arevalo conducted a briefing and Q&A on the importance of saving and investment, specifically on safe and government-backed instruments such as the Modified Pag-Ibig II or MP2.  Consul Dennis Briones briefly discussed the ongoing overseas voting (OV) registration as well as upcoming activities earmarked by the Embassy for 2023. Also providing key support during the half-day activity were Cultural Officer and FilCom Point Person Brian Bustamante, Economic Officer Josefina Abenoja, Consular Attaché Jay Alere, and local-hire Ninfa Luzmira Hermosilla.

The Philippine Embassy and FilCom participants ended the event by sharing a small salu-salo of Southeast Asian cuisine and taking a group photo atop the #WEcanbeEquALL 2023 Women’s Month banner. END