GOVPH

FILIPINO CULTURE SHINES IN CHILE’S FIESTA DE LAS NACIONES

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Published: 17 January 2019

Latin American nationals rush to the Philippine booth to buy polvoron, pastillas de leche, yema balls and other traditional sweets and delicacies.

The Philippine booth featuring native products such as the barong, handwoven bags, seashell products, pearl earrings, and other examples of Filipino craftsmanship.

Chilean practitioners of the ancient Filipino martial art of Kali pose following a successful live demonstration at the Fiesta de las Naciones mainstage.

Philippine Embassy personnel pose in Filipiniana attire alongside other participating countries during the parade of country colors and national costumes.

CDA Marcos A.S. Punsalang (center) toasts next to Governor Andrés Llorente of Talagante during the official opening ceremony.

Kali practitioners from the PTK-SMH school perform a live demonstration of Kali on the Fiesta de las Naciones main stage.

(Malloco, 12 October 2018) – The Philippine booth and its live demonstration of the ancient Filipino martial art of Kali were crowd favorites and main touristic draws during the recently held Fiesta de las Naciones (Festival of Nations) in Malloco, Chile.

The Fiesta de las Naciones is a 4-day event featuring country booths, cultural performances, gastronomic feasts, tourism stalls and artisanal products from around the world.

More than 120 foreign embassies, restaurants, local wineries, tourism agencies, artisanal companies and distributors from across Chile participated in this year’s event.  An estimated 8,000 Chileans and foreign guests attended the 4-day activity.

The Philippine booth featured traditional products such as handwoven sinamay and tinalak bags, seashell products, pearl earrings, Filipiniana fabric and other samples of native craftsmanship.  The booth’s bestsellers were classic Filipino sweets and delicacies such as polvoron, pastillas de leche, yema balls and panutsa.

Philippine Embassy personnel also distributed tourism materials promoting the country’s best touristic attractions and handed out trade brochures, including catalogues of Sr. Masala—the local distributor of Filipino mixes and flavors icon Mama Sita’s.

Instructors and students of PTK-SMH Santiago, a prestigious self-defense academy in Chile, performed a live demonstration of Kali on the festival’s centerstage as well as in front of the Philippine’s country booth.

This is the Embassy’s fourth participation in the Fiesta de las Naciones since the yearly event started in 2010. END

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY AND MAMA SITA’S LAUNCH CLASSIC FILIPINO FLAVORS IN SOUTH AMERICA

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Published: 02 October 2018

Event and cooking demonstration hosts Mrs. Anna Katrina Briones (spouse of Consul Dennis Briones) and Cultural Officer Mr. Jeffry Aranda demonstrates the use of Mama Sita’s mixes and sauces to cook Filipino kaldereta.

Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Marcos A.S. Punsalang opens the milestone event by providing a background on the rich history of Filipino cuisine and Mama Sita’s food products.

CDA Marcos A.S. Punsalang and Consul Dennis Briones pose with the event’s hosts and finished products of kaldereta, pancit bihon, adobo and chicken afritada.

Cooking demonstration hosts Mrs. Anna Katrina Briones and Cultural Officer Mr. Jeffry Aranda pose with Mama Sita’s partners and distributors in South America, Sr. Masala’s Mr. Francisco Contreras Muñoz and Mrs. Pamela Valenzuela Rojas.

Intricacies of Filipino food preparation using Mama Sita’s sauces are explained to a mixed audience of Chilean cooks and distributors.

Chilean restauranteurs and other attendees sample Filipino adobo and pancit both prepared using Mama Sita’s mixes and flavors.

CDA Marcos A.S. Punsalang and Mrs. Marisa Punsalang pose with a Sr. Masala and Mama Sita’s promotional banner during cocktails.

Philippine Embassy in Santiago officers, staff and family members pose with Mama Sita’s products before the start of the event.

An array of Mama Sita’s mixes and sauces on display alongside Chilean wines.

Cooking demonstration hosts pose with the finished products: pancit bihon, adobo, chicken afritada and kaldereta.

(Santiago, 26 September 2018) – The Philippine Embassy in Santiago, Mama Sita’s and its new partner and distributor in South America, Sr. Masala, launched Mama Sita’s top flavors, mixes and sauces in a live cooking show of classic Filipino cuisine in front of chefs, restaurateurs, storeowners, reporters and food distributors at the GMB kitchen in Metropolitan Santiago.

Demostracion de Cocina Filipina a través Productos Mama Sita’s or Filipino Cuisine Cooking Demonstration through Mama Sita’s Products was organized as part of the Embassy’s and Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)-Mexico’s (with jurisdiction over South America) economic and cultural initiatives aiming to promote Filipino gastronomic excellence by helping its best products penetrate the South American market. Iconic Filipino favorites such as the adobo, kaldereta, chicken afritada and pancit bihon served as centerpieces of the cooking demo.

The landmark event is the first part of local distributor Sr. Masala’s campaign to promote Mama Sita’s food products primarily in Chile and afterwards to neighboring South American countries. Sr. Masala’s pioneers Mr. Francisco Contreras and Mrs. Pamela Valenzuela Rojas have their eyes set next on Argentina.

Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Marcos A.S. Punsalang opened the cooking demo by marking it as a historic milestone in Philippines-Chile relations—being the first-ever formal launching of Filipino cuisine and food products in Chile specifically through a video recorded 3-hour-long cooking show.

The cooking show was cohosted by Mrs. Anna Katrina P. Briones, spouse of Consul Dennis John C. Briones, and by Cultural Officer Mr. Jeffry Aranda. Neither one a chef by profession, Mrs. Briones, a housewife and mom, highlighted how Mama Sita’s sauces and mixes make it easy for practically anyone to capture the full flavor of timeless Filipino dishes quickly and effortlessly.

Mr. Aranda happily endorsed Mama Sita’s 100% organic ingredients which is expected to perfectly complement the lifestyle of Chile’s active and health-conscious population.

The very successful evening concluded in a video interview of CDA Punsalang, where he discussed the Embassy’s, Mama Sita’s and Sr. Masala’s long-term plans, narrated his food experiences in Chile, and described how Mama Sita’s mixes and sauces capture the distinct and nostalgic flavors of authentic dishes all Filipinos grew up enjoying back home. END

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY CONDUCTS MIGRATION AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT SEMINAR FOR FILIPINO WOMEN IN CHILE

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Published: 02 October 2018

Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Marcos A.S. Punsalang addresses the Filipino community and provides an overview of the Philippine   Embassy’s GAD project and the objectives of the seminar.

Resource Person, Atty. Viviana Moya, explains the procedural and documentary requirements for migrants in Chile based on the New Chilean Migration Law.

Embassy personnel and Atty. Moya pose with the Filipino attendees after the successful seminar.

(Santiago, 22 September 2018) – Under the ambit of the Philippine Embassy’s Gender and Development (GAD) initiatives, the Embassy organized a Seminar on the New Chilean Migration Law Affecting OFWs with Pointers on Women Empowerment at the OTIC Convention Center in Providencia, Santiago. More than 150 Filipino nationals, majority of them female household service workers (HSWs), attended the successful event.

Chile is now home to approximately 760 Filipinos—93% of them women and most of them working in Chilean households. This deployment profile makes them highly vulnerable to abuses by employers and/or agencies owing to the workers’ lack of awareness about migration and labor laws. The Philippine Embassy organized the recent GAD seminar primarily to address these challenges.

In his opening remarks, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Marcos A.S. Punsalang outlined the seminar’s objectives: 1) to make Filipino workers aware of new migration and labor developments under the new Piñera administration; 2) to empower them and lessen their vulnerabilities; and, 3) to uphold their rights and safeguard their welfare while in Chile.

Atty. Viviana Moya Cañales of the Victim Support Project of the Chilean Ministry of Interior and who works closely with SERNAM (Women’s National Agency), the Crime and Victim Support Center in La Cisterna and other NGOs, served as resource person during the afternoon. Atty. Moya is known for being an advocate of women’s rights and gender equality, and also served as the Embassy’s resource person and adviser on women empowerment issues and combating sexual harassment in the past.

Consul Dennis Briones and Embassy personnel facilitated a candid 40-minute long Q&A portion about labor and migration issues following Atty. Moya’s presentation.

The Philippine Embassy has more GAD projects planned for the year, including a sportsfest for OFWs and a publication of a booklet on labor and immigration issues in Chile. END