Ambassador Patricia Ann Paez and Attache Mr. Jose Magaso giving a rendition of “Dahil Sa Iyo” to showcase the country’s Pilipino national language; while they sang, photos of Philippine tourist attractions were shown, on which the Pilipino and English translation of the song were superimposed.
Taal volcano in Tagaytay was among the higlhighted tourist attractions
Philippine Embassy Cultural Officer Ms. Imelda de Joya, assisted by Attache Mr. Marden Garduque, gave a brief background on “Dahil Sa Iyo” and showed a sample CD of Philippine kundiman; copies of the CD were given to the audience
L to R: Ambassador of Sri Lanka H.E. Mr. Watte Walawwe Tissa Wijeratne, Ambassador Paez, and Mrs. Shahanaj Parvin; performers and guests were requested by the Ambassador of Bangladesh H.E. Mr. Mahfizur Rahman to write messages in their respective national languages on a commemorative canvass
L to R: 1st row - Cultural Officer Ms. de Joya, Ambassador of Sri Lanka H.E. Mr. Watte Walawwe Tissa Wijeratne, Dr. Shahanaj Parvin, Ambassador of Chile H.E. Mr. Julio Bravo Yubini,and Ambassador of Afghanistan H.E. Mr. Gul Hussain Ahmadi
WARSAW____ The Philippine Embassy in Warsaw, Poland showcased the ocuntry’s national language Pilipino during the celebration of the International Mother Language Day at the University of Warsaw last 01 March 2018.
Philippine envoy to Poland Ms. Patricia Ann Paez and Embassy Attache Mr. Jose Magaso sang the classic kundiman song “Dahil Sa Iyo” (“Because of You”). While they sang, a photo slide show of Philippine tourist attractions, as well as the Pilipino text of the song and its line-by-line English translations were projected on the screen.
Before their performance, Cultural Officer Ms. Imelda de Joya gave the audience a brief background on the kundiman genre and about the song. Ms. de Joya said that “Dahil Sa Iyo” was composed by Mr. Mike Velarde, Jr. who wrote it for the movie “Bituing Marikit” (“Brilliant Star”). She added that “Dahil Sa Iyo” is one of the most popular examples of the “kundiman”- a musical genre which refers to a classic Pilipino love song.
Ms. de Joya informed the audience that a version fo the song, with English and Pilipino lyrics, was recorded by the Letterman in 1964 which one can watch in YouTube. The iconical status of “Dahil Sa’ Iyo” was reaffirmed by its inclusion in the 2004 hit compilation album entitled “Great Filipino Love Songs,” she added.
Ms. de Joya and Embassy staff Attache Mr.Marden Garduque provided the audience with flyers containing the English and Polish translations of the song as well as CDs of Philippine kundiman and tourism brochures.
The audience was captivated by the song’s lyrics as well as by the beauty of the Philippines through the photos shown during the performance.
Ten ambassadors participated in the event which featured three musical performances and seven short poetry reading sessions, all rendered by the envoys or their representatives in their respective “mother toungues.”
The International Mother Language Day, as declared by the UNESCO, is observed every year since Febbruary 2000 “to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.” Its celebration in Poland was spearheaded by the Ambassador of Bangladesh H.E. Mahfuzur Rahman in collaboration with the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Univerasity of Warsaw (END)
