Group photo of Embassy personnel at the Belvedere of the Royal Lazienki Park: L to R Mr. Mariusz Dudzicki, Ms. Imelda de Joya, Mr. Ramon Ebalo, Ambassador Ms. Patricia Ann V. Paez, Consul Maria Alnee Gamble, Ms. Mariia Hrzusetzka, Mr. Marden Garduque and Mr. Jose Magaso.

Philippine embassy personnel singing “Bayang Magiliw” during the Philippine Independence Day celebration for members of the diplomatic community and Poles from both the government and private sectors; L to R 1st row: Ambassador Patricia Ann V, Paez, Consul Maria Alnee Gamble; 2nd row: Mr. Ramon Ebalo, Ms. Imelda de Joya; Mr. Marden Garduque, and Mr. Jose Magaso

L to R: Dean Of Diplomatic Corps The Most Rev. Salvatore Pennacchio, Amb. Paez, and Counsellor Monsignor Cryspin Dubiel

L to R: Dr. Franciszek Czech, Deputy Head for Educational Affairs of the Jagellonian University in Krakow gave Amb. Paez a book which is the Polish version of Dr. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere; also in photo is Consul Maria Alnee Gamble

L to R: Amb. Paez, Latvia’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Edgars Bondars and Spain’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Francisco Javier Sanabria Valderrama
L to R: India’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Tsewang Namgyal, Consul. Gamble, People’s Republic of China’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Liu Guangyuan, Amb. Paez, Netherlands‘ Ambassador H.E. Mr. Ronald Jacobus Petrus Marie van Dartel, and Dr. Rafal Dymzyck who is director of the first-ever Philippines Research Hub at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan

L to R: Malaysia’s Deputy Chief of Mrs. Nur Azura Abd Karim, Director (Assistant Secretary of the MFA-Poland;s Deoartment of Asia-Pacific Amb. Pawel Mislewski, Malaysia’s Ambassador H.E. Ms. Chitra Devi Ramiah, Amb. Paez and Vietnam’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Vu Dang Dung

L to R: South Korea’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Sung Joo Choi, Ukraine’s Ambassador H,E. Mr. Andrii Deshchytsia, wife of the ambassador of Denmark Mrs. Anne-Marie Pretzmann Mikkelsen, Georgia’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Ilia Darchiashvili and Armenia’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Edgar Ghazaryan

L to R: Consul Gamble, Amb. Paez and Russian Federation’s Ambassador H.E. Mr, Sergey Andreev

L to R: Amb. Paez, Colombia’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Javier Dario Higuera Ángel,Uruguay’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Pablo Scheiner, Qatar’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saif S. K. Al-Midhadi, Member of Poland’s Parliament Mr. Tomasz Glogowski, Mexico’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Alejandro Negrin Muňoz, Cuba’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Jorge Marti Martinez and the wife of Colombia’s envoy Mrs. Lilia Atanassova Milenova

L to R: Amb Paez, wife of Latvia’s ambassador Mrs. Daiga Bondare, Israel’s Ambassador Mrs. Anna Azari and wife of Denmark’s ambassador Mrs. Anne-Marie Pretzmann Mikkelsen

Amok (Polysound) string quartet provided the music during the celebration

Sister Violetta Zajac (3rd from left), Amb. Paez and Sister Bozena Kunicka (extreme right)

L to R: Chile’s Ambassador H.E. Mr.. Julio Bravo Yubini, Consul. Gamble, Amb. Paez and South Korea’s Ambassador H.E. Mr. Sung Joo Choi

Dr. Joanna Marszalek-Kawa of the Nicolai Copernicus University in Torun and convenor of the yearly Academic Congress on Asia (2nd from left) and Amb. Paez

WARSAW____________The Philippine Embassy in Warsaw spread the good news about the Philippines during its twin celebrations of the 120th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine independence.

It commemorated Philippine National Day with the members of the diplomatic corps, officials of the Polish government, and members of the private sector on 04 June and with the members of the Filipino community in Poland on 10 June.

After the national anthems of the Philippines and Poland were played, the Embassy showed a slide presentation about the Philippines, with corresponding photos/visuals, with an instrumental rendition of “Dahil Sa Iyo” as background music.

It showed that pre-colonial natives practiced animism or the worship of nature and natural phenomena; were politically organized with the barangay, headed by a chief called datu or rajah, as the smallest political unit; had a native alphabet called Alibata and had a flourishing trade with the Chinese, Arabs, and Indians.

With the declaration of Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite on 12 June 1898, the Philippines became the first Republic in Asia.

Showcasing the country today, the presentation underscored that the Philippines
- is the oldest security treaty ally of the U.S. in Asia;
- won victory in the “Battle of Marawi” against a terrorist group which wanted to establish an ISIS caliphate in Southeast Asia;
- for centuries, was the only Catholic country in Asia;
- has eight tourist attractions listed in UNESCO”s World Heritage Sites;
- is the “top tourist spot in Asia in 2018” (Forbes magazine)
- gained a 15% increase in tourist arrivals for the 1st quarter of 2018, totaling 2 million (1st quarter of 2017 - 1.7 million, DOT)
-ranked No. 10 in the Global Gender Gap report on gender equality (World Economic Forum 2017)
-has elected two female presidents; and
-was adjudged as the “Best Performer” in terms of gender equality in work in the Asia Pacific” by McKinsey Global Institute Report April 2018.

The presentation also highlighted that:
-Independent filmmaker Mr. Lav Diaz won the top prize in the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France (2018); and received the Golden Lion Award during the 73rd Venice International Film Festival in 2016;
- 12 year old Filipina Ms. Alex Eala became the champion of the “under 14” singles tennis match in France (Les Petit As-le Mondial Lacoste Girls Singles 2018)
- the Philippines was the champion of the 2017-2018 ASEAN Basketball;
- the Philippines is No. 1 in the Call Center industry in the world;
- the country has the largest solar-powered mall in the world (SM North EDSA):
- is the 2nd largest producer of geothermal energy in the world;
- is the site of the “world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform” (Amazon Web Services);
- Filipino-American Mr. Diosdado Banatao developed the 1st system logic chip set for IBM’s PC-XT and PC-AT and the 1st Windows Graphic Accelerator chip for personal computers;
- the Philippines manufactures MOOG electro hydraulic and electro mechanical activation systems for commercial aircraft; and has the 4th largest shipbuilding industry in the world.

Additionally, the presentation informed the audience that the Philippines
- ranked No. 58 in the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom- up from No. 70 (Heritage Foundation);
- exceeded revenue target by US$ 1.1 billion in the 1st four months of 2018;
- ushered the “Golden Age of Infrastructure” under the slogan “Build, Build, Build” allocating US$ 180 billion from 2017 until 2022;
- has gained a 53% increase in foreign direct investments during the 1st quarter of 2018 amounting to US$ 3.7 billion (compared with 1st quarter 2017 of US$2.2. billion);
- is the 38th largest economy in the world (World Bank 2018);
- is forecasted by PwC as the 19th most powerful economy by 2050;
- received investment grade ratings from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, Fitch; and NICE Investors Service;
- ranked No.99 out of 190 countries in the Ease of Doing Business (World Bank 2017);
- ranked No. 57 put of 138 countries in the Global Competitiveness Index (World Economic Forum 2016 to 2017 rankings);
- is experiencing a “golden era of growth” with the IMF forecasting that for 2018 and 2019, the Philippines will have the 2nd highest economic growth in the Asia Pacific after India;
- gained a 6.8% GDP growth for the 1st quarter of 2018; thus, recording 76 straight quarters of economic growth;
- provides for free tertiary education in all State universities and colleges that began this June 2018;
- provides health care for all through PhilHealth;
- that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte received a net trust and approval rating of 58% from the Filipino people;
- that the Filipinos are the 3rd happiest people in the world (Gallup International 2018); and that
- Poland reopened its Embassy in Manila this year. (END)