Resource person from the International Office of Migration (IOM) Ms. Anna Ochmanska conducted the cultural orientation seminar

Filipino members of the community listen intently to Ms. Ochmanska’s lecture

Ms. Ochmanska discussed the various stages of culture shock and how to recover from it

Filcom members watch the videos on
Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s State Visits to Israel and Jordan

L to R: Ambassador Patricia Ann Paez (extreme left), Mr. Alfredo Articulo (2nd from left) Ms. Andrea Refresca (4th from left) and Cultural and GAD Officer Ms. Imelda de Joya (extreme right) present a boquet of roses and a plaque of appreciation from the Embassy to Ms. Ochmanska (3rd from left)

Mr. Fred and Mrs. Puring Articulo share a light moment with Ms. Ochmanska; the Articulo couple gave “ ginatang bilo-bilo” for the FilCom’s “salo-salo”

A “baby shower” was held for Mrs. Marissa Daniszewski who is due to deliver her first baby soon with husband Mr. David Daniszewski; photo shows the couple with their respective native countries’ flags

Mr. and Mrs. Daniszewski shared this cake with the FilCom during the “baby shower”

FilCom group photo during the “baby shower”

WARSAW_____ In partnership with the Philippine Embassy In Warsaw, the International Office for Migration (IOM) conducted a cultural orientation seminar about Poland and its people for the OFWs in Poland during the Embassy’s regular “pulong-bayan” (“community meeting”) which was held last 09 September 2018.

Ms. Anna Ochmanska of the IOM conducted the cultural orientation seminar which, among others, discussed which acts and behavior are considered either as good or bad manners in Polish society.

The aim of the seminar was to help facilitate the adjustment of OFWs to the Polish milieu and promote pleasant social interactions between the OFWs and the Polish people.

As part of the Embassy’s initiative to inform the Filipino community about developments in the Philippines, the Embassy showed videos of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s recent official visits to Israel and Jordan as well as snippets of the president’s speech before the Filipino community there.

Philippine envoy to Poland Ms. Patricia Ann V. Paez also informed the FilCom that PRRD’s official visit to Israel was the first-ever by a Philippine president in 60 years of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Israel and that three bilateral agreements were signed during PRRD’s official visit. Foremost of these was the bilateral labor agreement which did away with an estimated US $12, 000.00, that each OFW has to pay as job placement or recruitment fee before the OFW can work in Israel. For its part, Jordan donated two AH-15 Cobra attack helicopters to the Philippines President Duterte brought home a total of USD143.57 million worth of investments from his official visits to Israel and Jordan.

During last Sunday’s event -- as in previous community meetings -- the Embassy rendered whatever type of consular service any member of the FilCom requested, including the ongoing registration for overseas absentee voting (OAV) and the issuance of Embassy identification cards (IDs) to the members of the Filipino community.

A special session of the Polish language course was likewise conducted to hasten the learning process of the OFW enrollees.

In the spirit of fostering “pakikipag-kapwa” and strengthening community solidarity, (“bayanihan”) a “baby shower” was also held for Mrs. Marissa Daniszewski who is due to deliver a baby boy soon. She was accompanied by her husband Mr. David Daniszewski. The couple shared a cake as a gesture of appreciation.

Capping the community gathering was a modest “salo-salo” of Philippine merienda such as pancit and ginatan prepared by Mrs. Neneng Martin and ginataang bilo-bilo donated by Mr. & Mrs. Articulo. (END)