Celebrating Romania’s National Day
THE Romanian embassy recently welcomed distinguished Filipino guests, the diplomatic corps and the Romanian community with a joyful and well-attended reception, hosted by the Fairmont/ Raffle Hotel. In attendance were Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and his wife, Pamela, alongside distinguished representatives of the business world.
The Romanian ambassador, Her Excellency Răduța Dana Matache, greeted the invited guests warmly, dressed in the traditional Romanian national dress, called “ie” or “cămașă cu altiță.” This national dress, common to Romania and the Republic of Moldova, had just been accepted by Unesco at the end of November 2022 as part of the ”world immaterial heritage.” Its white, hand-woven cotton fabric was adorned with handmade embroidery.
Friends of Romania came from afar to celebrate RomanianFilipino relations. The Honorary Consul of Romania in Cebu, Grand Benedicto, was in attendance. Also honored during the ceremony was film director Mac Alejandre McCarthy, awarded the Best Director prize at the Wallachia Film Festival in Romania in 2022 for his movie Silip sa Apoy.
A strong delegation from Searca in Los Baños was also present given that research in agriculture was one of the priority areas where Romania and the Philippines planned to step up cooperation.
University of the Philippine (UP) President Danilo Concepcion graced the reception with his elegant wife.
As in June this year, a grand celebration of 50 years of bilateral relations was hosted by UP.
An emotional moment came when a rising star of Philippine opera, the young soprano Marielle Tuasson, interpreted wonderfully both the Filipino and the Romanian national anthems.