Ambassador Jaime Victor B. Ledda, along  with the officers and staff of the Philippine Embassy
in The Hague, The Netherlands, commemorates the 118th Anniversary of Philippine Independence Day.

14 June 2016, The Hague – The Philippine Embassy in The Hague, The Netherlands commemorated the 118th Anniversary of the Declaration of Philippine Independence with the holding of a number of activities and participating in celebrations organized by the Filipino Community.

National Day Reception

Ambassador Jaime Victor B. Ledda delivers his welcome remarks.

The Hague PE organized and hosted the Annual National Day reception at the Marriott Hotel in The Hague on 8 June. More than 250 guests from the Dutch government, diplomatic community, business sector, international organizations, academe and media attended the event.

In his remarks, Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda highlighted the positive things to celebrate on the auspicious occasion, including the continued growth of the Philippine economy, the increase in foreign direct investments to the Philippines, and the country’s active role in international and regional organizations such as APEC and ASEAN.

He also mentioned that the year 2016 is doubly significant for the Philippines and the Netherlands as the two countries mark a milestone with the commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 150th Anniversary of Consular relations.

He stated that the Philippines and the Netherlands have enjoyed strong and steady relations over the years with meaningful connections in the political, economic and social spheres. The Ambassador said that economic cooperation has been an integral part of the relations, with the Netherlands emerging as the number three source of FDI in the past 10 years and the top investor in 2015 and 2012.

Ambassador Ledda stated that the healthy cooperation between the two countries is based on the active people-to-people relations that have explored through the years. At this point the Ambassador presented the Order of the Golden Heart to Mr. Johannes Schoorlemmer and Mrs. Geertruida Schoorlemmer of the Heetens Helpgood Center Philippines for their various community development initiatives in the Philippines for the past 25 years. The presentation of the Golden Hearts to HHCP came with the authority from the President of the Philippines. The award is given to Filipinos or foreign citizens who have rendered distinguished services or given noteworthy monetary or material aid, encouragement to the compaign for the amelioration and improvement of the moral, social and economic conditions of the Filipino masses, and for volunteerism in the service of the Filipino masses.

Filipino Community Independence Day Picnic

The Embassy participated in the annual Filipino Community Independence Day Picnic on 4 June 2016 in Spaarnwoude Park in Halfweg, Netherlands.

The Embassy set-up a booth to provide consular services such as ID issuance and responding to consular queries (passports, visas, etc.) to the Filpinos and Dutch who participate in the picnic at the day-long event.

Ambassador Ledda delivered his remarks before the start of the program and games. He updated the Filipino Community on the turnout of overseas voting in the Netherlands and read the Philippine Independence Day Message of Foreign Affairs Secretary Jose Almendras. The organizers of the picnic invited performances from Filipino artists in The Netherlands and noted celebrities Gino Padilla and Isabel Granada.

Special Mass at International Church

The Embassy arranged with the Church of Our Saviour, the international church in The Hague, a special mass on 12 June 2016 to commemorate Philippine Independence.

The Philippine Embassy offered flowers to mark the occasion while the church allowed the display of the Philippine flag during mass.

Philippine Independence Day Picnic in Zuiderpark

Ambassador Ledda graced the Independence Day Picnic on 11 June 2016 organized by the Filipino Migrants in Solidarity (FILMIS) at the Zuiderpark n The Hague.

The FILMIS event promoted culture in arts and talent, with representatives from a number of organizations contributing their respective performances. END