20 June 2012- The Philippine Embassy in Muscat launched the first Sentro Rizal cultural center and library in the Middle East to give Filipino expatriates in Oman and their children an opportunity to reconnect with their homeland through books, films and other published materials last June 12.
As a place for cultural exchange, the library also contains a section on Islam and Filipino Muslims, Oman, and the different countries in Asia.
Books for the Asian collection were presented by spouses of the Asian Ambassadors in Muscat at a luncheon held at the Sentro Rizal hall last June 13.
Sentro Rizal was created under the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 to promote Philippine culture and heritage in the world. It was envisioned "as the Philippine counterpart of France's Alliance Française or Germany's Goethe-Institut".
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) opened the world's first Sentro Rizal in Intramuros on 28 June 2012, on the 150th birth anniversary of Rizal.
The collection at Muscat's Sentro Rizal library includes donations by NCCA, the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), the Ayala Foundation's Filipinas Heritage Library, the Ateneo de Manila University, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and the Film Academy of the Philippines.
A marble sculpture of Rizal created by Filipino artist Anastacio Caedo was flown in from Manila in time for the inauguration on June 12.
NCCA through its Chairman, Professor Felipe M. de Leon Jr., and Executive Director Emelita V. Almosara donated the Rizal bust.
In showing the library to guests that included Omani officials, local media and library patrons, Philippine Ambassador to Oman Joselito A. Jimeno reiterated that Sentro Rizal "will bring the richness of Philippine arts, culture, history, and language to Oman."