12 August 2005 -- The Philippine Embassy in Israel reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that it scored another success in its trade, cultural and tourism promotions when its cultural show and product promotions draw raves and brisk sales on 07 to 08 August 2005 in Haifa, Israel.

Ambassador Antonio C. Modena thanked the municipality of Haifa and the Kastra Center for giving the Embassy the opportunity to show the vibrant color of Filipino culture, the country's products and invite them to visit the Philippines. "While many Israelis already know about the Filipinos because of their work here, not many know of the Philippines. This is a chance for us to show who we are, what we are and what we stand for," Ambassador Modena said.

As a token of the Embassy's appreciation, the Ambassador presented Mayor Yahav of Haifa and the Kastra center a painting of Filipino artist Emmanuel Garibay, who donated two of his works for the occasion. Mayor Yahav thanked Ambassador Modena and noted he is already arranging for the visit of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and that as a sister-city of Manila, he hopes to see more of the warmth of Philippine culture in Haifa.

The two-day Philippine Week at the Kastra Center, the largest mall in Haifa, drew a crowd of over 8,000 people and was hailed by the mayor and mall owners as the best cultural show, product and art exhibit ever presented in Haifa by an Embassy in Israel. Emmanuel Garibay, who recently concluded a successful exhibition at the prestigious Ein Hod museum, also exhibited and sold some of his work at Kastra. On exhibit and on sale were Philippine furniture, handicraft, textile, pearls and other jewelry, fancy jewelry and processed food products, backpacks, bags and leather goods.   Filipinos also sold local delicacies such as lumpia, pancit, halo-halo, turon, sago't gulaman, empanada, puto and other rice cakes, which were all bought by the mall goers.

The Embassy also run video shows highlighting tourism destinations in the Philippines. There was also a Philippine textile and costume display, a Philippine Wildlife pictorial exhibit and photo montage of the role Filipinos played to save the Jews during WWII and on Philippine-Israel relations.  Travel agencies, El Al and Western Union supported the Philippine Embassy with their own tourism promotion booths as well as providing give-aways and promotional materials.

The Philippine Week was jointly organized by the Embassy, the Haifa local government, and the Kastra Center. END