28 September 2005— The Philippine Embassy in London reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that a festival of arts, crafts, costumes, food and food products from the Philippines is enjoying a good run at the sprawling Oriental City Mall in Colindale, north London, drawing crowds since it formally opened on September 23.  The showcase, billed as “Discover Philippine Treasures 2005”, is being held daily until 02 October.

“The mall is a good venue to promote Philippine culture because we are able to reach a considerable number of audience coming from the different walks of life,” Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James Edgardo B. Espiritu said.

On its opening day, a special attraction was the presence of the world-famous London black cab, whose body was covered with beautiful Philippine scenery and the slogan WOW Philippines. The cab is one of around fifty which will be plying the streets of London for six months until March next year, as part of a new, cost-effective tourism initiative launched by the Department of Tourism through its European office in London.

Discover Philippine Treasures 2005 aims to bring to the attention of the British public the “best of the Philippines” in terms of world-class products, and to promote the country as an undiscovered treasure that has much to offer to those who are looking for exciting holidays and tropical vacations.

The guest speakers during the opening of the festival were Ambassador Espiritu and the Mayor of the London Borough of Brent, Councillor Colum Maloney.

Participating in the exhibit are Filipino exporters from the Philippines who are on a European road show covering Italy, Spain and the UK. The products on display include Christmas lanterns and décor, basketware, furniture, woodcarvings, musical instruments, shellcraft and coconut handicraft, Philippine fashion and tablecloth made from piña, jusi and silk, Cordillera cloth and costumes, Mindanao malong and Visayan hablon, fashion accessories, and many more. Filipino food – including sweet mangoes, special ensaymada, and Laguna buko pie – and manufactured food products are on sale at the supermarket of Oriental City Mall.

Artworks by Filipino artists are also on exhibit and several have been sold. The paintings are by Giovanni de la Rosa, Jorge Banawa, Rafael Cusi, Wilfredo Offemaria Jr., Ernesto Bagtas, and UK-based Arturo Limbo. The works were put together by Virgilio Cuizon who owns Kunst Batangas Metropolitan Gallery and lives in Germany.

For two weekends, a variety of cultural shows and audience activities is being featured: performances by the Lahing Kayumanggi Dance Group of London, ballroom dancing exhibition, cooking contest, fashion show, lantern-making contest, Little Miss Oriental City competition, and musical numbers by some of the most talented young artists from the Filipino community in the United Kingdom.

The festival is a joint project of the Philippine Embassy together with the DTI’s Philippine Trade and Investment Center headed by commercial attaché Roberto Mercado,  and the Department of Tourism London office headed by tourism attaché Domingo Enerio III. It is being sponsored and hosted by the Oriental City Mall whose management, led by its chairman Ronald Lim, has been supportive of the Philippine festival since it started three years ago.  The other sponsors of the festival are ABS-CBN, Coconut Works, Charrie Travel, FM Pasyalan, Josephine’s Restaurant, LCC, Lutong Pinoy, Philippine Islands Connections, Philippine National Bank (Europe) plc, Travelex, Show Philippines, UMAC, and Wonders from Asia. END