20 April 2006 — Philippine Ambassador to Paris, France and Philippine Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) José A. Zaide reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that he reiterated to UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura the Philippines’ commitment to “constructing the defenses of peace in the minds of men” when he presented his Letters of Credential to the UNESCO on 18 April 2006.

Ambassador Zaide likewise extended to Director-General Matsuura the felicitations and best wishes of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo following the Director-General’s election to a second term at the helm of UNESCO in October 2005 at the 33rd Session of the biennial UNESCO General Conference. He was first elected in 1999.

Ambassador Zaide added that President Arroyo, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, House Speaker Jose de Venecia and other ranking Philippine officials look forward to receiving Director-General Matsuura in Manila late next month on the occasion of the 31st World Congress of the International Theatre Institute where he will preside over the Leaders Forum of the event revolving around the theme “Ancestral Roots to New Routes of Artistic Expression: Mobilizing Cultural Diversity to Achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.”

Director-General Matsuura replied that he similarly looks forward to undertaking his second official trip to the Philippines, the first being in 2002 when he participated in the celebration of World Press Freedom Day in Manila.

Ambassador Zaide also reiterated the Philippines' appreciation for UNESCO's interest in supporting Philippine project proposals that pursue UNESCO's flagship activity on Intercultural Dialogue, specifically a proposed interfaith peace education center based in Mindanao that will cater to children and women.

The Ambassador likewise thanked Director-General Matsuura for UNESCO's invaluable assistance in support of Philippine interests, initiatives and projects in the organization such as UNESCO's Participation Programme encouraging Member States through their UNESCO National Commissions to submit project proposals that bear on UNESCO's competences and priorities for a given biennium for possible funding and technical assistance. For the 2004-2005 biennium, the Philippines had nine approved requests amounting to a total of US$165,000.

Ambassador Zaide stated that in the sphere of world heritage, the Philippines continues to enjoy funding and technical assistance relating to issues of preservation and management from UNESCO's World Heritage Centre.  The Philippines has five properties in the World Heritage List, namely, Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, Baroque Churches of the Philippines, Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, and the Historic Town of Vigan.

On intangible cultural heritage, the Philippines has also benefited from the proclamation of the Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao and Darangen Epic of the Maranao People of Lake Lanao as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001 and 2005, respectively. Recently, UNESCO approved and released US$56,960 to underwrite a project of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts on the safeguarding and transmission of the Hudhud chants, Ambassador Zaide reported.

At the end of their meeting, the Ambassador presented Director-General Matsuura with a Philippine-published book on Museum Treasures of Southeast Asia, which includes select artifacts from the National Museum of the Philippines.

Ambassador Zaide is scheduled to present his credentials to French President Jacques Chirac at the end of the month.  END