20 August 2014 - The Philippine Embassy in Prague, led by Ambassador Victoriano M. Lecaros, successfully organized the celebration of Apolinario Mabini’s 150th birth anniversary with members of the Filipino community and Czech guests on 16 August 2014 at the Multi-purpose Hall of the Philippine Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic.
The Life and Works of Mabini and “The True Decalogue” were narrated by Cultural Officer and Attaché Ramon Gaspar, a Gawad Mabini Awardee (Kasugo) of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Ambassador Lecaros recited Mabini’s “The True Decalogue” and gave a talk on the importance of “The True Decalogue” in the lives of contemporary Filipino migrants. He stressed the importance of Mabini in the Philippine revolution and his role as first Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Philippines under President Emilio Aguinaldo. Ambassador Lecaros challenged Filipino migrant workers to live with higher ideals and emphasized love of country. He said that despite Mabini’s condition as a polio survivor, he stood strong in the face of challenges and detractors to be one of the foremost national heroes of the Philippines.
After the talk, the Ambassador invited a member of the Filipino community, Sigrid de Mesa-Castillo, to cut the ribbon and open the Mabini photo exhibit in the newly-installed “Mabini Corner” at the Multi-purpose Hall of the Embassy together with Ambassador Lecaros, Consul Juan E. Dayang, Jr., and Cultural Officer Gaspar.
Consul Dayang expressed to the Filipino community that the Philippine motto of “love of God, country, people, and the environment” can be lived through the example of Mabini’s life of service and his principles summarized in the “The True Decalogue”.
More than 30 Filipinos and foreign guests attended the celebration of Mabini’s 150th anniversary and the launching of the Embassy’s Financial Literacy Education campaign, the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) registration and luncheon that followed the event.
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