DFA to Host Project Saysay’s 5th Anniversary
Commemorating five good years of fostering its advocacy in spreading the ideals and values of our great forebears, Project Saysay will celebrate its anniversary on May 22, Tuesday, 4:00 p.m., at the Foreign Service Institute’s Carlos P. Romulo Library in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Central Office in Pasay City. De La Salle University History professor Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua is the guest of honor of the event.
The overarching theme of the event is reaching out to Filipinos overseas while its highlights include the unveiling of the portraits of the first 10 in the pantheon of 50 great Filipinos identified by the Project and the launching of its new poster print designs. These improvements in Project Saysay are commitment of Ibarra Watches.
The event will be graced by no less than the descendants of great men and women in history such as Apolinario Mabini, Gregoria de Jesus, Hadji Butu, Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio, Antonio Luna, Mariano Ponce, and Clemencia Lopez. National Commission for Culture and the Arts Executive Director Rico S. Pableo, Jr. will also attend the event.
It is not the first time that Project Saysay and DFA have a collaboration. Their previous partnership includes the Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN Summit and the 50th anniversary of ASEAN in 2017 where the former produced special posters featuring the ideals of the five founding fathers of the regional community. Furthermore, Project Saysay presented in May 2017 its first ten posters overseas in Sentro Rizal at the Philippine Embassy in Madrid through the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
DFA also committed to facilitate the turnover of 300 posters for distribution to Sentro Rizal cultural centers of 26 foreign service posts. The production of the said posters is also sponsored by Ibarra Watches as part of its corporate social responsibility.
Meanwhile, the remodelled poster design is made possible in partnership with Ibarra Watches. Dubbed as Ibarra Posters, the materials consist of a uniformed style of design featuring the portraits of 50 Filipino historical figures painted by Mark Villanueva.
While there is an improvement in the design, Project Saysay retains the original poster dimension of 12” x 18” printed on a sticker laminated on a 3mm sintra board. The printing cost per poster remains at PhP150.00 which is the amount an interested benefactor shoulders for his or her chosen beneficiary institution.
To qualify as a beneficiary institution, at least two thirds of the total number of its rooms must benefit from the donations. A beneficiary institution can range from a preschool to a tertiary-level institution, an office or a library. Poster prints are not for sale and are exclusively free through the aforementioned benefactor system.
