GOVPH

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY IN KOREA SHOWCASES FILIPINO FOOD TO KOREAN MEDIA

19 April 2023, SEOUL – For Filipino Food Month and in keeping with this year’s theme, “Pagkaing Sariling Atin, Mahalin at Pagyamanin”, Philippine Ambassador to Korea Theresa Dizon-De Vega hosted a dinner attended by members of leading English and Korean-language media outfits to showcase Filipino food.

Shrimp sinigang (Filipino sour soup), chicken inasal (specially marinated grilled chicken), and sisig (chopped sizzling pork cheeks with a spicy and sour dressing) were among the night’s favorite dishes, with media guests saying that these dishes will appeal to the Korean palette based on their unique and appealing taste. Guests likewise enjoyed the Philippines’ famous San Miguel beer and were very impressed with the Filipino-style lechon belly roll.

As the Philippines supplies fresh okra to Korean market the menu showcased different ways of preparing this vitamin-rich vegetable such as okra kimchi and okra in soy sauce, serving as side dishes for the dinner.

Highlighting the rich history of Filipino cuisine and Philippine produce, Ambassador De Vega told the media that food has always played an important part in Philippine culture in connecting people and bridging differences. She likewise shared that each region in the Philippines boasts its own rich food culture and agricultural products.

Chef Belgium Villanueva, a Filipino chef based in South Korea, prepared a sumptuous dinner of Filipino dishes with a contemporary twist. The menu included vegetable lumpia and pork sisig served in wonton cups, green papaya salad (atchara), shrimp sinigang, chicken inasal with green mango salsa, Filipino-style roasted pork belly roll and halo-halo with handmade ube ice cream and turon for dessert. Guests also enjoyed Philippine tropical juice drinks and fresh Philippine fruits such as ripe mango and pineapple.

To show that Filipino food can easily be recreated at home, guests were also provided with QR codes of the dinner’s recipes, along with a digital directory of where to buy Filipino products and ingredients. Philippine products used during the dinner are also available in most leading grocery stores in South Korea such as E-mart, Homeplus, and Lotte Mart, and online through Coupang and G-Market.

Filipino food promotion is a key priority of the Philippine Embassy in Seoul for this year. Also present during the dinner were members of the Philippine Food and Culture Promotions Program in South Korea (FOCUS Philippines), Third Secretary and Vice Consul Reisha L. Olavario of the Political and Economic Section of the Philippine Embassy, Tourism Director Ma. Corazon Jorda-Apo, Commercial Counselor Jose Ma Dinsay and Agriculture Attaché Ma. Alilia Maghirang.

FOCUS Philippines is a joint project of the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, in collaboration with the Philippine Department of Tourism in Korea, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Seoul, the Philippine Agriculture Office in Seoul, and the Migrant Workers Office designed to promote Filipino food, food products, and agricultural products in Korea. END

PH Participates in 2nd Conference of the Asian Council of Economic Policy

18 April 2023, Seoul – The Philippines, represented by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) President Aniceto C. Orbeta, Jr., participated in the 2^nd Conference of the Asian Council of Economic Policy (ACEP) held on 5 April 2023 in Seoul.

Dr. Orbeta joined the heads of other national economic advisory councils in Asia, namely, the Korean National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), Malaysia’s National Economic Action Council (NEAC), Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), Thailand Office of National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), and Vietnam’s Center Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) at the conference. The project organizer is the Korean Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).

The conference provided a platform for discussing major regional economic issues such as opportunities and challenges for the Asian economy in the post-pandemic era, supply chain resilience, and the impact of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

Dr. Orbeta moderated the discussion on “Building a Sustainable Supply Chain in an Era of De-globalization” while Dr. Francis Mark Quimba, PIDS Senior Research Fellow served as one of the discussants in the same panel.

The Philippine delegation was joined at the conference by Philippine Ambassador to Korea Theresa Dizon-de Vega. END

UN WOMEN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR GENDER EQUALITY DIRECTOR CALL ON PH AMBASSADOR

18 April 2023, SEOUL – Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega welcomed UN Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality Director Jeongshim Lee at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul. Established only last November 2022, the UN Women Centre in Korea is the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific as a Centre established to improve the implementation of normative and policy frameworks and address discriminatory social norms and practices that perpetuate gender inequality in the region. The Embassy’s Gender and Development Focal Officer, Third Secretary and Vice Consul Reisha Olavario, and Dr. Vu Phuong Ly, a Gender Training Specialist of the UN Women Centre in Korea also joined the meeting.

Director Lee briefed Ambassador De Vega on the UN Women Centre’s plans and activities for the calendar year, including trainings on several themes such as ending violence against women, climate change and disaster risk reduction, women, peace and security, and a train-the-trainor program on gathering family gender data and statistics.

For her part, Ambassador De Vega assured Director Lee of the Philippines’ support for the Centre’s plans and activities and shared the Embassy’s own projects, including the recently concluded special lecture series of Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso on Women, Peace, and Security and its GAD seminar series. Ambassador De Vega likewise highlighted that the Philippines is considered an advance country in gender-responsive governance, constantly ranking as one of the best-performing countries in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap report. She likewise shared the importance the Philippine government accords Gender Mainstreaming, from planning to programming, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.  The Ambassador also drew attention to the unique and participative role of Filipina women who live and work in South Korea in their respective communities, often balancing family life, work, and leadership roles in community organizations that foster a sense of belonging for multicultural families.

The Philippine Embassy in the Republic of Korea continues to support and advance the gender and development agenda through gender-responsive plans and programs that benefit the Filipino community in Korea. END