06 December 2024
Old Goa, Goa State – Philippine Ambassador to India Josel F. Ignacio was privileged to meet and convey compliments to both the Honorable Governor of Goa Shri P. S. Sreedharan Pillai and the Honorable Chief Minister Shri Dr. Pramod Pandurang Sawant on 03 December.
The encounter took place at the historic Basilica do Bom Jesus, upon the conclusion of the religious rites marking the 18th Solemn Exposition of the Relics of St. Francis Xavier.
The Ambassador expressed pleasure at his first encounter with the State’s two highest officials, to whom he manifested the Embassy’s commitment to fostering close ties with Goa. Governor Pillai and Chief Minister Sawant thanked the Ambassador for his visit, and expressed in turn their readiness to receive the Ambassador on his next sojourn to the state.
Ambassador Ignacio was in Goa to attend the ceremonies as a guest of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Goa and Daman under His Eminence Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, and to call on visiting Filipino prelate His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, the Holy See’s representative to the decadal exposition.
With the Ambassador were Vice Consul Mark Anthony G. Articulo, Attaché Bernard O. Cabal, and Philippine Honorary Consul (Mumbai) Retnasamy Swaminathan.
While in Goa, the Ambassador joined Cardinal Tagle in a private gathering with the state’s sizeable Filipino diaspora. END
