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NEW DELHI — A Filipino-style get-together made Christmas away from home more cheerful for Filipino liver transplant patients at two major hospitals in New Delhi on 17 December, as they received a visit from the Philippine Embassy and the Filipino Community in India.

Ambassador Josel F. Ignacio and the Embassy Team visited a total of 12 Filipino patients undergoing life-saving surgery and treatment at the Max Super Specialty Hospital and the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, both in South Delhi.

At Max Hospital, the Embassy team had a cordial get-together with five pediatric patients and their parents, as well as one adult patient. The Embassy turned over care packages and financial assistance from the Philippine Government. On hand for the encounter were hospital officials led by Senior VP Dr. Gurpeet Singh, General Manager Mr. Abishek Jain, and Dr. Subash Gupta, Chairman of the hospital’s Center of Liver and Biliary Sciences.

2From Max Hospital, the Ambassador and his team moved to Apollo Hospital, where together with Mrs. Zenaida G. Rizaldo, a Delhi-based Filipino lending support to Filipino patients, they broke bread and engaged in fellowship with six pediatric liver transplantees and their parents, who similarly received care packages and financial assistance. Present were Senior VP Dr. Harinder Singh Sidhu, Senior Consultant and Pediatric Gastroenterologist Dr. Anupam Sibal, and Mr. Varun Sukhija. At both visits, the Embassy team received briefings on the two hospitals’ respective live-donor liver transplant services and track record of reliably treating Filipino liver patients, especially pediatric biliary atresia. Since its first successful living donor liver transplant in 1998, India has grown to become a major hub for the procedure, combining high success rates and cost-effectiveness.

At both engagements, Ambassador Ignacio conveyed the Embassy’s hopes and wishes for the Filipino patients’ speedy recovery, and the Embassy’s commitment to dispensing its Assistance-to-Nationals mandate.

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The Ambassador also thanked the hospitals for their role in saving the lives of numerous Filipinos over the past decade. Citing the Philippines’ own repute as a regional wellness and medical tourism destination, especially for Pacific Island countries, he underscored the value of further strengthening healthcare sector partnerships between the Philippines and India.

The Embassy-led event underscored the Embassy's commitment to fostering community support and providing meaningful assistance to Filipinos undergoing life-saving medical procedures in India. Third Secretary Mark Anthony P. Dizon, head of the Embassy’s ATN section, and the Embassy's personnel and staff were also present. END

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NEW DELHI – The Philippine Embassy unveiled on 13 November 2024 the commemorative volume “A Journey of Enduring and Soaring Partnership” on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the Philippines and India.

Helmed in partnership with prominent Mumbai-based media outfit Network 18, the book traces via archival photos and insightful write-ups the journey of the bilateral relationship. The arc of relations spans centuries-old civilizational contacts, to the establishment of formal ties on 16 November 1949, up until the present era of unprecedented intensification of engagement.

2The launch took place during the Embassy-hosted grand diplomatic anniversary reception at the ITC Maurya Hotel in Delhi’s Diplomatic Enclave, in simple ceremonies led by Philippine Ambassador to India Josel F. Ignacio and visiting Tourism Undersecretary Maria Rica C. Bueno. The diplomatic reception was graced by no less than Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who, earlier in the rites, unveiled the official 75th Anniversary Logo with Ambassador Ignacio.The book features messages from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo, as well as the heads of Philippine Missions across India. Contributing insightful pieces are Secretary Manalo, Ambassador Ignacio, historian Ian Christopher B. Alfonso, Philippine Honorary Consul General in Mumbai Mme. Rajashree Birla, Philippine Honorary Consul General in Chennai Ashwin Muthiah, Delhi University Prof. Reena Marwah, geopolitical analyst Don McLain Gill, BrahMos Aerospace CEO Atul D. Rane, and the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.

Rounding up the remarkable narrative of bilateral ties are articles penned by Embassy officials Vice Consul Mark Anthony G. Articulo (Cultural Affairs/Public Diplomacy), Vice Consul Mark Anthony P. Dizon (Political Affairs), Vice Consul Melissa Anne M. Telan (Economic Affairs), Attaché Rogelio B. Silva, Jr. and Attaché Rina Isabel P. de Chavez.

Within the Embassy, Vice Consul Articulo and the Cultural and Public Diplomacy Section shepherded the book project under the guidance of the Ambassador. “This volume pays tribute to the amazing story of Philippines-India ties, which are now entering a strategic epoch”, said Ambassador Ignacio. “It being an anniversary, this is a labor of love from the Embassy, mirroring the passionate work of every team member daily to buttress and promote our ties with India.”

 In recent years, the Philippines and 3India have seen mutual trust deepen and cooperation expand exponentially. Both countries are now engaged in sustained high-level interaction and political dialogues, and are seeing record highs in bilateral trade, rising FDI, new milestones in defense, and growing reciprocal tourism. Beyond the bilateral, the two countries’ are also in increasing cooperation to advance shared advocacies in the larger Indo-Pacific, global commons, and multilateral issues.

The 75th Anniversary of Philippines-India relations will see various commemorative projects undertaken well into 2025. END

06 December 2024

Governor Pillai

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

06 December 2024

 

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Pilar, Goa State – The 2nd of December proved to be a memorable day for Filipinos in Goa as they engaged His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle and Philippine Ambassador to India Josel F. Ignacio in a joint meet-and-greet event.

The gathering took place at Goa’s iconic hilltop All India Mission Seminary (Pilar Seminary), headquarters of the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier (SFX), with the kind support of the SFX administration.

2Cardinal Tagle, currently Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization, was in Goa as the Vatican’s representative to the decadal exposition of the relics of the Roman Catholic Church’s Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552), in repose and venerated there since 1553.Ambassador Ignacio, meanwhile, was on his first visit to Goa and interaction with the state’s sizeable Filipino diaspora. The Ambassador was accompanied by Vice Consul Mark Anthony G. Articulo, Attaché Bernard O. Cabal, and Philippine Honorary Consul (Mumbai) Retnasamy Swaminathan. Cardinal Tagle and Ambassador Ignacio addressed the gathering in succession. The Filipino Cardinal, the highest-ranking Filipino in the Vatican, delivered an inspiring message, before giving the Filipinos present a blessing.

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4There are an estimated 1,356 Filipinos in India, according to India’s Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO), virtually all of whom are spouses of Indian nationals. Around 200 Filipinos are based in Goa state. Apart from the Embassy in New Delhi, they are served by the Honorary Philippine Consulate General based in Mumbai.To date, the Ambassador has led service missions and visited Filipinos in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and, outside India, in Kathmandu (Nepal). END

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