Philippine Design and Lifestyle Trade Fair Featured in New York's Philippine Center Window Exhibit

"Papillion Easy Chair",  "Cloud Pendant Lamp" and "Handmade Paper" 

"Papillion Easy Chair"

"Cloud Pendant Lamp"

"Cloud Pendant Lamp"

The Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue is prominently promoting the premiere design and lifestyle trade fair of the Philippines, "MANILA FAME" in its current window display. This year's Manila FAME theme is "The Art of the Craftsman - The Soul of the Philippines" and aims to elevate the profile of the Philippines as a source of innovative, unique, cutting-edge, and sustainable designs for home, business, and lifestyle requirements. The window display is a joint project of the Philippine Center, Philippine Consulate General, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in New York and the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM). The initial CITEM display features "Papillion Easy Chair" by renowned Filipino designer, Kenneth Cobonpue, "Cloud Pendant Lamp" and "Handmade Paper" by masaec. The next Manila FAME fair will be held on March 14 to 17, 2013 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila.

PAMANA: A Three-Person Art Collective (Maria Pureza Escaño, Ronald Cortez and Bianca Marquez) Opens at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue

L-R: Bianca Marquez, Maria Pureza (Puchette) Escaño, Consul General Mario Lopez de Leon and Ronald Cortez 

"Little Hero" by Maria Pureza Escaño

Maria Pureza (Puchette) Escaño

Three noted Filipino artists from Quezon province — Maria Pureza Escaño, Ronald Cortez and Bianca Marquez — are currently having an exhibit titled “Pamana” at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Ronald Cortez’s “My Friend Rooster,” Bianca Marquez’s mosaic ouvre and Maria Pureza Escaño’s “Little Hero” are among the pieces on exhibit. The photos above were taken during the opening reception last night at the lobby of the Philippine Center. The exhibit is open to the public Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 20. Proceeds from this art show will benefit the Scholarship of Hope of the Bukas-Loob sa Diyos Foundation. For particulars, call 212.575.4774.

"Human/Nature" Group Exhibit by Filipino Painters

Filipino artists Fil de la Cruz, Janos de la Cruz and Gel Jamlang are currently holding an exhibit entitled "Human/Nature" at the Philippine Center Lobby Gallery on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Fil de la Cruz, a prominent print artist, is the President of the Print Association of the Philippines from 1990-2000. Janos de la Cruz and Gel Jamlang are two of the brightest emerging artists in the Philippines. Their paintings celebrate and explore the human face and character (Janos de la Cruz), flowers (Gel Jamlang) and the iconic muses of Fil de la Cruz. The exhibit will run through March 30, 2012. The Philippine Center is located at 556 Fifth Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets.

PAOLO MONTALBAN and BROADWAY BARKADA Offer A Special Typhoon Benefit Concert At The Philippine Center

Filipino American artist PAOLO MONTALBAN, best known for his performance as the Prince in ABC/Disney's "Cinderella", together with BROADWAY BARKADA, performed last night at the Philippine Center's Kalayaan Hall for a special benefit concert for the victims of typhoons "Ondoy and Pepeng" in the Philippines. "Broadway Barkada" is a collective of Filipino theater artists using their talents to affect change in the lives of those in need. Mr. Montalban was last seen on Broadway in the revivals of "Pacific Overtures" and "The King and I." Other performers included Alan Ariano, Marc Delacruz, Olivia Oguma, Enrico Rodriguez, Joanne Javien, Brian Jose, Lumi Bustamante, Romney Piamonte, Loresa Carreon Lanceta, JP Moraga, Jonelle Margallo, Leanne Cabrera, Liz Casasola, Jaygee Macapugay, Sacha Iskra, Mel Maghuyop and Billy Bustamante. Wearing barkada(ko) t-shirts, the theater artists performed pop music hits and classic Tagalog ballads. Some musical numbers were accompanied by screen projection of images from the flooding in the Philippines, as well as photos taken during the cocktail reception prior to the concert. The intimate concert was directed by Billy Bustamante, under the musical direction by Devin Ilaw, who also sang, played the piano and violin. Proceeds from the concert, coursed through the Ayala Foundation-USA, will provide relief and rehabilitation to various victims of the typhoon including families, students and small businesses. The Philippine Center is located at 556 Fifth Avenue (between 45th and 46th Streets).

The New York Philippine Consulate Opens a Public Book of Condolence for former President CORY AQUINO

Mourning the passing of the Philippine icon of democracy

Manhattan resident Vivian Talambiras Cruz signs the pubic book of condolence as Amelia Barretto and a Philippine consulate employee look on.

New Yorkers have the chance to pay their respects to the Philippine icon of democracy and former Philippine President CORAZON (CORY) AQUINO. The New York Philippine Consulate invites the Filipino community and foreign friends to sign the book of condolence at the Philippine Center. The signing takes place at the Kalayaan Hall (second floor) of the Philippine Center which is located at 556 Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The signing of the book of condolence is open to the public, Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. President Aquino died on August 1 in Manila after a long battle with colon cancer, and will be buried on August 5. Kalayaan Hall was named after the 1986 people power revolution led by Cory Aquino.

Mrs. Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines, serving from 1986 to 1992, and also the first female president of that country. She attended the Notre Dame Convent School, as well as the College of Mount Saint Vincent, both in New York.

There will also be a memorial mass on Wednesday, August 5 at 6:30 PM at the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz which is located at 378 Broome Street.

Corazon C. Aquino

January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009

11th President of the Republic of the Philippines

February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992

Maria Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco Aquino became the 11th President of the Republic of the

Philippines, following the peaceful 1986 People Power Revolution that astonished the world.

Aquino was married to Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., a leading figure in the political

opposition against the autocratic rule of President Ferdinand Marcos, who was assassinated upon

his return from exile on 21 August 1983. Having had no prior political experience, Mrs. Aquino

nevertheless became the focal point around which the fractured political opposition finally unified.

She was the lone candidate against Marcos during the 1986 snap presidential elections.

Soon after Marcos’ proclamation as victor, despite widespread reports of electoral fraud,

then Minister of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces of the Philippines Vice

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, set in motion a long-planned coup against Marcos. The

charismatic Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin exhorted the predominantly Catholic

populace to mass along EDSA (the main thoroughfare between Camps Aguinaldo and Crame) to

support the rebel soldiers. Over the next four days almost 2 million unarmed civilians poured into

the streets, heeding the call of Cardinal Sin. People the world over were amazed to see unarmed

priests, nuns and ordinary men, women and children forming human chains, blockading loyalist

military squadrons, preventing them from reaching the rebel soldiers at the Camps. They answered

guns and tanks with prayers and flowers... succeeding in what became known as the 1986 EDSA

People Power Revolution.

Corazon Aquino was proclaimed the 11th President of the Philippines on the 25th of

February 1986, Asia’s first female head of state. After completing her term in 1992, she continued

to be an advocate of democracy, peace, women's empowerment, and religious piety.

Aquino died of cardiopulmonary arrest after complications of colon cancer at the age of 76

on August 1, 2009.