Stakeholders Team to Sustain Philippine Oceans
Led by our president Pau San Pedro who envisioned this exhibit, it was such an honor that we were able to inaugurate the opening of the UN exhibit with guests of honor Consul General Claro Cristobal, Charges D’Affaires Ariel Penaranda and our very own lifetime member Narcing dela Merced cutting the ribbon.
Day zero started with CCP ending their midnight arrival to NYC at 4:30am in the city that never sleeps. Day 1 started with a bomb scare not far from the Cambria Hotel, home to CCP for almost the week which was, coincidentally, 100 meters from the Philippine consulate. Our UN exhibit was being held at the height of the mail bomb scare. The CCP woke up to the bomb disposal teams driving around with sirens blearing. Police cars were rushing to sites where supposed mail bombs were delivered and discovered, making square blocks closed to traffic just minutes away from our hotels. Security was tight everywhere. Our diplomatic corps informed us of this heightened alert in the UN too. An ID mistake and mix-up has taught us earnestly to always register our full names (like our IDs). One will never know if it may really matter. Anxious consular staff had to make corrections over the weekend (when UN Security and Safety Services wanted 48 hours notice) but things lightened up when the perpetrator of the mail bomb scare was apprehended a day before our exhibit opening!
After gathering general information from Filipino and Fil-Am veteran employees we met in this exhibit, we discovered there are over 3,000 employees in the UN NYC headquarters with around 700 of them of Filipino descent and that there are over 10,000 ‘kababayans’ working in all of the UN around the world. Some Filipinos from the DFA who attended our exhibit just happened to be in the building that week for other official meetings.
We were surprised and almost overwhelmed by all the guests lining the exhibit corridors and realized that UN employees were exiting the building after another typical day of work.
Exhibits abound in the 3 main halls and 3 corridors that line the 3 inter-connected UN buildings but we could see our Filipino comrades employed here beaming with excitement and so happy to see our exhibit. As far as those we met are concerned, some of which have spent a lifelong careen in the UN, they have never heard or ever seen a wholly dedicated Philippine photo exhibit in the UN.
Thanks to lifetime member Felice Sta. Maria for composing and directing the theme and literature from conception and to president Paul San Pedro again for working on intricate, final details of the exhibit dates and cocktail arrangements, making it happen back-to-back with the Lucie Awards Night. Thanks to ingress and egress teams Raul Tangco and Raul Montifar, President Paul San Pedro, Patrick and Evelyn Uy, Narcing dela Merced and family, including Melissa, Tilak Hettige, Adel Samson and Rene Ner.
