Consul General Julius Caesar A. Flores was guest speaker of the University of the East (UE)-Caloocan campus on January 5, 2016 on the topic, “The Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen: Frontliner in the Implementation of Philippine Foreign Policy in China.”
UE officials led by Dr, Ester A. Garcia, President and Dr. Zosimo M. Battad, Chancellor attended the presentation along with an audience of 500 students majoring in International Relations, Political Science, Journalism, Mass Communications, among others.
In her welcome remarks, Dr. Garcia conveyed her appreciation to Consul General Flores for accepting the invitation to share insights on the work of the Consulate General in Xiamen and expressed the hope that his presentation would inspire UE students to study harder in their respective specializations and enhance their knowledge of some aspects of Philippine-China relations.
Consul General Flores outlined the multi-faceted work of the Consulate General in Xiamen, highlighting the priority thrusts of political, economic and cultural/public diplomacy. He also underscored the deep historical and cultural links between the Philippines and Fujian province from where majority of overseas Chinese in the Philippines trace their ancestral roots.
Consul General Flores encouraged the UE students to enhance their knowledge of China-- its government and politics, economy, culture and language—being a global power, important neighbor, a dialogue partner of ASEAN as well as a major trade and investment partner of the Philippines. He emphasized that the acquired knowledge will be valuable in appreciating historical and kinship ties, perspectives of current issues and problems affecting Philippine-China relations, providing a good preparation for participating in internship programs in China as well as a strong foundation for academic specialization on China.
Lastly, he commended UE for undertaking the event which enables the students to familiarize themselves with foreign service work and hoped that his presentation sparked a major interest among those who would be interested to become Sinologists if not joining the ranks of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the future.
Earlier, Consul General Flores met with some UE officials to discuss possible collaborative activities including university linkages in Fujian, academic exchanges, internship programs in Xiamen, art exhibitions and others.
Other UE officials who attended the event were Dr. Oscar Gulmatico, Dean, College of Business Adminstration; Architect Celino Santiago, Dean, College of Fine Arts and Design; Dr. Crisol Bruza, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Justine Evangelista, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences-Manila, Dr. Rogelio Espiritu, Director of OECO, Dr. Michelle Concepcion, Associate Dean, CAS-Caloocan, Prof. Jocelyn Brigino, CBA; Prof. Mary Ann Navarette, Dept, Chair, THRRM; Ms. Remy Moog, Guidance counselor; Prof. Anabelle Espiritu, OJT Coordinator and Prof. Clemente Diwas, Director, SAO.
UE will soon embark with its internship program for its HRM students in Nanjing and other cities in China and plans to do similar undertakings in Xiamen in collaboration with a hotel establishment chain as well as on-the-job training for their international relations/political science majors in the future. END
