Xiamen, 29 April 2021 --- Taking note of reports and observable conditions that Fujian and Jiangxi provinces are now CoVid-free, a PCG Xiamen team led by Acting Head of Post Elaine Mae V. Laruan-Hernandez trooped to Jiangxi via a 9-hour land travel to undertake a series of activities which were believed to be long overdue on 15 to 19 April 2021.
CONSULAR OUTREACH
First stop was a Consular Outreach to Filipinos in Jiangxi who are mostly professionals (teachers, engineers, office workers, etc.). PCG extended passport services, notarial and authentication services as well as registration for overseas voting. During a get-together dinner, the thirty (30) Filipinos present expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the PCG Visit recalling that the last Consular Outreach there was in 2015. PCG Xiamen, in turn, took the opportunity to encourage these Filipinos, no matter how small in number, to band together and form a de facto Council which would serve as the Consulate General’s partner in catering to the needs of Filipinos in that area of jurisdiction.
The PCG team also rendered consular services for three (3) out of the eleven Filipinos working at Oishi/Liwayway as Managers/Supervisors.
[Left Photo: Filipinos who attended the Consular Outreach of PCG Xiamen in Jiangxi pose for an after-dinner picture on 18 April 2021.
Right Photo: PCG Xiamen’s ATN Officer Dennis Marnilego and Economic Officer Faith Bautista prepare for the consular outreach)
VISIT TO OISHI/LIWAYWAY
Next stop was a visit to the Oishi/Liwayway Packaging Plant in De’an County of Jiujiang. Having established itself in China since 1993, Oishi has ten (10) factories in China to date, and is expecting its 11th factory to be built in 2022 in Fujian Province.
Mr. Li Pei Ming, Oishi Vice-President, flew in from the Shanghai Main Headquarters to represent President Larry Chan in meeting and providing support to the PCG team. Mr. Li was assisted by Oishi De’an’s Senior Manager Giovanni Dy Hernandez and Manager Neil Escalderon.
Oishi has successfully recruited Filipinos as Supervisors, mainly from its Oishi factory in Cavite.
[(Left Photo): PCG Xiamen Acting Head of Post Elaine Mae V. Laruan-Hernandez Filipino meets the supervisors at Oishi/Liwayway Packaging Plant in De’an County, Jiangxi and (right photo) examines Oishi Products at the Production Plant with Oishi Vice-President Li Pei Ming, PCG Xiamen Economic Officer Faith Bautista, and Oishi Jiangxi Senior Manager Giovanni Dy Hernandez during the Visit on 16 April 2021.]
PHOTO EXHIBITION
With the support and cooperation of the Lushan Mountain Administration, a Photo Exhibition entitled “Philippine UNESCO-World Heritage Sites and the Province of Bohol” was held at the Lushan Art Museum. Photos of four (4) Baroque Churches, Vigan, Banawe Rice Terraces, Tubbataha Reefs, Palawan Underground River and Mt. Hamiguitan, together with scenes from Bohol’s Loboc River, Balicasag Island and the famous Tarsier were displayed. Mt. Lushan is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a member of the UNESCO Global Geoparks group.
The inauguration was attended by Jiujiang and Lushan government officials and several media people.
(PCG Xiamen Acting Head of Post Elaine Mae V. Laruan-Hernandez delivers the Keynote Remarks at the Opening of the Photo Exhibition of Philippine UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the Province of Bohol at the Lushan Art Museum in Mt. Lushan, Jiangxi on 17 April 2021.)
MEETINGS WITH JIANGXI OFFICIALS
The PCG delegation met with the Vice-Mayor of Jiujiang Municipal Government, government officials from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Jiangxi Provincial Government, and officials from the Lushan Administrative Bureau.
All officials pledged support to Philippine-Jiangxi relationship and expressed the hope to see a renewed and reinvigorated Bohol-Jiangxi sister-province relationship (established in 2006) which also covers a Chocolate Hills-Mt. Lushan sister-mountain relationship. Both geographical wonder are members of the World Famous Mountains Association (WFMA) and Governor Erico Aumentado and Governor Edgar Chatto attended the WFMA Conference in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
(PCG Xiamen Acting Head of Post Elaine Mae V. Laruan-Hernandez meets with Jiujiang City Vice Mayor and donates photos of Bohol to the Foreign Affairs Office of the Province of Jiangxi.).
