19 June 2007

SENATOR RAMON MAGSAYSAY, JR. HIGHLIGHTS LAUNCH OF 146th RIZAL BIRTH COMMEMORATION ACTIVITIES IN SYDNEY WITH INAUGURATION OF BULWAGANG RIZAL

Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro of the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney, Australia reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that Senator Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. spearheaded this year's launch of the commemoration of the 146th birthday of Dr. Jose P. Rizal in Sydney, highlighted by the successful inauguration of the Bulwagang Rizal at the Philippine Consulate on 11 June 2007.

The commemoration activity began with a floral offering before the bust of Dr. Rizal located at the Ibero-American Plaza at Sydney 's Central Train Station organized by the Order of the Knights of Rizal Sydney Chapter. Senator Magsaysay, Consul General Lazaro and members of the Filipino community paid tribute to the national hero in simple ceremonies. Among those who participated in the event included a London-based Filipino couple who happened to be vacationing in Sydney at the time.

The party then proceeded to the Philippine Consulate where Senator Magsaysay inaugurated the Bulwagang Rizal in simple ceremonies. The Bulwagan, which serves as the conference room of the Consulate, now includes a new set of furniture and a gallery of Philippine Presidents and Philippine Consuls-General in Sydney .

In her inauguration remarks, Consul General Lazaro said, “The Bulwagang Rizal renews the long-standing tradition of the Philippine Center in Sydney in naming the Consulate's function area after the Philippine national hero. We are privileged to have the Honorable Senator to welcome and invite our fellow kababayans to partake in remembering the legacy and the principles Dr. Rizal stood for.”

Consul Lazaro also announced that Harold Augenbraum's English translation of the Noli Me Tangere will now finally appear in Australian bookstores in September, published under the prestigious Penguin Classics title. The Penguin translation was launched in 2006.

Other commemoration activities in line include a floral-offering before the Rizal Statue at Ashfield Park – the only standing statue of its kind in Australia – and the formal inauguration of the Rizal Street at Park Central in Campbelltown on 23 June 2007.