A lot of actions in cultural diplomacy happen behind the scenes.

Sure! What you see on camera are handshakes, toasts, smiles, poses, signed documents, signed agreements, well-designed venues, curated tablescapes, perfect exhibit setup.

Behind these? Brainstorming, several alignment meetings, some disagreements maybe, several emails, constant exchange of messages in Messaging apps, several revision of drafts, permits, clearances and all sorts of documents, missed sleep and meals (sometimes), extra patience, and extra mile.

So let me share with you some snaps of some of our event photos with the background and some anecdotes:

Event 1: DFA’s participation in the Philippine Float Parade in June 2024, where the DFA’s float “Talagháy” won the championship in the National Government Agency category of the competition, organized by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

From the time the DFA received the invitation in December 2023, to the event on June 12, 2024, there was only five (5) months to prepare, only two (2) of which were specifically for creating and putting together the float parts. There were documents to submit, challenges to be hurdled, logistical issues to be addressed, and many more.

It helped a lot that we were led by two (2) energetic and visionary bosses, Asec Arvin and Asec Cookie, and that then Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy-Cultural Diplomacy Division (now the DFA Office of Cultural Diplomacy or OCD) was composed of creative, vibrant, and talented individuals.

Event 2: Moving and Melodies Concert, 04 December 2024

This event was organized to say goodbye to 2330 (DFA’s original address on Roxas Boulevard) and to maximize the use of the Bulwagang Apolinario Mabini. Of course, we also wanted to end the year beautifully through music and that is why, we invited the world-renowned Filipino pianist, Raul Sunico, another talented pianist and an FSO, Ms. Stephanie Alexis Cruz, and the DFA Chorale.

For this event, the core organizing team was composed of six (6) women from DFA – OCD — Director Grace and I, PA Berlyn, Aly, Charlie, and Chiara. Aside from being the Project Lead, I was also the emcee, wrote the initial draft of the event script, coordinated with the artists for their pieces, presided the alignment meetings with other offices, and gave the final briefing to the organizing team and events management a few hours before the event started.

To add the to the event preps, coinciding with the preparations, I was also handling two (2) other vital tasks, drafting a speech for my Asec and coordinating with the organizers for Animahenasyon 2024. Also, I had an upcoming travel to Ankara, then, which required certain documents for completion. Overall, I must say, it was a very interesting and busy week, and we were ecstatic that the concert was very successful.

Event 3: Heritage Talks: The Role of Women in Philippine History, 20 March 2025

This event, with Dr. Xiao Chua, Filipino public historian as our resource speaker, gathered over 160 guests coming from the diplomatic corps, government agencies, cultural stakeholders, DFA personnel and our event partner Pelikulove. Conducted to celebrate women’s month, the topic was the important role women played in Philippine history, with focus on Gregoria de Jesus a.k.a. Ka Oriang.

Being the 1st among 4-5 lectures within the year, as part of the Heritages Talks, several documents needed to be submitted, permits had to be approved, the venue had to be checked since the DFA is temporarily in a new building. We also had to adjust to the changes in the building requirements such as securing gate passes for any item brought in/out and clarifying the guidelines for bringing food items inside the venue.

Event 4: Heritage Walks in the National Library of the Philippines

This is the second “Heritage Walk” to be conducted by the DFA-OCD in 2025. Dr. Xiao Chua led the tour while regaling us with facts, trivia, and tidbits of fun information. Our proposal to conduct the tour was sent about a month prior to the event, while finalizing the event details took less than two (2) weeks, while taking account of some changes. Around 30 personnel from the DFA attended the tour.

My team, composed of 4 women (including 2 student interns from Silliman University) prepared the documents, pubmats, invitations, transportation coordination, snack coordination, registration, and preparation of tokens. I recall that during the event week, I had two (2) talks scheduled at the start and end of the week, and that was also the time I had a dental emergency (thus, the mask) but the week must go on, of course. 😉

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This is enough for now. I got tired writing.

And tomorrow, I need to be at work early. I’ll probably just add two more events and some behind the scenes photos, which are now, hidden in the GCs and had to be traced. 😀

Thanks to my team, my bosses, and all wonderful people who contributed to the events’ success.