“Indeed, there’s cheer and laughter at the embassy as Filipinos in the Saudi capital celebrate Philippine Independence Day, which is on Saturday,” said Vice Consul Roussel T. Reyes, who is in charge of activities.
Reyes said events lined up for the day reminded Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) present on the occasion about the childhood games they used to play in the Philippines. These games were played at the embassy’s multipurpose court and in the embassy’s lobby. “The games reminded me of my own childhood when I and other children in our neighborhood in Batangas City, south of Manila, played games like sipa, patintero, piko (hopscotch) and sack race,” he said.
Sipa involves using your feet to keep a light object from hitting the ground, while patintero involves drawing a rectangle (with water) on the ground with four guards preventing one of the players from reaching the other end of the rectangle. This is usually played at night when the moon is bright.
Participants included teams from the Al-Danah International School, Elite International School, Riyadh International School, Fawaq International School, Al-Taj, Future Generation and Palm Crest International School.
Aside from the games, there were also different booths displaying native dishes. The Manggagawang Magkakapit-Bisig (Workers with Joined Arms) and Alpha Kappa Rho served laing (a native dish from Bicol); Tulong at Lingkod sa mga OFWs (Help and Service to OFWs) served grilled chicken; and Miss Little United OFW served bulalo (composed of prime beef with tasty broth), which drew a sizable crowd.
To liven up the ambiance, the Triskelion Alumni Organization, headed by Dong Elefante, provided outdoor music.
“Back are the days when OFWs thronged the Philippine Embassy to participate in the celebration of our Independence Day. In the past, almost everybody had left before noontime but now, despite the scorching heat of the sun, many are still here,” said Robert Barretto, MKB president, and Franciso “Boy” Naval, an engineer and board chairman of the 8,000-member United OFW.
Cenon “Nonie” Sagadal, a marketing officer at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation — Telemoney, added, “This is indeed a happy day for us OFWs in the Saudi capital. We have the opportunity to meet friends we seldom meet because we are busy. We have time for social talk and remember the good old days when life was simpler.”
The Computer Society of Filipinos (Comsofil), headed by Buddy Villalino, provided free three-minute calls and 10-minute chat through the Internet to OFWs.
Various firms offering different products and services also set up their respective booths inside the embassy premises.
These included Philippine National Bank — Telemoney, Pag-IBIG Fund represented by Rene Soqueno, Social Security System represented by Danny Calape, Orbit represented by Mariano “Jun” Inciong, Western Union, Enjaz and Trans-Fast.
