The Italian Embassy in Manila has launched a book highlighting the diplomatic ties between Italy and the Philippines for the past 75 years.
The book launching Monday evening in Taguig City was led by Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Marco Clemente, who presented the book to the Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, other Philippine government officials, the diplomatic corps, the private sector and the academe.
Manalo said the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Italy commenced when Philippine Vice President and Foreign Secretary Elpidio Quirino and Italian Foreign Minister Carlo Sforza signed the treaty of friendship and general relations between the two countries.
Manalo said the treaty, which was signed on July 9, 1947, opened “the doors of formal diplomatic relations, bringing our nations and peoples together”.
Clemente said the book has almost 80 articles with parts written by national and institutional partners, telling how the bilateral ties between the two countries evolved. The book also features anecdotes, photographs and personal stories from individuals encapsulating the Philippines-Italy friendship. Clemente said a special part of the book is dedicated to Italian scholar and explorer Antonio Pigafetta, who recorded major events in the history of the Philippines when the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan arrived on Philippine shores.
“The book finds the wide ties with the Philippines, in which in all these years, our bilateral relationship and friendship has successfully developed -- visual arts, classical music, cinema, theater, fashion, business, religion, and sports for instance,” he said.
Source: PNA, Kris Crismundo, August 8, 2023