On May 25, Consul (a.h.) Thelmo O. Cunanan Jr of the Consulate of Georgia in the Philippines is scheduled to fly to Tbilisi, Georgia to attend the official celebration of the country’s 97th independence. He will also meet with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and brief them about the many activities of his consulate to develop Philippines – Georgia relations.
While in Georgia, Consul Cunanan will be conducting meetings and dialogues with other government offices and partner organizations.
On May 28, Consul Cunanan will hold a series of talks with officials of the Agency of Protected Areas (APA) of the Ministry of Environment Protection to discuss the establishment of a “sister-protected area” relationship between Georgia and the Philippines. In this regard, Consul Cunanan is working closely with the APA’s counterpart in the Philippines, the Biodiversity Management Bureau, which has already identified a candidate area. A “sister-protected area” relationship, the first between the two countries and the first of Georgia with Asia, will be signed in a few months.
Consul Cunanan will also be meeting with the members of the newly-established West Point Society of Georgia, composed of Georgian military officers who graduated from the United States Military Academy (USMA). Consul Cunanan, together with the West Point Society of the Philippines (WPSP), has been guiding the West Point graduates of Georgia in their objective to establish a formal organization. In this regard, Consul Cunanan, whose late father Lieutenant General/Ambassador Thelmo Y. Cunanan was a member of USMA 1961, will present the Georgians with the book of former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, himself a West Pointer (1950), entitled “Rising to the Challenges of Leadership”. The books are personally dedicated to the Georgians by Mr. Ramos. Consul Cunanan will also deliver a special letter from the WPSP.
On May 28, Consul Cunanan will pay a formal courtesy call on Rustavi City Mayor David Jikia and deliver a gift and official letter from Cauayan City Mayor Bernard Dy. The gift is a specially-made artefact created by artisans of Cauayan and a symbol of the two cities’ friendship. The official letter, on the other hand, contains a message of congratulations to the people of Rustavi on the occasion of their country’s independence and an invitation to Mayor Jikia to visit Cauayan in October. Cauayan and Rustavi’s official “sister-city” relationship was established by Consul Cunanan in June 2014 and is the first sister-city agreement between Georgia and the Philippines and Asia. Consul Cunanan and Mayor Jikia will also discuss investment opportunities for Philippine companies and the planned official visit of a business delegation, to be headed by Mayor Dy.
On May 30 – 31, Consul Cunanan will also travel to the Port City of Batumi on the Black Sea to meet with Batumi Mayor Giorgi Ermakovi to discuss possible investment initiatives in the area of leisure parks and resorts. Consul Cunanan has been working with a Philippine-Singaporean company that is interested to establish a marine park and hotel facility on the Black Sea. Consul Cunanan will also meet with officials of International Container Terminal Services Inc, a Philippine multinational company that is operating the Port of Batumi, to discuss corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in Georgia.
Consul Cunanan, together with famous Philippine photographer and PWD (persons with disabilities) advocate John Chua, has also been very actively involved in helping PWD groups in the Philippines and in Georgia. In this regard, he will meet with officials of Association Anika, a Georgian non-government organization that promotes the welfare and rights of children and young people with special needs. Consul Cunanan and Association Anika are planning joint Philippine-Georgian PWD outreach programs that will be patterned after successful PWD activities initiated in Manila.
On the cultural front, Consul Cunanan will be bringing several independent films that will be shown on the sidelines of the Tbilisi International Student Film Festival, which runs from June 2 – 6, 2015 and is organized by the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Department of Georgia State University. The films, which are the products of the students of famous film director, director, and screenwriter Clodualdo del Mundo, will be the first Philippine student movies to be shown in Georgia. After the festival, Consul Cunanan will turn-over the films, along with another cinematic masterpiece by Philippine filmmaker Lito Casaje, to the Georgian National Film Center.
Finally, on June 1, Consul Cunanan will officially participate in the International Children’s Day Celebration of Tbilisi Zoological Park. Together with Tbilisi Zoo Director Zurab Gurielidze, Consul Cunanan will sign a declaration of friendship and cooperation for the development of Tbilisi Zoo, in cooperation with Philippine stakeholders and partners. A formal agreement of cooperation will also be entered into by the volunteer groups of Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden and Tbilisi Zoo. Consul Cunanan and Tbilisi Zoo authorities will also formally announce the plans of the Consulate of Georgia in the Philippines (led by Consul Cunanan) and its partners to establish a Georgia – Philippines Friendship Corner and Children’s Playground in Tbilisi Zoo.
Consul Cunanan and Director Gurielidze will finalize negotiations regarding the donation of a Philippine reticulated python to Tbilisi Zoo. This will be the first wildlife donation of the Philippines to Georgia, which Consul Cunanan is carrying out in cooperation with the Biodiversity Management Bureau, the Philippine government agency in charge of protected areas and wildlife. A formal “sister-zoo” relationship between Tbilisi Zoo and Manila Zoo will also be discussed.
While in Georgia, Consul Cunanan will also be meeting with other dialogue partners. Among these are the Georgia National Tourism Administration, Georgian National Museum, Georgian National Film Center, Ministry of Education, and the “Friends of Georgia” Filipino Community.