Feb. 6 was a red-letter day for the Tesoro family which observed the birth centenary of matriarch Salud S. Tesoro.

It was Salud and her husband, lawyer Nestor B. Tesoro, who founded Tesoro’s Handicrafts in Escolta, Manila, in 1945.

Among the guests in the celebration were Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and his predecessor, Roberto de Ocampo.

Other special guests were Fernando Zobel de Ayala, president and CEO of Ayala Corp.; Feliciano Torres, president of Yazaki-Torres; former Miss International Gemma Cruz-Araneta; Mita Rufino, president of Habi Foundation; Isabel Caro Wilson, former ambassador to Spain; Consul Mellie Ablaza of Guatemala; Consul Luis Ablaza Jr. of Zambia; Angola Consul Helen Ong; Jaime Laya, former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor; Carmen D. Padilla, former chair of National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA); Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, former NCCA executive director; and Ambassador and Madame Victor Garcia.

Highlight of the event was the unveiling of the commemorative stamp of Salud S. Tesoro in the presence of the assistant postmaster general for marketing and management support services, Luis D. Carlos.