The National Day of France was celebrated with a grandiose reception and dinner hosted by France’s honorary consul in the Visayas, Michel Lhuillier and madame Amparito Llamas Lhuillier and Alliance Française de Cebu, whose director is Louis Thevenin.
Attire was smart casual, as it was held in the garden of Alliance Française’s premises at Gorordo Avenue, with a large tent in case it would rain. It did drizzle later in the evening, when a dance band had everyone tripping the light fantastic.
The occasion, attended by a large segment of the French community, also served to bid farewell to French Ambassador Gilles Garachon who has frequently visited Cebu and made many friends here. His next assignment will be in Bangkok.
Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale attended, representing the Province of Cebu. A few days later, she was also present at the observance of the National Day of Belgium held at Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. It also gathered a record attendance of Belgian nationals and their families.
Hosts were Belgian Ambassador Roland van Remoortele and his wife Sylvia; and Belgium’s honorary consul in Cebu Enrique Benedicto with his wife Helena. There was a large representation of Cebu’s business sector and the local consular corps.
In his speech, Ambassador Remoortele mentioned how often he had come to Cebu, and praised its growth and dynamism. Earlier, he had made a courtesy call on Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III at the Capitol. The ambassador encouraged more exports from Cebu to Belgium.
“We love your dried mangoes in Belgium,” the ambassador told him, “they are delicious!” When Frances Siao of R M Dried Mangoes heard it, she remarked that they do have a line of dried mangoes coated with Belgian chocolate!
Consular corps
Once more, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale lent her august presence to a diplomatic gathering when she was guest of honor, speaker and inducting officer at the induction of officers of the Cebu Consular Corps held at Salon Barcelona of the Casino Español de Cebu.
Inducted into office were Honorary Consul of Poland Carmel Luzuriaga Durano, chair; Honorary Consul of Sweden Jose Sala, vice chair; Honorary Consul of Spain Anton Perdices, secretary; and Honorary Consul of Mexico Eduardo Gonzalez, director.
Outgoing chair Emily Benedicto Chioson, honorary consul of Israel, delivered a farewell speech in which she thanked everyone for their cooperation and wished the new board of directors great success.
Present on this occasion were Vice Mayor of Danao City Ramon “Red” Durano VI, husband of Carmel; Susan Montenegro Sala, wife of the vice chair; and the ladies of the press—Flor Ynclino, Chinggay Utzurrum, Mila Espina and Cookie Newman.
Romantic wedding
It was a romantic wedding for Alonso Martinez and Meryl del Gallego the afternoon of July 18 at San Juan Nepomuceno Church in the municipality of San Remigio, in the northern tip of Cebu Island, famous for its white powdery beaches.
Meryl is the pretty daughter of Miguel Juan del Gallego and Maria Elena Galan del Gallego. Alfonso is the son of San Remigio Mayor Mariano Martinez and the late Ada Trinidad Martinez.
Alfonso had two best men—Miguel Maria Martinez and Leandro Juan Almendras.
Meryl’s matron of honor was her sister Mona Lisa del Gallego Jarque. Younger sister Martha del Gallego was maid of honor.
The reception that followed was held at the scenic beach house of Eduardo Alegrado. Guests were asked to wear attire appropriate for the setting, with special accent on canvas and boat shoes.