The elegantly dressed crowd included members of the diplomatic community: German Ambassador Herbert and Micheline Jess; British Ambassador Paul and Marilyn Dimond; Brazilian Ambassador Claudio Lyra; Swedish Ambassador Ulf and Lena Hakansson; Belgian Ambassador Christian and Gul Tanghe; Russian Ambassador Anatoli Nebogatov and his wife; Sri Lankan Ambassador Pitiduwa Gamage Karunasiri and his wife; Thai Ambassador Busba Bunnag; Pakistani Ambassador Iftikar Hussain Kazmi and his wife; Nigerian Ambassador Chief Ray and Grace Injie; Bangladesh Ambassador Munir-Uz Zaman; Canadian Ambassador Robert and Marilyn Collette; Gisele and Dugall Aucoin; Turkish Embassy’s Charge d’Affaires Murat Dikmen, to name a few.
Other guests included Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople and his wife Susana, also an ardent supporter of JSS’ projects, and Finance Secretary Lito Camacho and his wife, art patron, Kim who came as a show of support to their son Lorenzo who escorted debutante Nikki Ong-Muller.
Also present were former NCCA chair Jimmy Laya; PPO’s Ruggero Barbieri and Zenas Lozada; Tony and Mita Rufino; Helen’s better and supportive half, Dr. Luciano Ong; Gunther Matschuck; Unilever’s Howard and Cristina Belton; former German Ambassador Klaus and Pinky Zeller; Philippine Chamber president Miguel Varela, and father of 2000 deb Michelle; Metrobank Foundation’s Chito and Anna Sobrepeña; BMW’s Alex Thorwirth and Becky Garcia; Chloe and Peping Periquet; Norma Baja, wife of the Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Lauro Baja; Supreme Court Justice Conchita Morales; Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando; PEZA director Lilia de Lima; Olga Martel; Tereret and Andres Liboro; Baby de Jesus; Alice Briones; Chacha Camacho; Pillie Aquino; Tess Choa; Rose Hugo; Nenuca Blardony; Mila Lim; Babbit Goudsmith; Penny Farolan; Tita Mendoza; Boysie Villavicencio; Consul of Togo Evie Costa; Malu Unson; Randy and Irene Martel-Francisco; Lolong and Rose Lazaro; Peter and Minnie Jentes; Paul and Lita Potassy; Harald Ulbrich of the Austrian Embassy; Tonette Salcedo; the Ablazas, Louie, Junjun (who was praised for his stage design), Marc and Tessa, Jofe and Czarina Syquia; Butch and Agnes Huang-Lopez. From the younger set came KC Concepcion; Michael Manotoc; Rajiv Mirani; Jordin Hill; and Muge Kiy.
Letty Syquia, JSS secretary and the ball’s chairman, arrived at Le Pavillon in her deep fuchsia caftan as early as 4 p.m. with husband Ambassador Enrique Syquia of the Sovereign Order of Malta. Helen Ong chaired the debutantes’ committee. Other members who worked tirelessly were Mellie Ablaza, Alice Guerrero and Marietta Holmgren; Chit Gohu; Anna Sobrepeña; Fortune Ledesma and Austrian Trade Commissioner Wolfgang Harwalik. Credit also goes to the committee’s advisors: philanthropists Chito Madrigal-Collantes, Imelda Cojuangco and Embassy ladies Irmgard Krepela and Ulrike da Silva.
Special credit also goes to Helmut Gaisberger, GM of Mandarin Oriental, Manila and JSS vice president, who came with wife Vina. F&B director Dave Thomas left nothing to chance to ensure the success of this grand event.
The Vienna Opera Ball and the presentation of debutantes 2003 was a glittering success.
Happy birthday to our celebrators today, Ellen Reyes and Christopher Lim, Feb. 23
Advanced birthday greetings to San Francisco-based Beaver Ledesma, Feb. 24; Tess Colayco and Milagros Victoria Padilla, Feb. 25; Raymond Garcia and Louie Galvez, Feb. 26; Dr. Gunther Matschuck and Bea Zobel, Feb. 28; and for those who are born on the 29th of February, but won’t be able to celebrate their birthdays this year, Biboy Enriquez and Bulletin president Dr. Andrew Gonzales.
So, how was your week?