Making us Pinoys proud for RP

SHANGHAI — We are here for the Shanghai World Expo 2010 that was officially opened to the public last May 1 and it will run until Oct. 31 this year. The six-month exposition drew more than 180 countries and international organizations, like the United Nations and the Red Cross. Our country, too, joined the World Expo and put up our own pavilion.

As I gathered here, it cost the Philippines some P420 million. Of this amount, the government shouldered P250 million and the rest, or P170 million came from private sector donations and corporate sponsors. One of the corporate sponsors for the Philippine pavilion is the Liwayway Corp., the biggest Filipino-owned company that is operating here a branch of its flagship product under the brand Oishi food products.

Filipino-Chinese taipan Carlos Chan, the patriarch of his family-owned Oishi business empire here and in the Philippines, received the Order of Sikatuna from ex-President Arroyo in simple rites held during the Philippine Gala Night held on June 9 that she led at the Shanghai World Expo. Chan is our country’s special envoy to China, an honorary title to his one-peso appointment.

The Philippine flag flies proudly in front of Chan’s factory located here and in 21 other manufacturing plants located in other parts of China, in Vietnam and in Thailand. The Oishi food products are among those included in the stall exhibits along with other popular Filipino products like “I am Ninoy” T-shirts from Bench as well as native cuisine from adobo to kare-kare that are being sold and served at the food corner inside the Philippine pavilion. 

The Shanghai World Expo 2010 is the first World Expo ever held in modern China. Chen Qiwei, who is the official spokesman of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government Information Office, told us here all the pavilions, except for the Chinese pavilion and three other Chinese structures, would be demolished at the end of the Expo. Saudi Arabia put up the most expensive pavilion here. Even the strife-torn Iraq has put up its own pavilion at the Expo.

Chen underscored it took them eight years of preparation to put up the Expo in Shanghai and naturally it cost the Chinese government a lot of money which they shelled out from state resources. But the biggest beneficiary of the Expo are the people of Shanghai enjoying the fruits of development projects that were undertaken for the Expo during the past eight years. Thus, the Shanghai World Expo may yet become the largest World Fair site ever put up so far.

The Shanghai World Expo site occupies a total land area of 5.28 square kilometers. The theme of this year’s World Expo is “Better City-Better Life.” As far as the Chinese are concerned, Chen acknowledged this signifies Shanghai’s new status in the 21st century as the “next great world city.” Based on the previous World Expo attendance held in Osaka, this one being held here in Shanghai is expected to draw more than 70 million visitors at the end of the 180-day exposition period.

So far, the Expo has reportedly recorded a total of 40 million visitors, or already more than halfway to break the record. Chen is confident they could overshoot the target in the last two months of the Expo. The gates average 500,000 visitors per day. When we came at the Expo site before noon the other day, the count was already at 346,792 visitors despite the steaming temperature that reached as high as 38 degrees Celsius.

But despite such humid air and almost sizzling temperature, it could not cut the long lines of people trooping each of the pavilions. We went first to the pavilion of Australia. This was not because the pavilions were arranged alphabetically. It just happened that the Australian pavilion is among the nearest in the area where the Philippine pavilion is located just across it.

The Philippine pavilion looks nondescript from the outside. We almost missed it. We were expecting to see at least the Philippine flag to guide us there. Thankfully, we had a tour guide and led us to the Philippine pavilion, the structure of which did not have any familiar Philippine symbols. Its façade had images of several raised hands in a white painted background.

My fellow STAR columnist Boo Chanco did not like the concept of our pavilion’s façade hands design which appeared to him like a message of either begging for alms or asking for help from people drowning — with only their hands being seen above the water. And with his usual infectious laughter, he wisecracked, it was a good thing the hands did not show the L-sign. He was, of course, referring to the Laban hand signal of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. We surmised, though, perhaps it has a message to Filipinos reaching out with the rest of the world in line with the Expo’s theme.

It was only when we entered the Philippine pavilion that we finally saw our country’s flag displayed at a makeshift stage inside, along with that of China and the World Expo flags. The Philippine pavilion sits on a 2,000 square meter area with displays on its walls of huge photos of our famous tourist spots and attractions. The familiar ones we saw include the Hundred Islands in Pangasinan and the tarsier in Bohol that is billed as the world’s smallest monkey that could only be found in the Philippines and other traditional tourist come-ons in our country.   

The Philippine pavilion entertains an average of 40,000 visitors a day. What appears to be the newest tourist come-on now getting the most interest from those going to the Philippine pavilion is the section where they offer hilot or massage.

But the biggest crowd-drawer to our Philippine pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo seemed to be the live performances of our Filipino singers, dancers, and musicians. They continue to please and amuse our visitors with our world famous entertainment talents that only Filipino warmth and hospitality could best deliver.

 It finally dawned on me, that the photo of hands must be about the human touch that the Philippine pavilion subliminally tries to sell our country in the World Expo where we vie for people’s attention among the rich and giant nations. It made me proud for the Philippines as a Pinoy.