In UNESCO there are four Heads of State known so far to us
who are artists or distinguished writers, namely:

H.R.H. King Sihanouk of Cambodia, Docu-filmmaker
H.E. President Vaclac Havel of Czechoslovakia, Playwright
Ex-President Leopold Senghor of Senegal, Poet
H.E. President Joseph Ejercito Estrada of Philippines, Actor

A pool of Sponsors in Cultural Heritage will mount a Celebration
in the U.P. Film Center in Diliman, Quezon City billed as:

Alay sa Bayan: Pelikula/Retrato at Caricatures
ng Pangulong Joseph Ejercito Estrada

An Offering to the Country: Screenings of His Films/Pictures
and Artists’ Caricatures of President Erap Estrada

Strictly invitational is the Monday, 19 April 1999 first screening here of
Geron The Tramp, Batang Quiapo, L’Homme de Quiapo
with English and French subtitles.
A Reception will be held before this invitational screening.

Free Admission to all is the Tuesday, 20 April 1999 screenings:
3 pm, Diligin Mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa (Water With Dew This Parched Earth)
6 pm, Geron Busabos, Batang Quiapo, Repeat Screening

Geron The Tramp won
for the President Best Actor
with Best Picture,
Best Story,
Best Cinematography,
Best Child Actor Awards
from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences in 1964.

A Champaka Tree Planting Ritual will be enacted in the U.P. Film Center’s Perfume Garden.
Here the Ylang-ylang trees and Sampaguita bushes planted by the late National Artists
Lamberto Avellana, Gerry de Leon and Lino Brocka;
Ishmael Bernal,
UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor,
Munich Film Institute Director Wolfgang Langsfeld,
Japanese film critic Tadao Sato,
Don Marcos Roces,
Senator Leticia R. Shahani to Senator Santanina Rasul and
French Ambassadors Raphael Touce to Samuel de Beauvais,
in short, the perfume trees of friends and patrons
of the U.P. Film Center have grown tall and are now flowering this April.

An exhibit of pictures from the life of the President as a public servant for 30 years
with caricature of him from the Art Association of the Philippines
may be viewed in the Cinema Theater Lobby up to Sunday, 25 April 1999.

Hosts are:
Hon. Domingo Siazon, Jr.,
Secretary of Foreign Affairs and
Chairman, UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines; and
Dr. Emil Javier,
President, University of the Philippines
representing the Film Center of the University of the Philippines.

Sponsors and Cooperants:
Office of the Presidential Adviser and Regent Dr. Raul P. de Guzman;
UNESCO Culture Committee;
National Commission for Culture and the Arts - Committee on Cinema/Special Events;
Art Association of the Philippines;
Duty Free Philippines;
and Commissioner for Culture of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women
(Over-all Coordinator).