A mere three days after her arrival in Canberra, new Philippine Ambassador to Australia H.E. Belen F. Anota presented her letters of credence to H.E. Quentin Bryce, Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Ferried from the Philippine Residence to Government House in a Crown car, the Philippine envoy was honored with a general salute by Australia’s Federation Guard, under Guard Commander Captain Kathryn Christie.

Led into the drawing room of Government House, Ambassador Anota was received by a resplendent Governor General.  Clad in an elegant terno of iridescent malong fabric – a visual statement of Philippine multiculturalism and unity -- the Philippine envoy formally presented her letters of credence.

It will be noted that Ambassadors, as representatives of their Heads-of-State, are required to present their letters of credence to the Head-of-State of their countries of assignment.  Ambassador Anota, being the representative of President Benigno Aquino III, thus had to present her credentials to Governor General Bryce, the representative of the Queen, who is Head-of-State of the Commonwealth of Australia.

In a subsequent private meeting with the Governor General, Ambassador Anota expounded on her economic diplomacy mandate from the Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario, gender and development issues in the Philippines, child welfare, poverty alleviation and Philippine progress in the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals.  A staunch advocate for the welfare and advancement of women and children, the Governor General took particular interest in the status of women in the Philippines, recent developments in health care for Filipino children, as well as poverty alleviation.  The Governor General, who had been to the Philippines in the 1990s, expressed a deep admiration for Filipino women and their place in Philippine society.

The ceremony for presentation of credentials ended with Ambassador Anota inspecting the Guard of Honor and the Royal Military College Band, in a warm and sunny spring day that defied recent stormy weather.

It was thus an auspicious beginning to a new ambassadorial posting.

Ambassador Anota was accompanied at the ceremony by Minister Mary Anne A. Padua, Defense and Armed Forces Attaché Captain Ernesto Enriquez and Labour Attaché Atty. Jalilo Dela Torre.  Those in attendance at the Australian side were Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Deputy Secretary Gillian Bird, Official Secretary to the Governor General Mr. Stephen Brady, DFAT Chief of Protocol Ms. Anne Plunkett, DFAT Deputy Chief of Protocol Mr. Ross Westcott and Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General Lieutenant Dee Khanna.