The Philippine boat in the Lembeh Strait Festival 2022 in Bitung City, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The boat mural was designed by the Philippine Department of Tourism. (Manado PCG photo)
MANADO The Philippine Consulate General in Manado, led by Consul General Angelica C. Escalona, sponsored a Philippine mural boat which joined the fluvial parade of the Lembeh Strait Festival 2022 held on 06 October 2022 in Bitung City, in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi Province.
Over five thousand people witnessed a fleet of a hundred elaborately decorated boats sail the Lembeh Strait. Among the first boats to lead the fluvial parade was the Philippine boat. Philippine textile patterns, vintas, beaches, and the Banaue Rice Terraces adorned the hull of the boat, drawing the attention of the spectators. The design of the boat was provided by the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT).
The Lembeh Strait Festival is one of the top 110 national events carefully chosen from over 3,000 tourism events happening across Indonesia’s 34 provinces and promoted by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism.
Along with its potential as a top tourist destination, Bitung City is positioning itself as a regional hub that will connect eastern Indonesia to the Asia-Pacific. The city has an integrated industrial, logistics, and export processing zone served by an international port for ocean-going ships which connects to the Manado international airport via the 39.9-km Manado-Bitung toll road. It has close relations with General Santos City and Davao City in the Philippines and hosts a Kampung Filipin or Philippine village, whose residents include many persons of Filipino descent.
Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs