First Secretary and Consul Reichel Quiñones (1st from right) welcomed Israeli high school students from Be’er Tuvia Regional High School, participating in the Model United Nations (MUN) program, at the Balai Quezon on 06 February 2020. Ms. Quiñones provided the group a briefing on then President Manuel L. Quezon’s Open Door policy and Philippines-Israel bilateral relations.
The students watching the trailer of An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines, produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Noel M. Izon and co-produced by author Sharon Delmendo. An Open Door is a feature-length documentary on how the Philippines was able to provide a safe haven for over 1,300 European Jews who fled the Nazi occupation in Germany and Austria.
Ms. Quiñones and the students during the question and answer portion of the briefing, ranging from the Philippines’ relations with Israel, other Middle Eastern countries, its neighbors in Southeast Asia, and the government’s thrust vis-à-vis Filipinos abroad.