The National Defence College of the Philippines (NDCP) celebrated the foreign students of MNSA RC-58 as it held an International Students’ Day last 09 December, 2022 (Friday).

The activity commenced with a ribbon cutting ceremony led by the President of NDCP, LtGen Ferdinand M Cartujano PAF (Ret), accompanied by his wife, Director Dinna Anna Lee Lumibao-Cartujano from the Office of Human Resources of the DND, and the class president of MNSA RC-58 Atty Teodoro Jose S Matta.

The main event of the day were the nine (9) booths managed by the RC-58 students that represented the following countries: Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Aside from the assistance from fellow RC-58 students, some foreign students also sought support from people and organizations from their country: the Indian Women in Enterprise (IWE) led by Smita Cherian, the Managing Trustee for Internal Communications, Engagement and Community Development, and Corporate Secretary, Sharon Vaswani; the First Secretary of the Nigerian Embassy in Manila, Charity Ekeada-Davidson; and the Secretary to the Assistant Defense Attaché of the Kingdom of Thailand, CP01 Vorapop Maneesang were all present during the event to aid their student representative in displaying their country’s rich culture and tradition.

The program culminated with a cultural presentation with the College’s very own NDayog ComPanACE Dance Troupe and guest performers from the Division of City Schools – Quezon City as both showcased traditional Filipino dances.

LtGen Cartujano commended the efforts of RC-58 in leading the event, creating an avenue to understand other cultures, and for being the pioneers of such a celebration.