19 October 2022, CANBERRA – The Embassy of the Philippines in Canberra is relaunching the online Cultural Gallery in its website as “Mabuhay Straya”, a virtual resource on the historic and dynamic people to people linkages of the Philippines and Australia and on the latest developments in the arts, travel, cuisine and products that link the two countries.

In the Philippines, “mabuhay” which literally means “long live” is often used as a greeting and an expression of good wishes. “Straya” or short for Australia is taken from “Straya Day” or how Australians would normally refer to their National Day celebrated on the 26th of January every year. The name, “Mabuhay Straya” welcomes the many stakeholders of the Embassy in Australia to the online gallery that celebrates the friendship and partnership of the two countries.

The Cultural Gallery was launched in May 2020 as part of the efforts of the Embassy to develop its public diplomacy initiatives in response to the prevailing physical distancing and travel restrictions as a result of COVID-19. The online gallery allowed the Embassy to continue to engage the Filipino community and the various stakeholders in Australia when the conduct of public events was not possible.

Mabuhay Straya institutionalizes the digitization of the Embassy’s public diplomacy programs and provides a platform for the promotion of Filipino thought leaders, artists and influencers in Australia; Philippine arts, cuisine, travel destinations and products; and, cultural and political advocacies. The digital platform is being launched this month as we observe Museums and Galleries Month in the Philippines.

The Embassy invites the Filipino community and friends in the media, business and universities to explore Mabuhay Straya at https://cultural.philembassy.org.au/ . -- END