THE International Bazaar Foundation Inc. (IBF) gathers under one roof the best offerings of more than 40 countries at the 2019 International Bazaar this Sunday, November 24, at the PICC Forums 1, 2 and 3, at the CCP Complex in Pasay City.
On its 53rd year, the one-day bazaar will feature more than 200 booths where guests can buy anything from food to furniture, including Australian wines, Lebanese baklava, Indian tunics and Swiss chocolates, to name a few.
“This bazaar will showcase the finest items from different countries together with the Philippines’s best community-based products,” said Maria Lourdes B. Locsin, IBF chairman and wife of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. “Make sure to bring your shopping bag, bring your money, bring your appetite.”
Organized in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Diplomatic and Consular Corps, and the Spouses of the Heads of Mission (SHOM), the International Bazaar is a traditional annual fund-raising event of the IBF. The bazaar was initiated in 1966 by Angela Valdes-Ramos, wife of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Narciso Ramos and mother of former President Fidel V. Ramos.
“Considering that this bazaar has been going on for past 53 years, it only goes to show that we are doing something right and we are doing something good,” Locsin said of the event, which is held annually in late November.
The bazaar was initially conducted as a special project of the Ladies of the DFA, the Diplomatic and Consular Corps, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, other government agencies and the private sector.
Since then, the event has grown to “help change the lives of the marginalized sectors of society,” as stated by the IBF mission, whereby proceeds generated by participating embassies are remitted to the IBF, and then given to the SHOM for their own beneficiaries. Meanwhile, proceeds generated by the IBF during the bazaar are funneled to its various projects.
Among the chosen beneficiaries of IBF this year are 41 scholars in colleges and universities in Metro Manila. IBF also supports livelihood training and cultural preservation programs, and feeding drives, among others.
Entrance tickets to the bazaar are priced at P150, while donor cards go for P250. Both are available at Tesoros Store on Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City; at Special Projects Unit, 6th Floor, DFA Building, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City; and at the PICC gate on the day of the bazaar.