Festival starts

Hon. Vice Consul Paul Saret of the Philippine Embassy cut the ribbon during the Opening Ceremony, together with SE CEO Rani Basanta and MP GM Walid El-Hossary.


The frenzied hot temperature couldn’t stop the flock of Filipinos and other nationalities to Manila Plaza last Friday, July 24 for the opening of Manila Summer Festival 2009.

No less than the Vice-Consul of the Philippine Embassy, Paul Saret, cut the ceremonial ribbon with SE Productions Chief Executive Officer Rani Basanta and Manila Plaza General Manager Walid El-Hossary.

During the Opening Program at the MP Basement and Recreation Area, Mr. Walid El-Hossary, expressed his support to the Filipino community by allowing them to use the Recreation Area for their sports activities and likewise tapped the service of SE Productions to hold a festival for Filipino shoppers in Manila Plaza.

SEP CEO Rani Basanta, Mobily Rep. Ahmad I. Nasser and MP GM Walid El Hossary

Simultaneously, the tournaments for darts (Expatriate Darters of Saudi Arabia (EDSA), table tennis (AFTA) and chess has started after the opening ceremony. Martial arts organizations such as Black Python, combat Judo Karate and Attack Force Self-Defense, Inc., will be holding various Karate exhibitions every week-end.

Mabuhay Mobily, the main sponsor of the event, has allotted raffle items every week like free sim card, caps, T-shirts, mugs, keychains, etc. Likewise other sponsors like BEAC, Giordano, Al Yusr Installment are also giving away souvenir items during the raffle.








Also, food booths of Krispy Kreme and Indo-mie are also available all through out the festival.





Mediacom, Al-Yusr, Time-life and other Baratillo booths are also installed in order to provide inquiries and services to the shoppers.

The festival will run until August 14, 2009.

S.E. Productions members

Wares, Food and Sports in Manila Summer Festival 2009

Philippine Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor cuts the ribbon during the Opening Ceremony of Manila Plaza Summer Festival last year

As temperature soars high, the heat will become even hotter this week-end and the coming week-ends at the basement of Manila Plaza – one of the known stamping grounds of Filipinos in downtown Batha.

“People, especially Filipinos, are expected to converge for the opening of the Manila Summer festival 2009 on Friday afternoon at 5:00 pm, said Rannie Basanta of Special Events Productions (SEP), who leads in organizing the activity for the second time.

The Mabuhay-Mobily-sponsored event offers dart and table tennis tournaments, karate exhibitions, food festival bazaar and a baratilyo wherein assorted items will be displayed for sale, which will include T-shirts, bags, pants and kitchen wares.

Along with the baratilyo is a rummage sale for the benefit of Jhiemel Pacao, a 14-year old cancer patient, who is undergoing series of chemotherapy in the Philippines.

“SEP will donate for the chemotherapy of the patient who is currently in the Philippines and scheduled for her eight and last therapy at the end of this month”, added Basanta.

Expatriate Darters of Saudi Arabia (EDSA) will handle the dart tournament and AFTA will organize the table tennis tournament. Martial arts organizations such as Black Python, combat Judo Karate and Attack Force Self-Defense, Inc., will hold various Karate exhibitions.

“I trust that SEP will once again stage a successful event following the overwhelming support shown by Filipinos in last year’s similar festival”, said Walid El-Hossary, Manila Plaza General Manager.

Aside from Mabuhay Mobily as main sponsor of the festival, the following companies have shown support to the event, like Al-Yusr Installment Co., Mediacom, Krispy Kreme, raze Environmental systems and Advance Technologies, Beac/Pioneer, Cardio Check, Indomie Instant Noddles, Time Life and UBTV 37 and the Filipino Channel (TFC) as media partners.

“There will also be weekly raffle draws so that anyone who visits the festival during Thursdays and Fridays will have chance of winning gifts and some give-aways especially on the last day for the grand raffle draw,” Basanta said.

SEP is known for helping Filipino distressed workers by providing plane tickets to ward of Bahay Kalinga – a temporary shelter for female OFWs who ran away from their abusive employers. Likewise, they are also organizing cultural shows at the Philippine Embassy promoting the culture and attractions in the Philippines.

Recently, it gave a brand new bicycle to a male distressed worker for his use in selling chicken skin’s “chicharon and vegetables as source of livelihood. The bike is courtesy of SEP Members Delfin Federico Jr and Vonnel Mirandilla.

by: Daniel Ronquillo

Manila Summer Festival opens on July 24.

Shopping has just got a lot more exciting at Manila Plaza, Riyadh’s popular family shopping destination of Filipinos.

To mark the excitement of the summer season this year, Mabuhay Mobily has lined up a host of activities during week-ends. Fun activities such as sports, karate exhibitions and competitions (dart, table-tennis and chess tournaments) are sure to keep the shoppers enthralled and hang out every Friday.

Commenting on the Summer Festival, Mr. Walid El Hossary, General of Manila Plaza said, “ Manila Plaza has constantly strived to offer opportunities to provide a complete and amazing shopping experience to its customers. We aim at offering a complete and satisfying experience every time a customer visits the mall with value-for-money offers and quality of products, apart from the fun, interesting interaction and activities to compliment to the festive summer season.”
He further added, “We have great opportunities to make shopping a whole lot more exciting for customers. We invite everybody to visit the mall and celebrate summer with us.”

Mobily users are encouraged to visit the basement area for some exciting surprises.
An official of the Philippine Embassy will be the special guest during the grand opening on Friday, July 24, 2009 at 5:00 pm.

Located in Batha Area, Manila Plaza is the city’s most popular shopping family destination of Filipinos that brings together the best of international lifestyle and fashion brands It has been the choice of Filipino shoppers looking for Philippine-made products with the best value-for-money offers.

S.E. Productions, an event organizer under Rani Basanta, manages the event with Mabuhay Mobily and the assistance of Al-Yusr Installment Co., Mediacom, Krispy Kreme, raze Environmental systems and Advance Technologies, Beac/Pioneer, Cardio Check, Indomie Instant Noddles, Time Life and UBTV 37 and the Filipino Channel (TFC) as media partners.