The 70th Republic Day of Italy
The Harbor Garden Tent of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza came alive with the sound of clinking glasses as select guests from the business and diplomatic circles raised a toast to the 70th Republic Day of Italy.
Hosted by Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno and his gracious wife Agnes, the occasion commemorated the day when Italians decided to effect change in their history as a nation — leading to the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a democratic republic. During the celebrations at Sofitel, guests took admiring glances — and selfies — at the prominently displayed Lamborghini — just one of the many brands that Italy has contributed to the world.
Also known as the Festa della Repubblica, the Republic Day of Italy is celebrated all over the world with numerous activities similar to an Independence Day. In Italy, celebrations were jumpstarted with a grand party held at the Quirinal Palace on the eve of Republic Day. On the day itself, citizens were treated to a military parade through the Roman forum with mayors joining the soldiers to underscore the fact that every citizen, not just the military, should commemorate the proclamation of the Republic following a referendum that rejected the monarchy.
In fact, even the Italian Post Office issued a special stamp to emphasize the importance of the 70th anniversary of the Republic Day. Underscoring the newfound pride Italians have for their nation and their heritage is a proposed bill to “professionalize the art of pizza making” by creating an official registry of accredited pizza chefs. Under the proposed bill, aspiring chefs will have to go through rigorous workshops and training that includes food science and foreign languages, to be followed by actual work experience before they can apply to join the register.
While pizza-making courses are already in existence, these are not standardized, resulting in “unskilled and inexpert” pizza makers working in restaurants and pizzerias, supporters of the bill said.
As the Italians would say it, molto bene!
