PARAÑAQUE CITY (PIA) -- The National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) officially opened the country’s first academic gathering on history and culture, "Philippine International Quincentennial Conference" (PIQC) recently.

The opening program, hosted by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines-Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo, was filled with messages of support from Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, and Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.  

The program was followed by the first session that centered on the Philippine Diplomatic Relations with Spain and Portugal in the Quincentennial. 

Originally planned to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center, the NQC decided to move the conference online to ensure the safety of the participants as the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press conference, NHCP Chair and 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines Chief Convener Rene Escalante said the committee had to increase the conference’s online capacity from 13 thousand to 34 thousand due to the demand. 

In total, the conference has 13 online sessions from October 20 to December 17. 

PIQC gathers hundreds of scholars, officials, and artists around the globe, providing a platform for local and international experts and scholars to discuss the new information and discoveries about the history of the circumnavigation and its impact to the modern world. 

The conference is an official program of the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines and is conducted in solidarity with the Year of Filipino Pre-Colonial Ancestors. (PIA-NCR)