19 February 2011.  In an formal ceremony, Consul General Leoncio Cardenas was recently installed as the new Dean of the Consular  Corps of Hawaii.  The Installation Ceremony, held at the premier Royal Hawaiian Hotel, was conducted by the Honorable Mark. Recktenwald, Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court. Also installed are the following officers: Vice-Dean Kusuma Cooray, Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka, Secretary Nina Fasi, Honorary Consul of Norway, Treasurer Annie Kaneshiro, Honorary Consular Agent of Tonga, Auditor M. Jan Rumi, Honorary Consul of Morocco, Historian Niklaus R. Schweizer, PhD, Consul Emeritus.

The glittering Consular Corps Ball was attended by 355 diplomats, politicians, executives, and community leaders to honor the installation of new officers for the Consular Corps of Hawaii. The Corps was started in 1824 by the British government's appointment of Richard Charlton, Consul for the Sandwich Islands. Today, the Consular Corps consists of six career Consulates General and 32 Honorary Consuls representing all continents, including Oceania.

The Filipino Community was well represented in the event, regaling the event in their crisp Barongs and Ternos, while Filipino artists Amado Cacho, Jasmine Butay and Deputy Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes sang a medley of Filipino modern classic. The Philippine Chorale, with Consul General Cardenas at the piano, encapsulated the affable mood of the night with their rendition of “Amigos Para Siempre (Friends forever).

END