Fil-Ams celebrate 114th anniversary of Philippine Independence

The first weekend of June is fast becoming the busiest two days in the Filipino-American community’s social calendar. From summit to parade, from ball to festival, the community was abuzz with activities.

Since 1990, Filipino American organizations have come together to plan, design, and prepare for an all-day parade, cultural show and street fair along Madison Avenue in New York City that showcase the sounds, the spectacle, the history and cultural heritage of the Filipino people.

The Independence Day Parade started out as one of the many initiatives of the Philippine Consulate General in New York and turned out to be a huge success. It was later widely considered a regular annual project of many Filipino organizations, and a red-letter mainstay in the calendars of many Filipino American families.

Eventually, an organization dedicated to the promotion of Filipino cultural heritage through the Independence Day celebration and to the empowerment of the Filipino community was conceived and established. This organization is what many now know as PIDCI, or Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc.

Last year, a young organization called UniPro (Pilipino American Unity for Progress) staged their first summit on the same weekend of the Independence Day Parade and Festival. This gave their delegates from other states to witness a gathering that is uniquely Filipino.

This year, UniPro staged their second annual summit, a multinational forum for Filipino young professionals, students and youth, held at NYU Langone Medical Center. With the theme “Pilipino Renaissance,” the summit looked at the successes of Filipinos in recent years – whether it was as local as New York or as global as the Filipino diaspora.

Filipino renaissance

“We felt a sense of pride in knowing that our fellow Filipinos are able not only to succeed, but also to make the accomplishments of our community known to others, despite our label as the “invisible minority,” said Rachelle Ocampo, one of the summit’s co-chairs, in a statement.

Beyond the celebration of success, the summit also looked into collaboration and discussion of the important issues that affect the global Filipino community.

“Our goal for the summit is for everyone to walk away impassioned and inspired, with tangible knowledge that they can share with their respective communities in order to push for the flourishing of the Filipino people,” added Judy Yem, the other summit co-chair.

The whole day summit gathered an impressive roster of speakers and panelists that represented an entire gamut of industries where Filipinos excel. Notable in this list are Jose Antonio Vargas of Define American, philanthropist and community leader Loida Nicolas Lewis, social entrepreneur Illac Diaz, Gawad Kalinga’s Tony Meloto and Tony Olaes, writer Ninotchka Rosca, among others.

Tony Meloto opened the summit with a keynote speech that the renaissance is underway, citing the fact that the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Renato Corona was convicted, saying that this was proof that President Benigno Aquino was keen on eradicating corruption in the Philippines.

Meloto also cited reports from various economic think-tanks and investment firms such as HSBC, which has predicted that the Philippines will become the 16^th largest economy in the world in 2050.

“Ipinapakita lang natin na if we have solidarity, we can show the global community that Filipinos together can end poverty in our country. Ang Pilipinas ngayon is the land of the honest and our president is doing his job. It seems that we have regained our faith in ourselves, our government and in each other,” Meloto told the Asian Journal in an interview after the summit.

Meloto then pulled out a piece of chocolate from his pocket. He proudly said that the chocolate is made in the Philippines, sharing that there is an abundance of cacao plantations in the country. He cited Belgium, a country known for its chocolates.

“Did you know that not a single cocoa bean grows naturally in Belgium? They buy cheap raw materials from poor countries and turn them into expensive finished goods,” he said. “The only way for the Philippines to become prosperous is for us to produce not just raw materials, but world-class finished goods and for us to buy Filipino products. This is how we help raise our country from poverty.”

Another social entrepreneur who is working hard in trying to eradicate poverty in the Philippines is Illac Diaz. His organization, MyShelter Foundation is in the forefront of the “Isang Litrong Liwanag” project, which aims to bring sustainable lighting to some of the poorest communities in the Philippines

Beginning with one solar bottle light in April 2011, the program of MyShelter Foundation has now installed more than 15000 solar bulbs in 20 cities around the country saving already millions of pesos to the beneficiary with savings off their electricity bills. The best part is the foundation produces very little of the production of the bulbs as its made in the community, by the community themselves out of waste that is normally thrown away.

“I’m tired of charity handouts and donations for the Philippines. Can we move away from that mentality and focus on something that we, as Filipinos can do, to improve the lives of our fellow Filipinos?,” Diaz asked the audience as he began his presentation.

Diaz then showed the strides that his foundation has made, from building classrooms out of plastic bottles to creating solar bulbs for the poor communities.

“With this, people don’t need to rely on donations. In their own communities, they can make their own solar bulbs. Through that, we are able to lessen their electricity cost and at the same time, we are helping nature,” Diaz added.

The UniPro Summit also gathered young professionals who are making a name for themselves in their respective fields like Maharlika owner Nicole Ponseca, Oscar-award winner Stefanie Walmsley, TEDxWaterloo’s Renjie Butalid, Busog founder Darwin Ignacio, BroadwayWorld.com’s Oliver Oliveros, journalist Randy Gener, Advancement for Rural Kids (ARK) Ayesha Vera-Yu, Jaycees’ Mia Fulgado and others.

The summit was capped with an after-party in the Upper East Side dubbed “An Evening in Manila – Spring Edition,” which gathered hundreds of participants. The event raised funds for the kids helped by ARK.

Hope Ball

In the meantime, across the Hudson River, another big event was being staged.

It was the Gawad Kalinga USA Hope Ball, with the theme “A Journey of Faith and Patriotism”. “We are celebrating the legacy of hope that our generation is leaving to the next generation of Filipinos,” Meloto said as he welcomed about five hundred guests to the Filipiniana-inspired gala.

At Oxford University earlier this year, Meloto and GK Executive Director Luis Oquinena received the 2012 Skoll Award for social entrepreneurship. The Skoll Foundation undertook a rigorous election process, ending with four winners, which were all awarded with a three-year operating grant to enable the continuation and expansion of their work.

“This award was an affirmation of hope-builders and poverty-busters. The challenge before us is to scale to reach more communities in desperate need. We see a great opportunity, now, to bring our model to many parts of the world where the debilitating effects of poverty hamper the progress of nations and burden their people,” Meloto said.

The GK founder also thanked global Filipinos, especially Filipino-Americans for leading the way in helping the motherland. Through GK, Filipino-American organizations and individuals were able to build more than 300 Gawad Kalinga communities across the country.

“We are grateful to you Fil-Ams because you gave hard-earned money from years of sacrifice in a foreign land because you never stopped hoping for our country and caring for our people,” he added.

Independence Day parade and festival

After months of preparations, the day has finally arrived.

The commemoration may have been more than a week early but that did not deter thousands of Filipinos from the various northeast states to flock to Madison Avenue in New York City to be with their fellow Filipinos. Neither did the rain, which poured thrice and threatened to close the booths and send parade-goers home.

For the first time in years, all the food booths were on one side and the non-food booths were on the other. This helped in ensuring the flow of people walking along 23^rd to 27^th Streets and checking out the merchandise like T-shirts and jackets or DVDs and magazines. On the other side, lines formed in every single food booth, selling out pails of halo-halo, tubs of buko and sago’t gulaman and thousands of barbecues.

The all-day Street Fair and the afternoon Cultural Festival are the highlights of the Independence Day celebrations, but in the months leading to June, a host of events have been staged – from the Grand Marshal Gala, and the Diwa ng Kalayaan (Spirit of Independence) Search, Selection and Coronation Pageant and Gala.

To cap all these festivities is the Independence Day Ball, held on Saturday, June 9 at the Hilton Hotel in New York City.

After that, the cycle begins once more. See you all again next year!