Story by Jay Sunni. Photos supplied.
Red Deer: Last week on Saturday June 9th, 2018, the Filipino community in Red Deer celebrated Philippines Independence Day at the G.H Dawe Branch of the Red Deer Public Library.
The attendees at the event had the opportunity to try out traditional Filipino snacks generally referred to as, “Merienda”, play traditional Filipino games, “learn about Philippine’s history in a short video presentation”, and also see and take photos of “people in traditional Filipino outfits from various parts of the Philippines”.
Although Philippines Independence Day is usually observed on and considered to be on June 12th, the organizers of the event, the Global Filipino Canadian Cultural Society decided to schedule the event on Saturday simply because they “wanted to host the event on a weekend” as opposed to a weekday.
On a phone interview with Diversity Magazine, Mildred Manuel, Chair of the Organizing Committee expressed her excitement, “The event went very well. We actually did not expect as many as 70 people. We showcased the different regional, traditional dresses in the Philippines”.
Although the event was quite short (it ran from 2 PM to 4 PM), the purpose behind the event – to celebrate Philippines independence from Spanish colonial rule – was enough to provide joy and fulfillment to the majority of Filipinos who attended.
