Introduction by Alberta Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman at the Legislature in Proclamation of June as a Philippine Heritage Month. (Photo from Migrante Alberta Facebook Page)
Story by Jay Sunni
In May this year, the Philippine Arts Council based in Edmonton started a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, asking that the month of June be marked as Filipino Heritage Month. On June 5th 2018, this petition was granted and now, June is officially Filipino Heritage Month in Alberta.
The Edmonton Filipino Fiesta was one of the many Filipino-Canadian organizations to post this news on social media, “Without a doubt, this comes as good news to many members of the Filipino community not just in Alberta, but in Canada as a whole”.
Albeit, the news is not surprising. In 2017, Ontario, the province with the largest Filipino population in Canada, declared June Filipino Heritage Month, earlier this year, so did Montreal, the city with the fifth largest Filipino population. It only made sense that Alberta, the province with the sixth largest Filipino population in Canada would follow suit.
The month of June was most likely chosen by Filipino societies across Canada as Filipino Heritage Month Canada because June is the month in which Philippine gained its independence from Spain. In fact, in some countries with a significant population of Filipinos such as Norway and Dubai, the 120th Anniversary of Philippine Independence will be celebrated sometime this June. In Edmonton, the 120th Philippine Independence Gala Night Celebration took place on June 3, 2018, at Four Point by Sheraton.
Members of NDP Caucus pose for a photo at the 120th Philippine Independence Gala Night Celebration on June 3, 2018, at Four Point by Sheraton. (photo from Minister Sarah Hoffman’s Twitter Page).
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