Filipinos in Victoria, BC ‘Represent’
About 425,000 people call Victoria and its surrounding municipalities home. It is the 15th largest metropolitan area in Canada. According to the 2021 census, 8,525 identify as Filipino.
On May 20, 2024, over 200 Filipinos of all ages students, health care and service workers, professionals, religious groups came together to march as the largest participating group at the city’s annual Victoria Day Parade. They responded to a call issued by the VFCA (Victoria Filipino Canadian Association), VFCSA (Victoria Filipino Canadian Seniors’ Association), and the VFCCA (Victoria Filipino Canadian Caregivers Association) organizations working together under the aegis of the Bayanihan Cultural and Housing Society (BCHS). The VFCA, the first Filipino Canadian organization in Victoria, was founded in 1969.
The parade was an impressive show of unity and Filipino pride. Sandwiched between the parade’s traditional marching bands, the Filipinos, carrying banners that said “Luzon,” “Visayas,” and “Mindanao” proudly wore barong (traditional Filipino shirt), saya (traditional Filipina dress), and other traditional wear; danced traditional dances to the beat of gangsa and kulintang (bronze percussion instruments); and exhibited the joyousness and warmth that Filipinos are known for the world over. They carried a cutout jeepney, a bahay kubo (grass hut), pictures of Philippine scenes, and each regional group had a muse to grace the occasion.
Filipinos in Victoria participate in the city’s Victoria Day Parade on May 20, 2024.
Philippine traditional costumes and national symbols like the jeepney were on display.
Dancing the Binanog of Mindanao at the Victoria Day Parade.
The May 20 parade was but the start of several weeks of celebration, with June declared by the Province of British Columbia as Philippine Heritage Month. On June 1, BC’s first Filipino Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Mable Elmore, presented a copy of the declaration to organization presidents Sid Emmanuel, Dominga Passmore, Annette Beech, and Cristeta Araquel at an Open House held to kick off the month’s events.
The Open House at the Bayanihan Community Centre, a building owned by the BCHS, was attended by officials from all three levels of government federal, provincial, and municipal and was an opportunity for the organizations to share the achievements and plans of the Filipino community, including the dream of a community center with space for cultural events.
Officers of the BCHS, VFCA, VFCSA, VFCCA, and the Bayanihan Creative Collective with guests from the federal, provincial, and municipal branches of government at an Open House on June 1, 2024, marking the start of Philippine Heritage Month.
And then on June 8 and 9, Mabuhay 2024 came into being at Centennial Park, behind Victoria’s City Hall. Thousands attended the two-day event, which drew visitors from as far away as Calgary and Nova Scotia and the United States. Visitors homesick for the Philippines came to savor foods not easily prepared at home, like halo halo (iced candied fruit dessert) and lechon (roast pig), and regional favorites like sisig (sizzling head cheese and liver platter) and igado (pork and calf liver stew). They posed for pictures at the jeepney (military jeep converted into colorful commuter vehicle) cutout next best to the real thing. They came to hear and speak the Philippines’ many languages and were treated to the songs and dances of home.
Children teetered on benches in Sayaw sa Bangko (bench dance); their mothers and aunts bloomed with garlands in Bulaklakan (flower fest); fathers, uncles, and brothers clashed in Sakuting (mock stick fight dance). It was impossible to resist dancing with the Cordillerans in their courtship dance, and stately Mindanaoans impressed with the Pangalay (fingernail dance) of the Tausugs. The youth were not left out several youthful artists sang and danced to hip hop and OPM (Original Pilipino Music), including teen favorite Finest Summer.
Victorians dance to the beat of the music at Mabuhay 2024 at Centennial Square.
Members of the Vancouver Island Cordillera Association dance at Mabuhay 2024.
One of over 20 food stalls at Mabuhay 2024.
One singular achievement of Mabuhay is that it brings together participants not just of Filipino origin, but from other cultural groups. Thus, beside the tent selling dinuguan (pork blood stew) and kaldereta (meat stew) was one selling Persian kebabs, another selling African beans and rice. Korean, Indian, and Latin dance groups performed. The singers Poncho from Ghana and Mama Kaffe from the Ivory Coast were hits; the Unity Dancers, a multicultural group, gave Hawaiian dance lessons and a zumba group kept everyone on their toes.
It’s touching that the Mabuhay event is an opportunity for Filipinos to introduce their partners and friends from other cultures to Philippine food and traditions, and how every year, through the event, parents and elders affirm loving ties with a homeland among a younger generation.
Mabuhay was made possible with the financial support of the City of Victoria and the BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union, and various sponsor organizations. Apart from food vendors, various Filipino-run businesses and organizations had booths with information on the services they provide everything from care-giving services to real estate to cargo-forwarding.
Mabuhay and Heritage Month showcased Filipino unity in diversity, community spirit, generosity, and goodwill ¬ all bright touches in times riven by conflict and disharmony.
Busiest among the people running the show were Cobb Carbonel, Mabuhay project director; Jinky Apayo, program coordinator; Sid Emmanuel, VFCA president who was in charge of food preparation; Dominga Passmore, BCHS president who dealt with VIHA permits and supervised logistics; and Laila Pires, BCHS Treasurer who facilitated all transactions and supervised the volunteers.
They were supported by a very active Board of Directors and an army of volunteers. A Bayanihan Creative Collective with Jean Graciela Peñola, Geoffrey Peñola, Clarissa Mijares, Daisy Breuer, Ruby Tiburcio and Francis Matheu at the helm ensured quality cultural performances throughout. Leia Grace Elaine Unarce, VFCA’s PRO, kept the public updated on social media.
Volunteers, led by VFCA President Sid Emmanuel, kept VFCA’s food tables supplied with pancit, lumpia, dinuguan and other delicacies cooked at the Bayanihan Center over 2 days of Mabuhay 2024.
As if Mabuhay were not enough, the BCHS and its various organizations also conducted in June cooking, Filipino language, and dance lessons, a gangsa tutorial, and a culminating June 30 food market, showcasing Filipino food vendors that now abound in Victoria. It featured live lechon roasting on BCHS premises. Mabuhay’s souvenir program includes directories of food vendors, restaurants, and other Filipino-run businesses in the city.
Keem Herrera, VFCA Board Member, with the lechon at the Bayanihan Community Centre.
If BCHS and affiliated groups’ participation in the Victoria Day Parade and celebration of Philippine Heritage Month in June aimed to raise the profile of Filipinos in Victoria, it succeeded spectacularly. If it aimed to instill pride among Filipino Canadians in their history and heritage, it succeeded even more. Victoria’s Filipino Canadians have increased community awareness and understanding of Filipino culture and advanced efforts to combat racism by several major steps.
Mabuhay and other Heritage Month events in Victoria also celebrated Filipino talent and versatility, introduced Filipino businesses and non-profits to the community, and created a safe and profitable space for Filipino entrepreneurs, generating goodwill, promoting diversity and inclusion, and inspiring other ethnic organizations to hold similar events. It showcased Filipino unity in diversity, community spirit, generosity, and goodwill all bright touches in times riven by conflict and disharmony. Congratulations to the Filipinos of Victoria for putting on a great show!
Meyen Quigley is a writer based in Victoria, British Columbia. Originally from Iloilo, she lived and worked in Sudan, Pakistan, Turkey, and New York before settling down in Canada with her husband Kevin and children Gabriel and Megan.
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