Our Halo Halo Brothers

Our Halo Halo Brothers

By Hernani de Leon

Halo Halo Organization (H2O) is celebrating its 2nd Halo Halo Festival on August 9, 2015 at the Artscape Wychwood Barns located at 601 Christie Street, St Clair Avenue, Toronto.

Last year’s maiden launch brought in some 2000 visitors, singers, children and seniors cultural group performers, Filipino painters and street food vendors. The most talked about in the event was the “Make Your Own Halo Halo” where anyone can mix their own special halo halo.

Councillor Joe Mihevc of Ward 21, Philippine Consul General Junever West (who collaborated with Halo Halo Organization in organizing the event), Finance Minister Joe Oliver, Sen. Jun Enverga, his wife Rosemer and Mayor John Tory and other guests came up with their own interpretation of what halo halo should be. All of them came out with what they believed was the best. Halo halo is what it is …. Mix and mix and mix until you get it right and you will never get it wrong with 12 ingredients to choose from.

This year’s Halo Halo Festival focuses on the significance of multiculturalism. We only have to look back in our history to know how cultures and social values shared between peoples of different nations have enhanced our image as Filipinos.

H2o (Halo Halo Organization) has invited peoples from other communities who have commonalities in our history, culture and tradition to come together and share their roots.

The Filipino natives and the some of Canada’s First Nations people have strong similarities in their dance and music. The cadence and symbolic movements are deeply spiritual in their closeness to nature.

The Latinos, especially Mexicans, have long shared with us the same acquired culture and language from the Spaniards as well as their native culture and language. The Galleon Trade that flourished from 1565 to 1815 between the ports of Acapulco and Manila cemented a special bond between Filipinos and Mexicans. For 200 years, sailors, traders, shipbuilders, adventurers and stowaways sailed to and from Mexico and the Philippines leaving behind to this day records of our intimate exchanges.

In Michoacan, Guerrero and Colima in Mexico, there are at present some 200,000 Mexicans of mixed Filipino ancestry. Although there is no existing record in the Philippines of the number of Filipinos with Mexican ancestry, it can be assumed that there are as many as there are in Mexico.

The 400-year old Spanish-based Creole language called Chavacano uses more or less 80% Spanish words with mixture of native Mexican words. Chavacano is spoken widely in Zamboanga, Basilan, Dipolog, Misamis, Davao, Cavite and Ermita in Manila.

Chinese culture, too, has had a strong influence in our culture due to centuries of social and cultural exchanges that started as early as 982 AD when Filipinos and Chinese traders bartered goods on a regular basis.

We hope to rekindle the historical, economic and cultural affinity with these nations that had changed the course of our history.

For our first salvo to celebrate multiculturalism, Halo Halo Festival 2015 will feature Latin music, dance and cultural dialogues. We are inviting the Latino communities and Zamboanga Hermosa Toronto and the Cavite Association and all the Chavacano and Spanish speaking Filipinos to come and share the Latino and Chavacano languages with our guests.