4 GTA FilCan Community groups slate Filipino Heritage Month celebrations

4 GTA FilCan Community groups slate Filipino Heritage Month celebrations

By Tony A. San Juan

The inaugural year of the “Filipino Heritage Month” across Canada, as officially proclaimed by the House of Commons on October 30, 2018, will commence in June 2019. In the spirit of national character and traditions, Filipino Canadians are hopeful and excited of participating proudly in the celebration of this very important milestone in the history of our Filipino Canadian community in Ontario.
At this time, 4 main organizations are purposefully engaged in the upcoming celebrations, namely: 1) Federation of Filipino Canadians of Ontario – FFCO; 2) Filipino Canadian Parents Association in Catholic Education-FCPACE; 3)  GTA Hoops ; and 4) Don Valley West Residents Association / Camarines Norte Association-Canada-CNACO). One would appreciate that most of the  members of the 4 organizations , in one way or another, are also leading officers and active members of the named organizations.
The nature of community engagement is simply in the form of partnership, collaboration and cooperation by the 4-cited organizations in accordance to their organized and scheduled events, respectively as follow:
FFCO -June 12th(Wed.),11:00 am- “Philippine Independence Day Flag-Raising & Program”, Ontario Legislative Grounds, Queen’s Park, Toronto.( Free Event but Queen’s Park registration is required). Contacts: Michele Serrano at michele_serrano@hotmail.com; Joseph Redoblado at redobjl@yahoo.com
FCPACE – June 12th(Wed.), 6:00 pm. -”Filipino Heritage Day Celebration and An Audience with His Eminence, Thomas Cardinal Collins- Archbishop of Toronto”, Catholic Education Centre, TCDSB, 80 Sheppard Ave. East,  North York, Toronto.( $10 dinner- seminar ticket). Contacts: Manny Lim at mannytlim@gmail.com; and Ruth Oliveros at rutholiveros@sympatico.ca
GTA Hoops- June 15th & 16th( Sat.&Sun.),11:00 am.- “Palarong Basketbol” – 2019 GTA Hoops Invitational Tournament, Hoopdome, Downview,North York, Toronto. ( Free Event). Contacts : Vilma Tahsin at vmt_28@yahoo.ca and Roger Tarca at rogelio_tarca@yahoo.ca
Don Valley West Residents -June 23rd(Sun.), 3:00 pm.-”Filipino Heritage Month Celebration and Community Parade”, R.V. Burgess Park, Thorncliffe Park Drive, East York, Toronto. (Free Event). Contact : Susan Llanera at suzysanjuanllanera2016@gmail.com
Members of the Filipino Canadian communities in Ontario, especially in the GTA , are earnestly requested to extend their wholehearted participation, contribution and assistance to the 4 groups in whatever way possible, such as their involvement and support on: attendance, ticket sale, invitation, program participation, parade, referral, and communication . Furthermore, in solidarity with other community organizations conducting their respective June Filipino Heritage-focused events, our Filipino kababayans are profoundly encouraged to provide freely their utmost support too.