InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
Many academics and community leaders in the major centers of overseas migration have long been mystified and concerned with the global Filipino diaspora. Some like University of Hawaii’s Jonathan Okamura assert that Filipinos all over the world actively imagine themselves to be part of a "community" whose members are aware of one another’s presence and share a common culture, national identity, custom and tradition.
Overseas Filipinos, adds this school of thought, experience a powerful longing for a “homeland” and continue thinking of returning to the Philippines despite the reality of outbound mobility due to the lack of opportunities back home. Global Filipinos are said to exhibit this longing by sending their family and relatives the regular remittances and the famous balikbayan box as tokens of their desire to continue participating in the lives of people they left behind.
In the recently concluded International Conference on Rizal at the University of the Philippines, UP Professor Vim Nadera talked about his project to empower OFWs in Hongkong while another paper writer contended that overseas Filipinos have not developed a sense of nationhood and community and pointed to Rizal’s novels as a starting point in their development of consciousness.
What really is the Filipino diaspora?
I recently had a chance to observe the Filipino “diaspora” here in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, when I attended the Fiesta ng Kalayaan festivities organized by the Kalayaan Cultural Community Center at the Mississauga Celebration Square. This first ever “fiesta” attracted more than a thousand Filipino-Canadians to the center of the city in a thirteen-hour extravaganza of songs, dance, and special presentations by Fil-Canadian groups all over the Metro Toronto area.
Like most events in Filipino communities abroad, this fiesta had the usual trappings of the homeland. There were food stalls selling pansit, sisig, barbecue, laing, and the required halo-halo. Also present were kiosks selling Pacquiao T-shirts and jackets with the obligatory red, white and blue design, tolda by the Capizeno Association of Ontario.
One Filipino-Canadian singer crooned that he was not Mambobola, another gyrated to the beat of "Annie Batungbakal”, a third one implored the audience to “Join Nalang Kayo” and have a good time, and “Magkasuyo Buong Gabi” which brought me back memories of the 1980’s.
There was also a colorful fashion show of the evolution of the Filipino costumes starting from the bahag of our indigenous brothers, as well as an array of performance by the Fiesta Filipina Dance Troupe, that included the famous tinikling, and the singkil. Some young kids joined the stage modeling clothes supplied by event sponsors, Gap and Melanie Lynn. Aga Muhlach and Angel Locsin’s In the Name of Love was shown free at the Noel Ryan Auditorium adjacent to the Celebration Square.
And then there was Jericho Rosales. TFC brought the movie star to Mississauga as part of an East Coast tour of Filipino communities. To say that the reception was electric is an understatement. Singing to the beat of “Bongga Ka 'Day” and waxing nostalgic to the ever popular “Manila” that make every overseas Filipino cry, Rosales was at his best entertaining the crowd while posing for pictures and accepting the hugs of shrieking fans.
What surprised me was the fact that majority of the shrieking fans tugging at Rosales were not the 50’ish first generation immigrants but 18-20 year olds whose links to the motherland are the once-in-a-while vacation trips to Manila. Facebook, Twitter, and the range of Pinoy TV fare over cable television have definitely bridged the geographic and time divide between Canada and the Philippines and shape the Fil-Canadian identity.
Is this the Filipino-Canadian’s way of showing his/her longing for home and sense of community? And do they long to go back to Manila?
My 22-year-old step-daughter, Nicole, whose knowledge of the native tongue was limited to “opo”, “hindi”, and “salamat”, and who wanted to study in the Philippines but worried that her classmates would make fun of her inability to speak Pilipino surprised me when she decided to enroll in a Tagalog class in Toronto a year ago. When asked why she decided to study Tagalog she said that like her friends, she wanted to speak her native language. Her being a Canadian, in this sense, was being enriched by her being a Filipino.
And yesterday at the Fiesta ng Kalayaan my other step daughter Jasmine decided to forego her usual weekend date with friends to parade as Queen of Peace in the Santa Cruzan. Born in Canada and now working as a pre-school teacher in Region of Peel school district, she joined the throng of Filipino-Canadians swaying to the music of the 1970’s and 1980’s and capped the night dancing to both pop music and the requisite Filipino line dance.
The owner of one of the food stalls at the Fiesta, Marcy Blando (Halo-Halo World) was beaming with pride while commenting that the event was a huge success. Marcy said that in all her years in Canada, she’s never seen a Filipino event like this last Fiesta – one that not only united Filipinos in Metro Toronto, but also truly showcased the Filipino culture, talent, artistry and history.
This is the Filipino diaspora in Canada. I saw and felt a strong sense of community and identity. The Pinoy is alive and well in Canada, but there was no hankering to go back home nor regrets at having left the Philippines. These are Filipinos who like being Canadians but like it better that they are also Filipinos.
(Dr. Prospero E. de Vera is Professor of Public Administration and Vice President for Public Affairs, University of the Philippines. Comments and suggestions are welcome at jpdevera@up.edu.ph.)
