Unraveling the Tapestry: The Story Behind Filipino Heritage Month and Its Deeper Roots
Filipino Heritage Month has been observed during June since 2018 to recognize, celebrate, and raise awareness about the 957,355 (StatsCan, 2023) Filipino community and their contributions to Canadian society, the richness of the Filipino language and culture, and the importance of reflecting upon Filipino heritage for future generations, as the 2018 Motion-155 states (M-155 Filipino Heritage Month, 2018).
How did we get here?
The declaration of the observance of Filipino Heritage Month here in this part of Turtle Island (also colonially known as Canada) is the work of many community members such as,
Paulina Corpuz, a community organizer and President of the Philippine Advancement Through Arts and Culture (PATAC) – a network advancing issues of concern to people of Filipino origin in Toronto, Ont. has started the campaign towards the declaration of Filipino Heritage Month in Canada through a petition.
Through the sponsorship of Councillor Neethan Shan, a motion was submitted to the City of Toronto Council. With the endorsement of about 50 people and organizations, the council unanimously approved the motion.
It was finally declared in Canada on October 30, 2018, Motion M-155, through the authorship of MP Salma Zahid, Liberal MP, Scarborough Center.
NDP MPP Doly Begum introduced a private member’s bill in the Ontario legislature to proclaim June as Filipino Heritage Month, which passed its final reading and received Royal Assent on May 20, 2021.
The significance of June
Image citation: Philippine resistance against Japan Paglaban ng Pilipinas sa mga Hapon
The Philippines observes its Araw ng Kasarinlan (Day of Self-Determination) or Araw ng Kalayaan (Independence Day) annually on June 12, commemorating the declaration of Philippine independence from Spain in 1898 and the rejection of its American colonizers’ prescribed July 4 day of independence for the country, in 1946, the very same date for American Independence Day.
Spain occupied and colonized the Philippines for 350 years. On December 10, 1898, the Spanish government ceded (sold!) the Philippines, along with Guam and Puerto Rico, to the United States in the Treaty of Paris, subverting the will of the Filipino people for sovereignty.
During World War 2, the Japanese occupied the Philippines between 1942 and 1945, which was met with Filipino guerrilla resistance against Japan.
Framing themselves as “liberators of the Philippines from Japanese control,” the United States Congress offered $800 million for post-World War II rebuilding funds.
This financial package was in exchange for the Bell Trade Act to be ratified by the then-fledgling Philippine Congress, whose many members were part of the local economic elite set to benefit from joint ventures with American enterprises. The Bell Trade Act of 1946 of the US Congress set very unfair terms for the newly independent country. It included granting “Parity Rights” to U.S. citizens and corporations to have rights to Philippine natural resources equal to (in parity with) those of Philippine citizens.
This neo-colonial policy was in effect until 1974, which is very recent history indeed.
Colonization, neo-colonization, and its effects continue to manifest in how the majority of Filipinos, native to their lands, persistently experience inequalities. This is among the reasons why many Filipinos, long deprived of a more just life, have been seeking this in places that might offer it.
However, as we have embarked on this search, we have become implicated and entangled, and humbly, we must reflect on this as settlers in projects of colonization against Indigenous communities. As racialized peoples, the struggle to break out from being held invisible and to seek equity continues.
The Philippine national flag was sewn at 535 Morrison Hill Road, Hongkong by Mrs. Marcela Marino Agoncillo - wife of the first Filipino diplomat, Felipe Agoncillo, with the help of her daughter Lorenza and Mrs. Delfina Herbosa Natividad, niece of Dr. Jose Rizal and wife of Gen. Salvador Natividad.
Painting by Philippine artist, Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972). Nicknamed the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art," he was the first-ever to be recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines.
How we can celebrate Filipino Heritage Month
Many diasporic Filipinos express their continuing connections to their heritage in many ways - through remittances, bayanihan (mutual aid) work, balikbayan boxes, or community organizing, among others. Flag-raising, among other ways, is also considered by some as an expression of pakikiisa (solidarity) and pagiging isa (belonging) with people in the Philippines, and in the diaspora who very much deserve to experience a meaningful kalayaan (freedom) and kasarinlan (sovereignty).
The Filipino/x/o community in Hamilton has a few Filipino Heritage Month activities going on.
June 3, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (Hamilton City Forecourt): Flag-raising ceremony organized by a nonprofit event-organizing group, Hamilton Fiesta Extravaganza (HFE), headed by community leader Mariewin de Guzman.
June 12, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (2 Floor, Hamilton Central Library): a free, multilevel, lightly facilitated Filipino Conversation Circle presented by the Filipinas of HamOnt and Hamilton Public Library, sponsored by the McMaster University Office of Community Engagement and the Hamilton Community Foundation, and fiscally-sponsored by the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion. Register now.
June 14-16, Gage Park: Taste of the Philippines, a food fest organized by the Hamilton Filipino Community Centre, headed by community leader Bonner Villabroza
July 27-28, Bayfront Park: Hamilton Fiesta Extravaganza 2024, a food fest organized by HFE in community partnership with the Filipinas of HamOnt.
We turn toward each other in recognition that our fates and our struggles - those in the homeland, here, and everywhere, are interconnected.
As we celebrate Philippine independence, we also hold in our thoughts and actions, the communities within the Philippines, particularly the Indigenous, and the countries that are still struggling for freedom and landback.
Free Congo. Free Palestine. Free Sudan.
