It has been more than a month since the hugely successful Pista sa Nayon 2024 celebrating the 126th anniversary of the proclamation of the Philippine Independence was undertaken by the Alliance of Philippine Community Organisations (APCO) Official Inc. However, comments are still made on social media with people expressing how impressed they were or how much they enjoyed the day.
The event with the theme “Sama-sama sa Kalayaan at Kapayapaan” (“United in Freedom and Peace”) was held on June 10, 2024 at the Granville Community Centre, from 10am to 4pm. True to its name, the event was a community festival, free of charge to enter and join in for the whole day.
The event started with a multicultural parade around the grounds of the Granville Community Centre. This colourful and festive parade which was captured on camera and reported by TV Patrol / TFC News and screened around the globe.
The video above has been shared around in social media recently, so we thought to share with our readers some details about the event. The special guests at the event included Philippine Ambassador Her Excellency Ma Hellen Dela Vega, Consul General Rowena Charmaine Aviquivil and Representative of the Premier, Dr Hugh McDermott, MP and Vice Consul Frances Cleofas.
After the singing of the national anthems of the Philippines and Australia, APCO Official Inc. Vice President Senior, Cora Bojarski said the Invocation. This was followed by a welcome speech by the APCO Official Inc. President, Charles Chan and the keynote speech by APCO Founding President Dr Cen Amores.
Philippine Consulate General Sydney Consul General Hon Charmaine Rowena C Aviquivil gave an inspirational speech. She expressed appreciation to APCO Official Inc officers and members for undertaking the event commemorating the 126th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Philippine Independence. This message was reinforced by the Philippine Ambassador to Australia, HE Ma Hellen De La Vega.
The Ambassador highlighted that as a people “we re-affirm our commitment to the security, success and prosperity of our country. This year marks the second year of the multi-year commemoration of our Independence with the theme “Kalayaan, Kinabukasan, Kasaysayan (Freedom. Future. History). …. The challenges that we face may be intense, but they are not insurmountable. Through the transformative power of our common aspirations, commitment to our democratic institutions and confidence in the resilience and ingenuity of our fellowmen, we will be able to transcend differences and focus on solutions….”
The Representative of the New South Wales Government, Dr Hugh McDermott MP extended the best wishes of the Premier, Chris Minns MP. He shared the Premier’s appreciation and admiration of the valuable contributions of Filipinos in NSW as comprising the largest population in Australia, with an estimated number of 153,000 people. He also thanked APCO Official Inc for its tireless advocacy and support to the Filipino community of NSW.
This was followed by a toast by the representative of the Philippine Government (Ambassador De la Vega) and the Australian Government (Dr McDermott).
The event had a packed program for the whole day. The Master of Ceremonies who shared turns in keeping the program flowing were Jojo Sebastian and Edinel Dearden, Marcus Rivera, Violi Calvert and Charles Chan. Cultural dances and modern dances were performed by The OzFil Dancers, Yapak ng Salinlahi, the Children’s Festival Cultural Group, the Pilipino-Australian Sydney Association (PASA) Dancers, Baile International, IV&P, Marilag Dancers, ASG Dance Group, and Minerva Soy Latino,
Those who lent their gift of music included Jojo Sebastian, Wilma Barraga, Melody, Gilda Pagaduan, Marcus Rivera, Neil Gale, Meong, Ballina Gee and Kiko Ruiz.
There was a steady flow of people coming by and staying on throughout the day. They enjoyed the program held on the stage and the Filipino food available from food stalls outside the venue. In addition, they enjoyed watching and participating in various competitions held such as singing competition, Tiktok dancing, fried rice cooking, catwalk and beauty queen competition (judged by Rene Rivas, a well-known designer and strong supporter of the Filipino-Australian community).
The representatives of the Department of Tourism conducted fun trivia games with prizes donated by DOT. Several raffle prizes were also given away, which included notable prizes from TFC which gave tickets for their upcoming show, the Coco Martin Concert. Two return tickets to the Philippines were donated by the Philippine Airlines; one ticket was a raffle prize and a silent auction was held for the other one .
The last part was general dancing by the public but all good things come to an end somehow. Albie Prias, the Jnr Vice President of APCO Official Inc. gave the Closing Remarks.
The attendees enjoyed another successful and meaningful Pista Sa Nayon. Several of them stayed on well past the official finish time and expressed their wish to join again next year.
Please go to the APCO Official FB page to view all the wonderful photos taken by talented photographer Bob Reyes.
We hope to see you as many people attend the celebration next year. Hanggang sa susunod na taon.. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!