Consul General in Chicago Crowns Reyna Helena in Kankakee City

Consul General to Chicago Gina A. Jamoralin crowns Abigail Turija as 2019 Reyna Helena. (Chicago PCG photo)

CHICAGO 22 May 2019 — The Filipino communities in Kankakee, Joliet, and Chicago in Illinois successfully organized Santacruzan 2019 on 11 May 2019 at the St. John Paul II Catholic Parish in Kankakee City and County, Illinois.

The highlight of the program is the crowning of the 2019 Reyna Helena Abigail Turija by Consul General to Chicago Gina Jamoralin. The Consul General also participated in the introduction of other Santacruzan queens and their escorts that evening by pinning their corsages and handing out flower bouquets. Other VIP guests who assisted in the pinning of corsages where Kankakee City Mayor Chasity Wells–Armstrong and First District Appelate Court of Illinois Justice Jesse G. Reyes.

Mayor Armstrong also delivered her welcome remarks, where she lauded the Filipino community for their friendship and openness to different cultures and for their significant contribution to the city of Kankakee. Consul General Jamoralin was accompanied by the Consulate General’s Cultural Officer Noly Dulay and the Consul General’s mother, Mrs. E. Jamoralin

Consul General Jamoralin thanked the Filipino communities for helping to preserve the annual Filipino tradition in May, also called the month of flowers or Flores de Mayo, of honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary through a Santacruzan procession reenacting the search and discovery of the Holy Christ by St. Helena, mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire. END

Consul General to Chicago Gina A. Jamoralin and Kankakee Mayor Chasity Wells-Armstrong, the first elected  African-American mayor of Kankakee City and County. (Chicago PCG photo)

For more information, visit www.chicagopcg.dfa.gov.ph, www.chicagopcg.com or https://www.facebook.com/PHinChicago/.