28 July 2014 – Various Filipino groups brought the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign to Ocean City, New Jersey during the 5th staging of the Tribute to the Philippines on July 19 to 20.
Ocean City, which calls itself as America’s Greatest Family Resort, honored the Philippines again this year during the annual celebration that showcased Philippine dance and music and promoted Philippine food, products and travel destinations. Visitors going to the historic Music Pier and the Senior Citizens Center, two separate venues of the event, were given free blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol testing as well as health and wellness seminar.
The cultural show took place in on July 19 in front of the Music Pier building, along the city’s famous boardwalk where thousands of people leisurely stroll each day.
Inside the building, visitors bought Filipino snack food, meals and handicraft. Batik products and jewelries were also available. Mango Tours travel agency and Marco Vincent Diving Resort were promoting travel packages to the Philippines.
The Philippine Consulate General and the Ocean City local government jointly organized the annual event with the Filipino Executive Council of Greater Philadelphia (FECGP) as the main partner organization and GMA Pinoy TV as the media partner.
Philippine Consul General Mario De Leon, Jr. and Ocean City Public Relations Director Mark Soifer, Deputy Consuls General Kira Azucena and Zaldy Patron, and FECGP President Hermie Aczon led the Filipino groups participating in this year’s Tribute celebration.
FECGP’s cultural groups - Philippine Community of Southern New Jersey (Youth) and Philippine Mutya Dance Co. – performed hip-hop Tinikling and traditional Maglalatik and Kalatong dances. Joining them were St. Augustine Church Choir, which sang three Filipino songs, and the Rowan University Pilipino American Coalition, which danced its version of modern Tinikling to the music of Bruno Mars, who is also half-Filipino.
American staff of Air Circus, a toy store in Ocean City, displayed their skills in playing yo-yo, an indigenous Philippine toy.
The Philippine Nurses Association of Pennsylvania and the Philippine Nurses Association of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, also FECGP members, took the blood pressure of guests going to their booth.
The Adventist University of the Philippines Alumni Association, on the other hand, conducted the Health Fair at the Senior Citizens Center on the second day of the event. The group provided free blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol testing to visitors and conducted free seminar on health, nutrition and cancer prevention.
“We are thankful to Ocean City for giving us the opportunity to showcase the Philippines to the residents and tourists of this beautiful beach resort city for five years now,” Philippine Consul General De Leon remarked. “We are pleased to see that more and more Americans are going to this event each year. They are the likely tourists and investors to our country and this is a great way of introducing our country to them,” he added.
Mr. Soifer expressed thanks to the Philippine Consulate General, FECGP, the Filipino cultural and health groups, and all the exhibitors and vendors that have been part of the Tribute to the Philippines. “This event has made the Filipino American community more aware of the beauty and amenities of Ocean City. We are now seeing many Filipinos visiting our city because of this event,” he said.
Ocean City was voted as the No. 1 beach in New Jersey for 2014 by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and the Richard Stockton College Coastal Research Center. The survey had Ocean City topping the three categories for Ecotourism, Day Trip and Family Vacation.
While it has about 12,000 residents, more than 110,000 tourists and second homeowners come to the city during summer time. Thousands of them go to the boardwalk where they could see the signage “Tribute to the Philippines” prominently displayed for two days at the Music Pier.
Ocean City is the sister city of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. The city raised funds to donate for the survivors of super typhoon Haiyan last year. It recently sent funds to the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development for the benefit of the people of San Jose. END