Philippine Consul General to Honolulu Gina A. Jamoralin (center) poses with Mr. Norman Macadangdang (left) and Ms. Elena Clariza (right), Project Club Advisor, and Director, respectively, of the Fresh off the Boat (FOB) project. Consul General Jamoralin holds a prototype of a “paraw”, a double outrigger canoe native to the Visayas region in the Philippines. 

06 August 2015 - Philippine Consul General to Honolulu Gina A. Jamoralin met with Ms. Elena Clariza and Mr. Norman Macadangdang on August 03 to discuss the latter’s “Fresh off the Boat” or F.O.B. Project, which aims for students of Filipino ancestry in Hawaii to appreciate their Filipino roots and culture.

Founded in 2013 by Hawaii teachers of Filipino ancestry, the F.O.B. project is a culturally-based science educational program that celebrates the seafaring traditions of the Filipinos, and mobilizes a new generation of Filipinos in Hawaii to care for the environment and to convert a derogatory term towards immigrants – “F.O.B.”, into a symbol of hope and pride for the Filipino-American community through the building and sailing of a 20-ft paraw, a custom-made indigenous Filipino canoe. Ms. Clariza, Director of the F.O.B. project conveyed that they plan to launch the paraw on June 12, 2016, in commemoration of Philippine Independence Day.

Consul General Jamoralin commended this new initiative and added that the F.O.B. project is also a means to empower the Filipino community, which comprises the largest ethnic group in Hawaii. She also expressed that the Philippine Consulate General will support the project and will inform the Filipino-American community about this endeavor. END