09 June 2016 - The extra-warm Kuala Lumpur weather only matched the excitement and the warm smiles of the Filipino community, who celebrated the 118th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence with a street dancing show and a program at the grounds of the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on June 05.
The Embassy grounds once again served as a fiesta venue to some 1,500 Filipino and Malaysian guests who joined in the festivities, featuring a street dancing competition among Filipino community groups belonging to the Federation of Filipino Associations in Malaysia (FFAM) and other Filipino-based groups, and a program with talents from the Filipino community and Filipino bands performing in top venues around the capital.
The activities were spearheaded by the FFAM, led by its president, Netzky Bueno of Isabelino Ako.
“This year, we highlight the successes of the Aquino administration and look forward to the new administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. We are thankful of the economic growth and progress that we are experiencing under President Benigno S. Aquino III, including his administration’s shepherding of peaceful and fair elections in the Philippines, and we are hopeful that these positive developments will be continued by President-elect Duterte,” Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya said in his remarks before the Filipino community.
“We would also like to thank all of you for your support to the Embassy’s programs and projects that helped in uplifting the welfare and status of the Filipino in Malaysia. You are our ambassadors in your workplaces and residences here, and we hope that you will continue to make us and the Philippines proud,” he added.
FFAM member-organizations outdid one another as they paraded in the Embassy grounds in colorful national costumes representing different regions and festivals in the Philippines and showcased their dancing skills, as the Filipino bands played before their kababayans who partied hard, as the Embassy allocated a dancing space at the program venue for them to dance the afternoon away in original Pilipino music (OPM) and top disco hits churned out by Filipino bands Wave Band, Fire Band, No Strings Attached, Upper Box and Hyperdrive.
St. John’s Tahanang Pilipino was adjudged Most Lively and Most Number of Delegation while BIBAK was adjudged as Most Colorful.
There was also a Miss Independence Day 2016 pageant featuring muses from different FFAM organizations. Winning the crown was Henchie Vergara of KL Pinoy, followed by Jina Gaburno Bal-isen of BIBAK and Tiana Izah Thiagi of Malaysia-Filipino Club.
Filipino food were also in abundance, courtesy of FFAM-provided food packs containing the eponymous chicken adobo and rice with atsara and suman for the participants, as well as booths selling delicacies ranging from halo-halo, pandesal and other Filipino breads and Filipino viands like pinakbet, pancit and roast chicken.
Extending support to the event included Pag-Ibig Fund, Smart Pinoy, PhilHealth, Mastercard, BDO/IME-RIA, LBC, Western Union, Air Asia and Petron. END