By: Teresa Torralba
June 2021 is an incredibly special month to our Filipino-Canadian community.
It is when we celebrate the Filipino Heritage month all over Canada. As well, Filipinos around the globe have events throughout the year to celebrate the Quincentennial year of the Philippines. It was 500 years ago that the Philippines was discovered by explorers led by Ferdinand Magellan as their fleet anchored on the shores of Mactan. Two significant events in the expedition were the conversion of the locals to Christianity and the first-ever celebration of Catholic mass held in the Philippines.
Before the pandemic, crowds would gather every June 12 in several Philippine flag-raising events all over Canada to commemorate Philippine Independence. This year, the Philippine Consulate in Toronto presented a virtual program to celebrate the 123rd year of Philippine Independence. One of the highlights was the presentation of the Quincentennial Awards, honouring deserving members of our Filipino Canadian community.
I woke up to a sunny Friday morning of June 25, 2021 with excitement, knowing that later this day, I will be receiving the Quincentennial award.
It turned cloudy in mid-afternoon as Orontes V. Castro, our Philippine Consul General in Toronto. was visited by a group of friends and awardees: Tess Cusipag of Balita, media specialist Baby K. Jimenez, Janet Lim of Batapreneur and yours truly. Aside from being Quincentennial awardees, there are other things we have in common. First, we miss going out as a group. We miss eating out. We miss being in the company of kalogs.
Seriously, we felt so honoured to be handed the certificate in an informal ceremony. It was so much fun seeing and chatting with our very jovial and friendly ConGen Castro.
After being in seclusion for several months, we missed friends and small gatherings such as this. Thankful that we are in Step 1 of Ontario’s reopening plan, we invited ConGen Castro and some of his staff to join us at the outdoor patio of Republika Bar and Grill on Wilson Street for some food and drinks. ConGen promised to follow as they still have some office appointments to attend to.
As we left the consular building, it started to drizzle and thought of it as a blessing from above.
But hunger is now taking over our excitement!
Gratefully, Jonald Quinto, owner of the famous Kabalen restaurant, gifted us with an assortment of succulent and delectable meat and seafood dishes. My oh my, were they ever delicious!
To our delight, we were treated to a refreshing halo-halo while waiting for Congen at Republika outdoor patio. While the Congen and staff dined over a wide selection of authentic filipino dishes, our group could not resist trying some of Republika’s popular street food – fish balls, kwek kwek and bbq. We shared stories that triggered several bursts of laughter. Thanks to the hospitality of Janie, Sani, and staff, who made it a memorable fun evening. Not to forget the OPM retro music that was the background of our conversation, courtesy of one of Toronto’s best, DJ Flux.
Drizzle turned to rain just in time to call it a night. Indeed, an incredibly fun evening!
Every time I look at the Quincentennial plaque, I ponder on the real significance of this award. Five hundred long years of Philippine history embedded with defeat, victory, patriotism, heroism, love of country, and love of God. And I look back to June 25, 2021 when I, along with my friends and co-awardees, celebrated a bit of freedom from the war-like conditions of pandemic. I continue to pray for the end of this pandemic and going back to unrestricted joy of living and hoping that it will not be long before we attain complete freedom from this pesky Covid-19 virus and its deadly variants.
But one thing is certain though, friendship will always stay with or without the pandemic!