Ang Kalatas Volume V June 2015 Independence Day Special Edition | Seite 8

T

The Colonel

”

I’m always
proud
and happy to
see the raising
of the Philippine
flag. It is a way of
appreciating our
country and our
roots. The flag is
a symbol of the
country that we can
never forget.”

he discipline is there: long walks, healthy diet, lifting weights, playing tennis. He’s still into
snappy parades and salutes. At 73, soldiery has
not really left him. And his respect for the flag
has not diminished a single bit.
Colonel Chris Pilao is one of the easily recognisable
seniors in the Fil-Aussie community: the flag-bearer,
the veteran officer on the ceremonial line at the most
important community occasions.
Every Independence Day over the past ten years,
Colonel Pilao has been one of the vanguards leading
solemn rites to raise the Philippine flag in the city of
Blacktown.
“The Philippine flag is the country’s symbol, it
reminds us of our roots and our identity as a people,” the
Colonel says.
For him, respect for and loyalty to the flag is deepseated. It has been the symbol that guided his career in
his younger years.
“I love serving in the armed forces, it’s a very
honourable profession. I don’t regret leaving the military
when I took an optional retirement, there are always
other opportunities,” says Col. Pilao. His service in the
Philippine armed forces – first in the army and later in the
air force – was cut short when he moved to Australia in
1987.
Rising up the officer rank during the martial law
years, Col. Pilao has been used to being in command of
men but all that changed when he came to Australia.
As an expat, he relates how he transitioned back to the
bottom starting with a rank-and-file job in a security
agency. His military background proved an asset for him.
“Moving to Australia was just like being a good
soldier, I was prepared to be assigned anywhere. It
depends much on how decided you are, I was always
thinking positive,” he says.
“It is a matter of determination. When I started
in Australia, I was committed to look for a decent job
regardless of what type of job it was.”
Outside work, much of his time has been dedicated
to doing community work and helping promote Filipino
presence in Australia, much of which focused on
promoting Filipino-Australian ties through the armed
services channel.
Currently the Supreme Commander of the Australia
Philippine Services League, Col. Pilao has made a mark in
the community for becoming the first Filipino-Australian
to be elected as one of the directors of Rooty Hill RSL
Club in 2012. He joined the RSL in 1988.
“I didn’t really think of being an officer in the club. I
just enjoyed being there until some friends at the club
told me that I could run for a position – it was time they
8

JUNE 2015

Raising the
of our fathe

said to have a Filipino-Australian in the board,” he says.
“Back then I didn’t even think I would win.”
The Colonel adheres to a sort of personal creed.
“Commitment, Loyalty, Credibillity,” he says. “They are
all important, I say it’s the triangle on which one can
accomplish something that one wants to do. Credibility
is important; without it one cannot do much in the
community.”
In 2004, Col. Pilao, along with fellow APSL pioneer
Col. Mel Battad, spearheaded the representation of the
Philippines in the ANZAC Parade, a march which includes
nations considered as allies of Australia.
“The Philippines has always been an ally of Australia
so we thought that a Philippine contingent must also be
included. We were actually the last to register among all
nations in the Anzac,” he says.
In 2005, Col. Pilao was among those who represented
the Filipino community in the ANZAC parade. He has
been doing it every year since then. Only recently, he
was given the honour, representing the APSL, to lay the
wreath for the Fallen in the 100th year observance of
the ANZAC Gallipoli campaign at a ceremony held at the
Rooty Hill RSL.
In 2007, the APSL also started what has now become
the traditional flag-raising rites in Blacktown City to mark
Philippine Independence Day. The event is held every
second Saturday of June.
“I’m always proud and happy to see the raising of the
Philippine flag. It is a way of appreciating our country
and our roots. The flag is a symbol of the country that we
can never forget.”

Ubiquitous Pin
By Danny Dingle

A

s the Filipino nation commemorates its Independence Day on June 12, let us give
thanks for the freedoms we have gained.
One of these freedoms is freedom
from want. Each citizen must have
access to resources and opportunities so that he shall
not want, so that he shall not hunger and thirst for
things that are material, temporal, spiritual, emotional,
and ethereal.
But this is an ideal situation. The reality