13
JANUARY 2016 the philippine times www.philtimes.com.au
Nanay Nora Lopez turned 86.
disappointed with title defense victories by WBA Light
Flyweight World Champion Randy Petalcorin and
PABA Super Light Weight
title holder Augusto Caesar
Amonsot.
Basketball is another sport
which makes us all gung-ho!
Last year was a landmark as
we now have our own league,
the Melbourne Filipino Basketball League established by
the Filipino United Basketball Association. So important was this milestone that
the finals game became the
curtain raiser to the opening
game of the National Basketball League.
On a more local scale, the
South Eastern Australian Pilipino Basketball League had
its 9th season with 16 teams
participating. Whether large
or small scale tournaments,
nothing makes our heart
thump faster and bring Filos
together than basketball.
Guess that’s a three-pointer
right there!
Thoughtful caring
of the elderly
We are a culture which cares
for parents deeply. We should
be thankful for programs for
elderly both the Australian
government and FilipinoAustralian organisations provide inclusive of the welfare
of the elderly, especially the
migrant elderly.
Rod Lalunio takes charge
of Art Exhibit during the
two-day Philippine Fiesta
in November 2015
The Australian Filipino
Community Service (AFCS)
was in the forefront in initiating elderly care projects,
which culminated with the
holding of a forum on “Ageing
in a Foreign Land”. The forum
focused on age care services
available to families as well
as strategies for planning.
Other programs spearheaded by AFCS included
setting the Amigos para
Siempre, a volunteer program calling on help for the
needy especially the aged;
organising Memory Lane in
cooperation with elderly organisations of other cultures
for a monthly exchange of
culture through food and
entertainment, and hosting a
demonstration for preparing
finger food and pureed meals
and drinks for people with
Alzheimer’s.
The demo was conducted
by executive chef Peter Morgan-Jones, who specialises in
this type of meal preparation.
Socials were also held
such as the Christmas in July
program of Damayan of the
Filipino Community Council
of Victoria and Health and
Diversity by the Philippine
Cultural Society for Family
and Friends.
Aging gracefully
We have a few members of
our community who proved
that age is just a number. We
Filipinos posed after making their oath of allegiance after reacquiring Filipino citizenship.
call them with endearing
terms like Mama, Tatang,
Tita, but not the sometimes
dreaded Lolo or Lola.
Here are a few of our celebrants in 2015 who reached
major birth milestones: Fe
Gilles, 70th; Teodora Mustapha, 75th; Jesus Pamintuan,
80th; Nora Lopez, 86th, and
Veronica Bautista, 93rd.
Culturally diverse
Our cultural imprint is very
evident in this multicultural society. Steeped in
religiosity, we honour our
saints in fiestas and church
celebrations. We also show
the diverse Filipino culture
by participating in Cultural
Diversity festivals or holding
our own festivities.
The last installment of the
Philippine Fiesta and Trade
Expo featured Filipino entertainment, food and products
in various stalls. Held in the
heart of the CBD, the Fiesta
took a major step by holding
an expo to encourage trade
among Filipino entrepreneurs and those of other
nationalities. It was an ideal
meeting of business mindedindividuals.
The Philippine Festival
of Music, Arts, and Culture,
on the other hand, featured
cultural parades, a santacruzan, food, games and
entertainment, typical of
what we expect in a fiesta.
The program highlight was
the peeling of drums with
the ati-atihan performance.
We also joined other festivals, namely the Mosaic
Festival, Fringe Festival, and
festivals in Gippsland, Ballarat and Bendigo.
Community issues
and concerns
The Philippine Consulate
intensified its campaign for
acquiring dual citizenship.
The Mobile Mission generated
more than a thousand partici-
pants to procure a Philippine
passport and to reacquire
Philippine citizenship. The
move was also timely as the
Philippine Government also
amped up its drive to register
overseas Filipino voters in
time for the national elections
in May 2016.
Last year, the Philippine
community was rocked by a
controversy in the Filipino
Community Council of Victoria Inc when a breakaway
group led by Jing Sosa challenged the leadership of Perla
Luetic and called on the 32
financial members and Committee of Management for
adjournment of the Annual
General Meeting and election
of officers. Without heeding
this memo of Sosa, the AGM
and election proceeded as
planned.
Ms Luetic was re-elected
as Chairperson, while Marisa
Vedar was elected Executive
Director of the Philippine
Australia Foundation Inc.
Meanwhile, the Supreme
Court (SC) of Victoria has ordered to reinstate Maina Walkley and company as ordinary
members of the Philippine
Fiesta of Victoria Inc (PFVI) in
a decision handed down at the
close of the year. Ms Walkley
and plaintiffs earlier filed a
case against the Management
Committee of PFVI for oppressive conduct, member issues
and defamation. The SC also
asked the Management Committee to refrain from drawing
funds from the organisation
for its defense in the said legal
proceeding.
Issues concerning the Philippine community would
have constant debates and
responses. Some sides remain
unheard and some questions
remain unanswered until the
end of 2015, but not without
our persistent trying.