The harmonised celebration of the Philippine Independence Day is an idea whose time has come. As in a fruit, it’s ripe for picking. We commend the Philippine Consulate General in Melbourne for initiating such a worthy endeavour and for choosing an event, the 125th Philippine Independence Day, to synergise the talents, skills, and energies of the Filipino community.
If you have been with the community for a long time, you may have had the opportunity to experience multiple gala or fiesta celebrations and think, ‘Why a harmonised celebration and why now?’ Sometimes, the answer is as simple as ‘Why not?’, but of course, the work behind it could be complicated and challenging, to say the least. There’s wisdom in attempting to do it this year, 2023 being a milestone, and Philippine Independence is a suitable vehicle to test out future unified celebrations.
If you, as organiser or participant of Independence Day events, still have some apprehensions about the idea, let us put forward some advantages of pursuing this. From an economic perspective, we see that it’s likely for business organisations to support celebrations that provide them with maximum exposure. We have a lot of Filipino entrepreneurs in the community, and competing with others for sponsorships won’t be necessary because there will only be a couple of major events. Organisers can be creative with their marketing packages, and businesses can benefit from engagement with a bigger crowd. It’s a win-win strategy for both organisers and sponsors.
Second, we save on overhead fees like venue rental, stage set up, lights and sounds and talent fees. With savings, participants get bigger value for attending an event or two by enjoying more freebies such as entry and parking or subsidised programs, souvenir merchandise and others. We may even afford to get international artists to perform. Attendees may even enjoy a grander celebration because the resources are funneled over a few events instead of being dissipated among many, as is our current practice.
Third, a unified celebration will help ensure important people are able to attend the events. We could meet the Philippine Consulate staff, local or state-wide government officials, officers, or representatives of major Australian social organisations. They don’t have to juggle their schedules and could easily accommodate us in their calendars.
Overall, putting up a harmonised commemoration of our Philippine independence is an exercise of unity, of us putting our differences aside and complementing each other’s resources and gifts. After all, it’s a celebration of our nationhood, of us working under one flag—three stars and a sun. For a milestone as significant as this, we need to sit down together and make the Filipino shine. In a multicultural community, we have to distinguish ourselves as people of integrity who can focus on a goal bigger than ourselves.
We have to do something trailblazing and monumental to see a different result. It starts with seeing past what makes us different but more what makes us alike. And that is the spirit living through every Filipino, beginning from an era when the courageous Filipinos fought for our independence under one banner.
