Estee Sheward
The Philippine Cultural Society for Families and Friends, Inc. (PCSFFI) celebrated its Advanced Mother’s Day Celebration and Annual General Meeting last 3 May 2015 at the Main Hall of the Raleigh Road Activity Centre in Maribyrnong, Victoria.
At the Holy Mass, the entrance hymn was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the recessional was flower offerings of the ladies to the Nuestra Senora image and icons of the beloved Mother of Jesus with the background of Immaculate Mother song.
Hawaiian was the motif of the affair.
The speeches of the guest speakers centered on the topic of the importance and significance of the role of a mother to the human race.
Mrs. Perla Luetic, Chairperson of Filipino Community Council of Victoria (FCCVI) revealed the history of the celebration of the memorable day as way back as 1837 in the USA when two respectable ladies campaigned for the worldwide recognition of the day for all mothers. She ended saying that she believes that good mothers produce good citizens.
Mrs. Marina Ruivivar, founder of FCCVI and Psychologist, covered the spiritual side and cited the Hail Mary prayer as the inspiration of being a mother. She said that mothers have versatile roles to their children.
Miss Luz dela Cruz in her tribute to the mothers revealed that there was a time that some mothers submitted a petition to the Australian government that stay-home mothers be compensated. A thorough investigation was conducted as to the hours of work being spent for the caring of children. This was scrapped because the government could not come up with a specific amount of fund. In her view, the efforts of a mother is priceless and cannot be compensated with any amount of money.
Another tribute was the beautiful rendition of Lerma Vasquez of a Tagalog song entitled “Iingatan Ka” popularized by Carol Banawa. All mothers were requested to form a semi-circle while listening to the song with the President, Henrietta Soledad, handing tokens. Tears flowed at that moment and mostly were emotional remembering their own beloved mothers.
Some PCSFFI members and guests presented a Hula dance while the FASCOVI Dance Group did a Hawaiian dance number.
The ladies had the chance to dance the Hula and the line dancing with the Hawaiian songs as accompanying music. Frank and Susan Caruana once again displayed their expertise on the floor by dancing the Swing. Jokes were provided by the emcee and FASCOVI Vice President Mary Manalili. The finale part of the program was the Question and Answer (“The Mental Alertness of the Nannas”). The question raised was “What virtue do you think you possess that you feel you have inherited to your offsprings that they in turn have passed on to your grandchildren.
Runners-up were PCSFFI members: Mrs. Maria Candilosas, Mrs. Vicky Lusdoc and guest, Mrs. Susan Caruana.
Part II of the activity was the Annual General Meeting when members stayed back. Some people had to leave prior to the AGM to catch up with the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight of the century.
Program coordinator: Henrietta Soledad, while Emcee was Shiony Maher.
Photos by Ian Maher
