Calgary Filipino community celebrates Philippine Independence Day this weekend

The provincial governmenthas proclaimedJuneto be Filipino Heritage Month in Alberta.

The honour comes just as Calgary's Filipino community one of the largest in the country prepares to celebrate Independence Day with a big party at Prairie Winds Park thisSaturday.

Brian Ymbang is the chairman of the Philippine Independence Organizing Committee,established by the localSulong Kalayaan Society (PIOCC SKS), and he's helping organize the celebration.

He says the government's recognition is a big step for Filipinos is Alberta.

"It's very important to get the recognition for Filipinos. We contribute so much to our society here and we've been doing so since 1931 to now," he told the Calgary Eyeopener'sAngela Knight on Wednesday.

Ymbang's interview has been condensed for length and clarity.

Q: How are people in your community feeling about this [Filipino Heritage Month] announcement? It's been a long time coming.

A:It has been a long time coming. We feel very happy and very elated that Alberta is actually recognizing one of their communities that are from another country and that makes up almost 4.5 per cent of the population here in Alberta.

Q: How would you describe the Filipino community here in Alberta?

A: We're very inviting, we integrate with Albertan society very easily. We speak English very well. You know, not too many Filipinos go to those ESL classes. We're very personable and very adaptable.

Q:As you mentioned, it's a very large community, 174,000. What's the draw to Alberta?

A:I think the opportunity. Especially with my family.We first arrived in Ontario, but afterwards there were job opportunities for my parents in Alberta. We moved here about 10-15 years ago, so I think that's one of the causes that has helped people from the Philippines to immigrate here.

Q:There is a big celebration happening this weekend. Tell us about some of the things that are going on.

There is going to be a parade with all the associations, all of the Filipino associations here in Calgary. There is also going to be a lot of food.

So there will be some free food starting around 11 a.m. on Saturday and it's going to be something called lechonbaboy, so it's roasted pig. There will be 12roasted pigs delivered,ready to go.

It's not an everyday occurrence. It's meant to celebrate something important in Filipinos' lives, and we're going to have some pancit, sonoodles.

We have a very, very diverse food culture for celebration, so we have a lot of good food for that and singing and dancing and it's going to be fun.

Q: Sounds like a wonderful celebration. Do you know how many people you're expecting?

A: We're expecting around 300-400 people and maybe a little bit more now.

Q: If someone is going for the first time, let's talk about the food because it's always a big draw. We want to try the roasted pig for sure. What else should we try?

A:You should totally try the pancit,and there will be some roasted chicken as well. We're a small community group as well, so we tried to get as much food as we can. But I think the star of the show is the lechonbaboy.

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.