Bathurst celebrates Philippine Independence Day
Filipinos and friends in Bathurst celebrate 110th year of Philippine Independence
ABOUT 50 FILIPINOS from Sydney and the local area gathered recently to take part in the Independence Day celebrations and Flag Raising ceremony at the Evans Bridge, honouring those who fought for independence from Spanish rule 110 years ago.
The Australian and Philippines flags were raised [Photogallery] by Bruce Boddington and other members of Bathurst Lions Club (who purchased the giant flags previously), Bathurst Mayor Cr Paul Toole, Vice Consul Anthony Reyes and Rey Manoto President of the Philippine Community Council of NSW. Both national anthems were sung by Rosa Evans and Belleza Frasca as the flags were raised.
Mayor Cr Paul Toole, the Philippine Vice Consul Anthony Reyes and the local organiser Nenita Weekes, the READ Philippines Coordinator in Bathurst and President of the Filipiniana Friends Group of Bathurst and the Central West delivered their messages for the occasion.
The speeches emphasized the contributions of Filipinos to Australia and their loyalty and gratitude to their adopted country, and a prayer was given by Ron Hitchen from Couple for Christ.
Notable guests included Michael Dickson representing Bob Debus MP, Dr Alexis Leonis from the Philippine Language Culture Penrith, Bathurst Regional Councilors, Crs. Tracy Carpenter, Bobby Bourke, and Paul Haysom, Director of Cultural and Community Services, Leslie Atkinson, and all Executives of the Philippine Community Councils. Gerard Martin MP sent his apology.
Declarations of Philippine Independence and the flag raising ceremonies were celebrated all over Australia with the support of the Philippine Consulate, the local councils and Filipino communities. Bathurst may not have the biggest ceremony compared with its big city neighbours, but it certainly has the biggest flag.
Read Philippines for Filipino culture
The party then went to the Library to view the Read Philippines collection, a project driven by the Consul General of Sydney Maria Theresa Lazaro. Read Philippines involves purchasing books for local libraries to help Australians become more aware of Filipino culture. Bathurst library has been most supportive of this project.
The celebrations concluded with a pageant where two young girls were crowned as Miss Philippine Independence and Miss Read Philippines. [Photogallery]
Miss Kiara Webb crowned by the Vice Consul General Anthony Reyes aided by Marivic Manoto, Vice president of PCC-NSW as the Miss Read Philippines 2008 and Miss Christina Scicluna crowned by Rey Manoto aided by Dr. Alexis Leonis as Miss Philippine independence 2008. Money was raised for the READ project, traditional dances and poetry were performed and a Filipino smorgasbord was enjoyed by all. #
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