THE Iloilo Dinagyang Festival lagged behind two frontrunners in the street dance competition of Aliwan Fiesta in Manila, but there’s no stopping its Tribu Panayanon from wowing a predominantly American audience in the forthcoming 120th Philippine Independence Day celebration in New York City on June 3, 2018 – intentionally ahead of the June 12 anniversary.
We learned from Junel Ann Divinagracia, tourism officer of Iloilo City, that exactly 30 members of the festival tribe from the Iloilo City National High School have been handpicked for the annual parade and cultural presentation on Madison Avenue. Divinagracia herself will accompany the tribe, together with Mayor Jose Espinosa III and Ramon Cua Locsin (chair of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation), among others.
At the other end in New York City is Joji Juele-Jalandoni, a past president of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDC), which is dedicated to promoting history, cultural heritage and traditions of the Filipino people through the annual Philippine Independence Day celebration.
While Jalandoni is no longer PIDC president – it’s now Antero Martinez – this time she plays a very special role as chair of its cultural and educational committee. An Ilongga nurse from Victorias City, Negros Occidental, she is not leaving any stone unturned in showcasing the Ilonggo heroism – exemplified by Graciano Lopez Jaena – in this year’s presentation themed “Honoring Our Heroes, Inspiring Solidarity.”
The annual Philippine Independence Day celebration is aimed at reminding US-based Filipinos that on June 12, 1898, General Emilio Aguinaldo raised for the first time at the balcony of his house in Kawit, Cavite the Philippine national flag, declaring independence from Spain, while the Philippine national anthem was playing for the first time.
Joji Jalandoni, incidentally, was among the PIDC representatives – accompanied by New York-based correspondent Jay Balnig – who personally came to Iloilo City last January to witness the 50th Dinagyang Festival. Having hurdled a Master of Arts degree at Columbia University in New York City, she is now associate director for infection control and prevention at Jacobi Medical Center, Englewood, New Jersey.
It was Joji Jalandoni, as PIDC president, who facilitated Dinagyang’s first New York performance on June 3, 2011. The delegation was composed of Dinagyang Festival’s 2011 champion, Tribu Pan-ay of the Fort San Pedro National High School.
As in the past, this year’s Independence Day celebration will kick off with flag raising and thanksgiving mass at the Philippine Center on 5th Avenue, followed by a long parade from Madison Avenue to 38th and 27th Streets. A day-long Filipino Food Festival and Mini-Expo will also unfold on Madison Avenue. Filipino chefs, restaurateurs and product manufacturers have been enlisted to participate.
The event that is expected to draw at least 100,000 people lining down the parade route, including Filipinos from other US states, is the grand parade, which was first held in 1991.
This year’s parade is expected to showcase the participation of “who’s who” among Filipino immigrants, led by Dr. Restituto N. Estacio and Mario Lopez de Leon Jr. as the parade’s Grand Marshal and Honorary Grand Marshal, respectively. Estacio, 83, a Medicine graduate of Manila Central University, is a retired medical director of the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the current chapter commander of the Knights of Rizal at Cherry Hill, New Jersey. De Leon, 67, was until 2016 Consul General of New York.
The United States is home to the largest number of Filipinos abroad, now numbering 4.1 million, according to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) at Washington D.C. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
