Bringing joy to Filipinos abroad on Independence Day
If you ask me "what's up?" The keywords would be:
Jetlag. OFW. TFC.
Comprendes? No?
OK, let me try to speak in sentence form this time.
1. Jetlag: I still have jetlag because I just came from an amazing Philippine Independence Day celebration in New York last week.
2. Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW): Independence Day this year is my first Sunday day off in years. I am now an "OFW" in Singapore where we are rehearsing for the TV series "The Kitchen Musical." I don't feel homesick because there are 4 other Filipinos in the cast- Christian Bautista, Ikey Canoy, Thou Reyes and Art Acuna not to mention an estimated 150,000 Filipinos in Singapore. Every time I see someone do the traditional "double eyebrows raise" salutation, I know that I've found a friend from back home.
3. The Filipino Channel (TFC): I've spent the entire morning glued to TFC watching the "Showtime" monthly finals which made me smile and laugh a lot. I am not ashamed to say that I am saving money, so, I was super happy to find out that I still have free TFC in my apartment.
I've gotten new perspective about the world ever since I got the feel of being an actual OFW. I don't have a lot of insights since I'm pretty new to all this. But as far as I can tell, I have a lot of "senti moments" when I have a better appreciation of anything and everything Filipino from over here in Singapore. Well, maybe not everything. There are moments when I also wish for this and that for the Philippines. In the same breath, being away has also opened my eyes to the fact that First World countries are not perfect which gives me big hope that our beloved Pilipinas has a chance to catch up. In other words, I see the glass half empty, then I see the glass half full and then I try to dream up ways to fill up that glass.
Let's raise that glass and celebrate 113 years of freedom. I would love to hear from you and see a photo of how you guys celebrate this big day wherever you are in the world. I'm making an online album of the 113th Philippine Independence Day and I'd like to share my photos to start it off.
We as artists are often witness to it being invited in celebrations all over the world. I've been to unforgettable celebrations in Japan, London, Oman, Lebanon and New York. Here are some photos from those trips. Please share your own photos of your Independence Day shots from today and from past years on our Memories of Independence Day Flickr page. Please be sure to include the date and location in your caption.
LONDON: 111th Philippine Independence Day
OMAN: 112th Philippine Independence Day
LEBANON: 112th Philippine Independence Day
The reception in Lebanon was quite intense because no other Filipino performer has been there in years. I was told that the last one was April Boy. I felt quite brave about being there. We all had a lot of fun during the show.
MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK: 113th Philippine Independence Day
I was near tears atop a float alongside Jericho Rosales, Atty. Michael Gurfinkel and the TFC group. A reported 100,000 people lined up Madison avenue. Imagine the energy of your kababayans plus the energy of one of the biggest cities in the world. Filipinos celebrating freedom in another home. I felt like I was in a big scene of a Hollywood movie except that the aliens were "legal aliens" in New York to quote a song by an Englishman named Sting.
http://www.pidci.org/
