Filipino community organisations celebrate Independence Day

Filipino community organisations in Qatar held recently a Philippines Independence Day celebration in Doha, bringing together 500 expatriates from 38 organisations.

Themed Independence through Strong Brotherhood (Kalayaan Tungo sa Matatag na Kapatiran), the event was organised by The Guardians Legion Qatar led by Rene M Lloren, in collaboration with Bayanihan Qatar, led by engineer Jerry Ronquillo and The Brotherhood Organisations, led by Pocholo Mejia.

The event’s main highlights included the traditional flag raising, Filipino pledge to the Philippine flag and the community singing of Bayan ko (My homeland). Cultural presentations were also held, including the Igorot’s pattong demonstrated by Bimak Qatar, Cariñosa by Gabii, and community zumba led by the Dance Pirates Squad and GSSI Classics.

Pinoywise Qatar took part in the event and promoted Philippine tourism while other activities were held, including traditional games, administered by the TBO, medical mission by PNA Qatar, Vision Test Mission (CSR) by Al Jaber Opticians and Random Photoshoot by Pinoywise Qatar.

Salem al- Mohannadi from the Ministry of Labour, who was one of the guest speakers during the event, congratulated the Filipinos on the celebration and stressed the Ministry’s support to the Filipino community activities in Qatar. He encouraged every Filipino to stay united and uplift the spirit of brotherhood toward a better and beneficial community to the society.

Philippine ambassador Lillibeth V Pono highlighted the essence of the celebration, saying: “We celebrate, we remember the freedom that we have gained 126 years ago, we celebrate the heroism of our forefathers, we celebrate the freedom from our colonisers and we celebrate the founding of one of Asia’s first republic, the Philippines on June 12 1898. We want to honour the legacies of our heroes, we want to honour the bravery of the Filipinos and we want to continue past of nation building”.

Mildred B Ngoaban, Filipino community’s Philippine Independence Day celebration 2024 programme director, said: “We look up high on the unification of the Filipino community to hold this momentous event in commemoration of the Philippine Independence day. The collective effort of every participant, attendees and all the leaders have made the event a resounding success.”