Fil-Canadians in BC celebrate gov’t funding for Filipino cultural center
Community leaders meeting; Photo from Mabuhay House/Facebook
As Filipino Restaurant Month unfolds in Canada this April, the Filipino community in BC has another reason to celebrate.
Ottawa has included in its budget a commitment to fund the Mabuhay House, a new Filipino cultural center in BC – home to more than 172,000 Filipino Canadians.
The center will serve as a community hub to help boost Filipino cultural awareness and connections. It will be a space for Filipino Canadians to come together and celebrate their heritage.
“The funding is monumental for our community,” Liberty Aloha de Vera, director of Burnaby Pinoy Festival, told CBS News.
Ottawa’s support for this initiative highlights the government’s commitment to establish vibrant and inclusive communities as described in a budget document.
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Mabuhay House Society, the pillar of this vision, is a nonprofit organization formed to lead planning and community engagement for the new center.
It supports indigenous communities, arts and culture, playing a vital role in bridging communities across diverse cultures.
“This is not simply the opening of a building; it is the opening of a home,” said representatives of the Filipino community in BC on their website.
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Cultural preservation
“Once further details are announced, the federal government will contribute to building new museums and cultural centers, including a new Filipino cultural centre,” the budget document stated.
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With the surge of immigrants in Canada last year and 172,915 Filipinos living in BC – 83,000 of whom are Tagalog speaking – the need for a cultural center has never been more timely.
The Mabuhay House Society envisions the center as “an inclusive, intercultural, and intergenerational space that Filipino Canadians can call home.”
Apart from the unrelenting support of the Filipino community in BC, the project has earned the nod of local politicians, with NDP MP Don Davies expressing his support on Twitter.
“I’m pleased to see funding for the proposed community center in the budget, something long overdue,” he said.
In addition, Mabuhay House Society Board Chair Sammie Jo Rumbaua shared how this investment will not just give space for the community to grow but will also be a “beacon of unity, fostering understanding and appreciation among all Canadians.”
The Filipino community eagerly anticipates the launch of Mabuhay House, which will open its doors not only to Filipinos but to all Canadians across the diverse ethnic communities in BC.
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