Article Contributed by Noemi Frias
The Philippines, dubbed as the “Pearl of the Orient Seas,” celebrated its 126th Independence Day last June 12, 2024. The Philippines, a broken archipelago of 7, 641 islands, is in Southeast Asia, on the eastern rim of the Asiatic Mediterranean. It is bounded in the west by the West Philippine Sea (China Sea); in the east by the Pacific Ocean; in the south by the Sulu and Celebes seas; and in the north by the Bashi channel. When it was discovered and colonized by Spain in 1521, the Philippines had its own system of government, education, trade, commerce, even worship. From 1565-1821, the Philippines was governed by the Viceroyalty of New Spain in Mexico. When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, governance of the Philippine islands was administered straight from Madrid, Spain. It took more than three hundred years and a series of failed revolts before the Philippines gained its independence in 1896 through a revolution led and orchestrated by a band of Filipino patriots, members of the educated Filipino middle class, and reform-minded Filipinos who took refuge in Europe. This concerted effort only shows that the dream and clamor for independence and freedom is a shared ideal and its success is also shared commitment and hard work.
For Filipinos, past and present, gaining independence mean not only being able to exercise one’s rights and autonomy as a person but also being free from outside control and intervention. We not only value and celebrate our freedom but we also give thanks and honor those who struggled, died, and fought hard for the freedom we now enjoy.
Being able to celebrate our Philippine Independence in a land away from home is part of that freedom and it is a great privilege and an honor. For this reason, the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (FACCGH) would like to thank Houston City Mayor John Whitmire and all the members of Houston’s City Council for the ceremonial lighting of Houston City Hall with the colors of the Philippine National flag last June 13, 2024, in front of hundreds of Filipinos and their guests. It was a first for the Filipino American community, the 4th largest ethnic community in Houston, according to Loloy Reyes, chairman and founder of FACCGH (which spearheaded the project). Reyes is also a member of the AANHPI (Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander) Houston Mayor’s Advisory Board. In a short ceremony during the reception held at the Julia Ideson Library Building, prior to the lighting of city hall, and in the presence of members of Houston’s Consular Corps, international chambers of commerce and Houston’s sister cities, FACCGH president, Dr. Noemi Frias received a city proclamation for the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston for its initiatives and contributions to community-building. Mabuhay!
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