St.   Rose   of   Lima   Filipino   Community   Activities

COMMUNITY EVENTS:

The Filipino School participates in many community activities throughout the year. The Filipino School coordinated the Flores de Mayo Procession in the Centennial Parade in Washington, DC in 1998.

Here in this photo, the Reyna Emperatrix, Sinta Jimenez, and her escort, Rico Viqueira, process downtown on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Philippine Centennial Parade was one of the biggest Filipino Community events. Both Sinta and Rico participated in this traditional procession honoring the Virgin Mary. It is a tradition that the Filipinos acquired from the Spaniards, along with much of the Hispanic Catholic traditions. May is the traditional month of Mary but this re-enactment was held in June to demonstrate the strong Marian devotion and Catholic religious heritage of the Philippines. With 85% of the population, Catholic, the Filipinos take great pride in their devotion to Mary as the intercessor and patron of the Philippines.

Our Activities in the Community

We also support St. Rose of Lima's activities such as the Annual Fiesta held the first Saturday in October. Last year we danced Hawaiian and Tahitian dances. Here I am pictured below right in a muumuu with my son, Rico.

Below are links to photos from Sunday, June 14, 1998, the re-enactment of the "Flores de Mayo Procession" with the Filipino-American children of all ages marching in downtown Washington DC during the Centennial Festival. (Click here to see angels from the Centennial Parade.) This was in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the Philippines from Spain. (click to see photo our procession banner at the Centennial Parade.)

The Filipino School students also danced at the Centennial Festival. See the modern dance choreographed by Stephanie Anselmo, a student, to the song, "Do You Miss Me?" by Jocelyn Enriquez (a Filipina-American from San Francisco). (Click here to see The Pinay Pride Dancers smiling at one of their practices!.)The original Pinay Pride members were Stephanie Anselmo, Lorie Ortega, Carmela Sangalang, Maria Gueco, Jeny Fanning and Sinta Jimenez.

Young Men as Well as Young Ladies Perform

The young men in our Filipino School also enjoy participating and showing off their talents also. The photo on the left shows the dance performance choreographed by Ryan Clark, a Junior at Northwest High School in Gaithersburg. Performing in "Fry, Fry, Fry" were Ryan Clark, Jeffrey Clark, Carlo Viqueira and Justin Cornejo in the May 2001 Flores de Mayo.

We give the young men and women in our Filipino School the opportunity to exercise leadership and show their creativity in the performances we have throughout the year. This is especially true at the September Anniversary mass celebration, the St. Rose of Lima Fiesta in Fall every year, the Simbang Gabi in December and Flores de Mayo in May. (Click here to see the First Pinay Pride performance at the Flores de Mayo 1998).

The Filipino School did participate in the Procession on Saturday, June 27, 1998, at the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival, National Mall, Washington DC. This was another historic occasion which the Filipino School participated in. (Click here to see the Smithsonian Folklife Festival Procession.).

We now have a Pinay Pride Juniors that have performed on many occasions and the Ortega Sisters, Lorie, Edrie, Marie and Mallorie who perform at numerous affairs. Check back at this website for their photos.

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(updated September 2001)