“I’m happy to see bayanihan among us. Let’s keep the Filipino values alive by passing them on to our children and grandchildren,” Consul General Maria Lourdes Salcedo conveyed to some 600 guests at the Australia Day celebration of the Filipino Community Council of Victoria, Inc. (FCCVI) on 26 January 2021 at the Filipino Hub in Brooklyn some 50 kms from Melbourne CBD.

Also present at the annual event was Katie Hall, Member of the Parliament of Victoria for Footscray. She enthused in her speech, “the Filipino community has made a remarkable contribution to Australia over many years and it’s been amazing to see that contribution particularly in Footscray.”

According to Marlon De Leon, President of the FCCVI, Australia is a multicultural nation and Filipinos, though having integrated well into the Australian society, have not forgotten their roots back in the Philippines.

At a simultaneous event in nearby Tottenham suburb, another Australia Day event was led by 5Bs Humanitarian, Inc. under the leadership of its President Elizabeth Quimora Ficnerski in partnership with the National Australia Day Council.

The Chairperson of Victoria Multicultural Commission (VMC) commended 5Bs Humanitarian for the work done during Victoria’s two long and strict lockdowns due to COVID which affected the migrant communities and international students in Victoria. According to her, the AUD20,000 grant given to 5Bs to extend assistance to the Filipino Community seemed to have gathered its own momentum to have been able to increase its reach ten-folds.

The students were praised by the President of 5Bs for their dedication and wholehearted participation to carry out and organize the Australian Day event. They did this out of gratitude to all who helped them especially during the lockdown caused by the pandemic. END