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05 September 2019, Toronto – The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto attended Taste of Manila, the largest 2-day Filipino street festival held at Toronto’s Little Manila at Bathurst and Wilson Streets on Saturday, 17 August 2019. The 2-day gigantic festivity, now on its sixth year, once again proved its power to attract hundreds of thousands of weekend revelers from all over Canada and the United States.

On its first day on Saturday, August 17, 2019, the street festival has notched another milestone. Even the uncooperative weather – rain and thunderstorms - failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the organizers and the revelers. The rains came just as organizers were getting ready for the program on the first day of Taste of Manila (ToM). Even as it poured, people waited, and when the rain paused, the street dancing began.

Acting Head of Post Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez said in an interview while the rain was pouring, “This is certainly the luckiest celebration of Taste of Manila, it’s 6th year. For the first time, rain fell … so it will mean more years of Taste of Manila, more years of entertainment, food and fun for all of us.” The rain was indeed a blessing, for even if it poured earlier in the day, people continued to come in a gigantic reunion of sorts.

Taste of Manila, the biggest Filipino food fest in Canada, is a tasteful experience of Filipino culture, food, entertainment and world-renowned hospitality. Authentic Filipino cuisine is the biggest highlight of the festival, offering thousands of attendees a chance to try lumpia, halo halo, lechon, pancit, and other food delights. Aside from that, there is also live music and performances and kid activities.

Acting Head of Post Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez (center) and Member of Parliament (MP) Marco Mendicino (4th fr. left), representing the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, before they went up the stage to welcome people to the 6th Taste of Manila. Also in photo are the other Consulate personnel who attended the festival - (from left) Oliver Baranda, Cecile Santos, Jane Ranga, Marilyn Galanza, Mark Ray Gil, as well as husbands Daniel Galanza and Engelbert Ranga.

The 2-day event is a feast of delectable Filipino dishes, entertainment, games, Filipino arts and crafts and a vibrant street party that captures the spirit of sunny Philippines.

Photos courtesy of Mr. Romy Marquez Top Photos: Left: TFC’s jeepney at the festival. Right: Street Dancing while a band was playing the song “Manila”. Bottom Photos: From left: There were different kinds of food cooking at the festival – various bar-b-ques, taho and our famous lechon.

The Taste of Manila was founded in 2014 and has immediately become the largest festival in the Greater Toronto Area. This year’s festivities were organized by the Philippine Legacy and Cultural Alliance (PLACA), in cooperation with TFC-The Filipino Channel. END

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29 August 2019, Toronto – After the successful Mabuhay Philippines Festival Gala attended by Ambassador Petronila P. Garcia of the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa and PCG Toronto’s Acting Head of Post Edna May G. Lazaro, the officers, staff and families of the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto participated in the 21st Mabuhay Philippines Festival Parade held at the Nathan Phillips Square on Sunday, 25 August 2019.

The parade is the highlight of the annual two-day festival organized by the Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC) and held on 24 – 25 August 2019. The parade was along parts of Armoury Street, University Avenue, Dundas Street West, Yonge St., and Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, and back to Nathan Phillips Square. The Philippine Heritage Band led the parade, followed by contingents from the Philippine Consulate General, PIDC, sponsors, and the different Filipino-Canadian organizations.

Proudly garbed in Filipiniana attire, personnel from the Philippine Consulate General and members of their families, including their young children, participated in the highly anticipated parade, waving the Philippine flag.

Proudly garbed in Filipiniana attire, personnel from the Philippine Consulate General and members of their families, including their young children, participated in the highly anticipated parade, waving the Philippine flag.

The PCG Toronto Team up the stage after the parade.

In her remarks, Consul Edna May G. Lazaro exhorted the crowd to proudly wave the Philippine flag.

At the conclusion of the parade, Acting Head of Post Ms. Edna May Lazaro urged everyone who attended and participated at the festival, "Show everyone that we're Filipinos and that we're proud to carry the Philippine flag." Her exhortation came at the end of the parade around the vicinity of Toronto City Hall. END

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5 September 2019, Toronto – The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto received a visit from Reverend Monsignor Edgardo Pan, Pastor of the St. Rose of Lima Parish in Toronto on Wednesday, 28 August 2019. Rev. Msgr. Pan celebrated Holy Mass and blessed the whole Consulate on this occasion.

Rev. Msgr. Pan was invited by Acting Head of Post Bernadette Therese Fernandez to celebrate mass at the Consulate General on 28 August 2019, which happens to be the third month after Consul General Rosalita Prospero passed away in Toronto. It was also an opportunity to bless the Consulate office, as well as the attached Philippine government offices in the building - the POLO/OWWA and SSS.

Rev. Msgr. Edgardo Pan, accompanied by Consular Assistant, Mr. Oliver Baranda, before the Holy Mass started.

The different rooms of the Consulate were blessed by Rev. Msgr. Pan while the Consulate personnel followed him.

From left: The rooms of AHOP Fernandez and Consul Lazaro were blessed. Sentro Rizal Toronto at the 6th Floor was also visited and blessed by Rev. Msgr. Pan.

From left: The offices of POLO/OWWA and the SSS at the 2nd Floor were also visited and blessed.

Rev. Msgr. Pan also prayed for the eternal repose of the soul of the late Consul General Prospero, as well as the father of AHOP Fernandez who passed away on 21 August 2019. END

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03 September 2019, Toronto - As part of its Gender and Development (GAD) program, as well as the cultural diplomacy program of Sentro Rizal Toronto, the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto organized a Kali Workshop for its personnel and the other attached agencies at the Sentro Rizal Toronto on Friday, 23 August 2019. This training project is both a cultural and a GAD activity because of its cultural heritage awareness, wellness, and security/self-defence awareness components.

The workshop on Philippine martial arts, otherwise known in Canada as “Kali”, was led by Ama Guro Virgilio “Jun” C. de Leon, Jr., the founder and chief instructor of Kali deLeon Toronto, and his wife and fellow Kali instructor, Mrs. Teresita “Tetchie” R. de Leon.

The idea of a kali training/workshop for the Consulate personnel was conceived when Deputy Consul General Bernadette Therese Fernandez met Ama Guro Jun in one of the Filipino martial arts training of the Royal Regiment of Canada held in the evening of 4 April 2019 at the Regimental Home Station, Fort York Armoury. The Philippine Consulate General visited the armoury and attended the training upon the invitation of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Nonato, a Canadian military officer of Filipino descent, who assumed command of the Royal Regiment since 4 June 2017.

The PCG Toronto team was taught the basic techniques of kali, using sticks and rubber knives, which will be useful for self-defence. A pair of sticks each for the personnel of the Consulate and the attached agencies as POLO, OWWA, DTI and SSS, were specially ordered by Acting Head of Post Fernandez from Manila.

Kali de Leon (KDL) is a Filipino Martial Arts based on the creative but disciplined use of various weapons including, but not limited to, sticks, knives, improvised weapons and empty-hand techniques, a melding of battle-tested traditional techniques with modern teaching methodologies. Ama Guro Jun maintains that he is a student first and a teacher second and that KDL is a dynamic art with an ever-developing curriculum because he continues to learn from and develop new approaches.

Everyone enjoyed the training/workshop and is looking forward to another session of Philippine martial art techniques with Ama Guro Jun de Leon. END