By The SUN
 |
| It was dance, dance, dance, throughout the day on Chater Road on Jun 23 (photos by Edmund Cortes) |
Sunny weather and a dance-filled day turned Jun 23, supposedly
the third Sunday of the month-long Kapangyawan 2019, into the most packed chapter
of the month-long celebration in Hong Kong of
the 121st anniversary of Philippine Independence.
Several activities originally scheduled for two Sundays on Chater Road
Leo Selomenio, chair of Global Alliance, said the organizers
decided at the last minute to cancel the Jun 16 celebration because of security
fears, and also because many of the participants had been told by their
employers to either stay put, or avoid Central.
But the day’s activities on Jun 23 began far from Central,
with the OFW Amazing Race flagged off at 9am at two points – one at Belchers in
Kennedy Town
and the other at Central Library in Causeway
Bay
Eight teams each made up of five members split into two
groups and carried out assigned tasks along the two routes as they vied to
finish the race in the shortest possible time at the Botanical Garden and Hong Kong Park
The split route was reportedly designed to avoid Admiralty
just in case anti-extradition bill marchers would clog Queens Road
 |
| Community zumba dancing set the tone for the day |
Over on Chater
Road
After the warm-up, the community parade began with the
national flag bearer leading the MinFed Drum & Lyre band, the Kapangyawan Technical
Working Group, and various Filcom groups taking part in a choreographed,
colorful march on Chater Road
 |
| Masked dancers from Negros joined the parade |
A flag ceremony began at 11am with Consul General Antonio
Morales taking the lead. In his opening speech, he again called for unity among
Filipinos in Hong Kong , amid the continuing
anti-extradition bill protests.
All participating Filcom groups performed their production
numbers after the ceremony, followed by three dance competitions in zumba,
modern, and cheer dancing.
Zumba Feels was adjudged the champion with a top rating of
85% in the Hataw Sayaw Zumba Craze competition. It bested first runnerup Zumba Migrants
HK at 83.66% and second runnerup Kayumanggi Dance & Fitness, 83%.
In the Modern Dance competition, Federation of Luzon Active
Groups, or FLAG, emerged as champion with 95.75%, far ahead of first runnerup
Supremacy Dance Group at 57.50% and second runnerup OFW Power Club at 34%.
FLAG asserted its dancing prowess by topping the Cheer Dance
competition with a 94.25% rating. Isabela Federation followed at 86.5% and Global
Alliance HK at 75.75%.
FLAG completed a hat-trick when it was announced as the
champion in the OFW Amazing Race by finishing the race in 2 hours 31 minutes,
more than an hour ahead of first runnerup IFWA from Philippine Alliance, which
clocked 3 hrs 35 minutes. DOMO Hong Kong was second runnerup at 4hrs 6 min.
Climaxing the festivities was a live band concert courtesy
of Hong Kong Musicians Union, whose chair Manuela Lo invited J4JO, Humblers Band, Rockin' Chicken and HKMU
Assembly to rock the community from 4:15 to 6pm.
 |
| ConGen Morales and Bella Foundation reps with blown-up image of cheque to Bethune House |
Ahead of the live band music and dancing, a new foundation
called Bella Filipina handed out donations of $75,000 each to HKMU and
charitable groups Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge and Wimler Foundation.
On the last Sunday of the month, Jun 30, the traditional
Kalayaan Ball, attended mostly by migrant Filipinos dressed in colorful native
attires, will be held at One
Palace
Selomenio says more than 300 Filipino migrant workers have
already signed up to attend the annual
gathering.
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