By Christine Marie Robles
It all started with a dream when a group of Ilonggo families gathered for the first time on the 30th of September 1995 at Holy Trinity Church Hall, Woolloongabba, Queensland. These families were headed by Rodolfo Licera, Mauro Somodio, Evelyn Gardner, Eva Dadivas, Margie Vasquez, Marianne Payne, Lorna Crussell and Thelma Bowes. Among themselves, they decided to form a group that they could truly call their own. They named it "Kahirup" after an Ilonggo word that signifies closeness, sense of unity, and brotherhood that binds a particular group of people. Kahirup became a term that stood as a beacon of its members in perpetuating the spirit of cohesiveness and support within the group.
As the organisation evolved, the core families moved a step further by electing a set of officers to spearhead the activities of the organisation. On December 7, 1996, the first set of officers was inducted as follows:
President- Mauro Somodio; Vice President - Rodolfo Licera; Secretary -Evelyn Gardner; Asst. Secretary - Lorna Crussel ; Treasurer- Marianne Payne; Asst. Treasurer - Thelma Bowes; Auditor - Pez Rosel; Asst. Auditor - Arthur Gumban; PRO - Victor Blancaver; Asst. PRO - Zaldy Ma
On September 3, 1997, the Kahirup Society of Queensland was formally incorporated. As a requirement for incorporation, Mauro Somodio with the help of Nancy Zita and Ernie Demate formulated its constitution, which was submitted to the Board of Management for approval and was later forwarded to the Consumers Affairs of Queensland. Since then up to 1999, the organisation had initiated a series of small projects. It conducted various seminars in relation to job search, settlement programs and professional development for Filipino-Australians and migrants. Speakers from the different sectors of the government and the community were invited to share their experiences and insights on these topics. These projects proved to be beneficial not only among Ilonggos but as well as other Filipinos who attended the activities.
As the organisation strived to reach its goals, tough challenges met them along the way. Nevertheless, the zeal and commitment of the officers and members propelled them to continue on and persevere. With a burning desire and enthusiasm to make it more effective and relevant to the community, the Kahirup Society of Queensland was reorganised. Thus, a blending of the old and new leaderships combined experience and dynamism to give more life and inject new ideas to the organisation. The reorganisation yielded the following set of officers:
President - Mauro Somodio; Vice President - Evelyn Gardner; Secretary - Marichee Silvallana; Asst. Secretary - Lorna Crussel; Treasurer - Edna Green; Asst. Treasurer - Thelma Bowes; Auditor - Don Resurrecion; Asst. Auditor - Arthur Gumban; PRO - Victor Blancaver; Asst. PRO - Mila Golmayo
With the strong combination of these different personalities, the organisation's direction was refocused and strengthened to effectively implement its objectives as well as draw a more active participation from among its members. And this could be best attested by the major projects of the organisation during the year 2000.
Early in January, 2000, the Society assisted in organising the visit of Dr. Juanito Acanto, president of the Central Philippine University (CPU), Iloilo City, to meet the different university heads here in Australia. This meeting aimed to foster camaraderie and friendship among universities and more importantly, it opened possibilities of exchange of skills and programs in the field of education. As part of its continuing development program, Kahirup facilitated a talk in CPU on September 6, 2000. The talk was presented by Mrs. Mila Golmayo, one of its officers and medical laboratory scientist at Queensland Medical Laboratory. Students, faculty & staff of the various universities in Western Visayas attended this activity. Indeed, this was a major step in sharing the knowledge and skills acquired here in Australia to the people back in the Philippines.
The year 2000 also marked the launching of the Quest for the Philippine Princess of Queensland in which seven beautiful and talented kids were presented as official candidates on July 1, 2000. This major undertaking does not only focus on fund-raising but also aims for the development of personality and self-esteem of the candidates. The first to be crowned as the Miss Philippine Princess of Queensland was Miss Ashleigh Ward, daughter of Rodney and Sandra Ward. She graced the famous Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo and acted as ambassador of goodwill to fellow Filipinos. With the Quest's theme, Reforestation, Kahirup shared a part of the generated fund to support the Reforestation Program in Western Visayas.
The Quest will become an annual fund-raising activity and would concretise the organisation's vision to enable Filipino-Australians to look back and reach out to their 'roots'. It aspires to effect a change through the upliftment of life and keeping the bonding alive within the Filipino-Australian Community, as well as our people back home. Ultimately, it is a quest for the meaning of "kahirup" that thrives not only within the organisation but in the context of a broader community and circle of family.
From what the members had conceptualised back in 1995 to what Kahirup stands now is a dream coming true. It is one proof that there is no obstacle too big to overcome for a group of people who believe in the power of a dream to push them to higher grounds of achievements and new experience. "Kahirup" and for all the ideals it stands for, will continue to challenge our ability to dream, and our commitment to make that dream come true.
By Nancy Ta-ala Zita
PPQ 2000 was Kahirup’s way of meeting the challenges of the new millennium. A brain child of former member and Secretary Marichee Silvallana, it was a big step forward for the Association since its incorporation in 1997. Under the able leadership of Mauro Somodio, PPQ 2000 drew a huge support from the Filipino-Australian community.
Seven gorgeous girls became our first set of candidates. It was amazing how everyone – candidates, their parents and Kahirup members, would flock to Beryl Roberts Park on weekends for practices and socialisation activities. Even at this early stage of the PPQ, the meaning of “kahirup” was truly evident within the group.
The Association also seemed lucky to have a talented bunch of members who carried out the enormous tasks of PPQ. There were so much to learn, but everyone was enthusiastic and willing to do his/her bit.
Attended by around 500 people, the first coronation pageant was held at Coorparoo City Secondary College Hall. The opening production number of the candidates reflected the unique theme of “Reforestation… Breathing Life Back to Mother Earth.” That night, nine-year-old Ashleigh Ward became the first to be crowned the Philippine Princess of Queensland.
PPQ 2001 proved to be more exciting and entertaining. It kicked off with an extravagant Presentation and Talent Night Show, which ushered on stage the candidates as Barbie Dolls in a stage play “Alice in Toy Fantasy Land”. It was only to whet the audience’ appetite for the coronation night at the Sunnybank High School Hall turned out to be more thrilling and electrifying.
Celebrating the theme, “Youth of Today… Building Blocks of Tomorrow”, the hall reverberated with applause from the audience for the candidates’ exceptional adaptation of the stage play “Annie” where they were introduced as orphans. As the one chosen and adopted by the philanthropist, Mr. Kahirup (played by Mr. Arthur Gumban), Jasmin Evain was proclaimed the second Philippine Princess of Queensland.
For these fantastic shows, we give credit to our former Choreographer and Stage Director, Mila Golmayo, and her husband, Bernie Golmayo, then head of the Props Committee. It is to my opinion that the fabulous performance of Annie’s theme song by the candidates, has remained to be the best ever of our production numbers.
2002 was a very challenging year for Kahirup as a number of members suffered some personal tragedies. This greatly affected the pace of our activities and the quality of our shows. Nevertheless, the coronation show turned out to be just as marvelous as those of the previous years.
The essence of the theme, “Dreams beget Creativity… Creativity begets Vision” was fully captured in a breathtaking opening production number of the candidates. It featured the Wizard of Dreams played by the talented Jerome Somodio, and the candidates as characters from the various fairy tales. This led to the proclamation and crowning of the third Philippine Princess of Queensland, Kiana Gallop Angeles.
Another person who has made tremendous contributions to our PPQ shows is Robin Brown. He, along with Marichee Silvallana, prepared our first Souvenir Program. Most importantly, his technical expertise when it comes to stage lighting and sound is basic to the success of our shows.
The three consecutive years of PPQ proved to be very exhausting for the members. Enthusiasm had almost died down and the group seemed to be running out of creative ideas. We also questioned the high financial cost of running the shows. Despite of this, the majority of members decided to keep going. Drawing out what seemed to be our last ounce of strength, we embarked on PPQ 2003.
To the surprise of everyone, 2003 became our luckiest and most successful year so far. For the first time, the Presentation and Talent Night was flocked by around four hundred people. This renewed our hope and strengthened our resolve. With Ging Lopez as the Production Director, the coronation night adopted the united Nations theme of Freshwater.
The candidates donned costumes representing freshwater-dependent animals in a fun-filled play “Echo Alert”. Captain K ( played by Jerome Somodio) led a crusade against water waste and pollution that had caused these animal species to die. At the end of the night, Janelle Hermo was crowned our fourth Philippine Princess of Queensland.
For this year, our final show will be particularly special, because it will allow us to have a brief glimpse at our exciting journey over those past four years. The opening play “The Five Mysterious Boxes” will highlight the significance of those years as embodied in each PPQ theme. Likewise, we have invited our past PPQ candidates and winners to be part of the show.
PPQ has reached a milestone in its short history, and in retrospect, it is worth all the hard work. It has provided the candidates an experience worth remembering, and a chance to discover and learn more about their Filipino heritage. For the winners, their trip to the Philippines had been an eye-opener, teaching them to appreciate more their life here in Australia.
Words are not enough to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has played a big role in PPQ’s success. The painstaking toil of all our candidates and their family to raise funds, and the support of our donors, sponsors and friends will always be remembered and appreciated.
Five years on… here we are, definitely wiser and stronger. Not only have we learned the value of teamwork, but have grown together as a group in the spirit of brotherhood. And together, we have experienced one of the greatest joys in life, which is giving a part of ourselves for the benefit of the less fortunate people in our community, and those back in the Philippines.