Filipino Voice for the Airwaves

The Akash Broadcasting panel

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)  released  a call for applications  for an ethnic radio station in Edmonton. Edmonton’s population growth over the past two years has outpaced that of Alberta as a whole, and was over three times that of the current estimates of growth for Canada. The largest groups of immigrants come from the Philippines and India. Alberta Employment and Immigration found there were over 130 languages identified by new immigrants destined to the province as their mother tongue with English, Tagalog, Punjabi, Mandarin, and Spanish consistently in the top five languages. With currently only  one radio  station  for the ethnic communities, 101.7 World FM, the need for at least another ethnic radio station was evident.

I  was approached  to be a part of the panel for the application for a license by Akash Broadcasting, based in BC. This was my first foray into the world of radio broadcast, not counting the few projects I did as part of my Theatre Arts Bachelor’s degree at the University of the Philippines. Needless to say, the whole experience was fascinating to me. The amount of work and resources required for an application alone, is staggering. There’s the engineering survey, the market research, financial feasibility, audience demographics, programming options, to name a few, that needs thorough research. And then comes the most crucial phase of the application, which I was involved in, the hearings with the Commission.

My commitment involved four intense days of preparation and the actual hearing day, with a very dynamic and committed group representing different sectors of the community: Tejinderpaul Singh - well-known broadcaster with Shaw Multicultural Channel, performing artist, teacher, and volunteer; Herkiranjeet Kaur Mann - entrepreneur; Marco Luciano - advocate of migrant rights; Nav Kaur - educator and equity advocate; Simrat Cheema - radio and television broadcaster; Satnam Rai - financial advisor; Kanak Chamarty and Julie Zhang - journalists; Jagdeep Sandhu - telecom engineer, talk show host and DJ; Stephen Zolf - legal counsel; Andrew Forsyth - broadcast consultant; Kerry Pelser - consulting engineer; and Rita Cugini - adviser. The five-day stint we shared was marked with enriching, diverse dialogue, validated and challenged perspectives, and initiated relationships. We shared our vision and desires for an ethnic radio station, immigrant stories, employment issues, child rearing practices, educational philosophies, ways of life, entertainment preferences, and humour. In all these interaction, I kept in mind that I was there primarily as a Filipino and an artist.

There were a total of 11 applications for this call. The hearing for all applicants went for four whole days, sometimes stretching to the evening. The whole process allowed for inquiries and rebuttals from Commissioners, other applicants, supporters and opposers of an applicant.

The applications had commonalities in their objective - to complement, and not compete, with the existing ethnic radio station, in offering extended programming for underserved communities mainly in the languages of Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. For programming dedicated to the Filipino community, 101.7 World FM currently allots 3-4 hours one day a week.  

It does not need to be emphasized that another ethnic radio station in Edmonton will only benefit the Filipino community. As an artist, I see this as a bonus opportunity to develop and promote works of Filipino artists, and open up avenues of collaboration with other cultural groups. As a Filipino, this is a way to build a community with other Filipinos in this country and to reflect on our culture in a global framework. As a Canadian, this is a platform that stresses the importance of, and regard towards diversity, and honouring each other’s cultural perspective. So regardless of which applicant is granted the license, regardless of whether we have supported an applicant or not, the Filipino community should rally to support and patronize whoever is granted a license to operate this ethnic radio station.  Because as succinctly articulated by Thomas Berry, “Diversity is the magic. It is the first manifestation, the first beginning of the differentiation of a thing and of simple identity. The greater the diversity, the greater the perfection.” Let our voices be heard.


This article was published in the Alberta Filipino Journal November 2016 issue.

Dancing in the Park 2016

When you live in a place marked by harsh winters and freezing temperatures, you maximize the outdoor time nature provides you with sunny +20 weather. Yesterday was such a day when we decided to stroll around the Farmer's Market at South Common, the Street Performers Festival at the Churchill Square and the Dancing in the Park at the Alberta Legislative grounds.

Dancing in the Park was a roving performance of five groups - Read Fenton and Happy Hep Cats, Hit that Jive Dance Crew; Tia Kushniruk, Katherine Semchuk (and another girl whose name I missed); CRIPSiE (Collaborative Radically Integrated Performers Society in Edmonton); and Toy Guns Dance Theatre, lead by Artistic Director Jake Hastey. The evening ended with a swing dance lesson and party by Let's Swing Dance.

The reason we went to Dancing in the Park was to see Katherine Semchuk perform again. We were so impressed with her technique, musicality and movement sensibility at the Feats Festival of Dance last July 8, which we watched due to our son's performance with Synaethesis Dance Theatre. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that Katherine was one of the dancers we gave master classes to at Victoria School of Performing Arts, and in Jojo's choreography "Women in Waiting". Amazing dancer.

It was wonderful to see CRIPSiE once again. The first time I saw them was in an Orchesis show at the University of Alberta. I was so moved that I joined them in a movement class at the Glenrose.

Toy Guns Dance Theatre was an absolute delight. It's a pity that it took us a while to know of this group. Easily rectifiable, their next show is at the Fringe. From the title alone, "Watching Netflix at 3am Questioning Your Mortality" you get a sense that you will witness tongue in cheek humour. But you get more - strong and eloquent dancing, clever choreographic counterpoints, movements and musicality that felt Pina Bausch-y. And yes, we found out after the show that he did follow the Pina Bausch company like a groupie (in a good way). Good to know too that there's a little bit of history with choreographer/artistic director Jake Hastey, as our paths have crossed at some point with the Edmonton School of Ballet and Dance Unlimited connections. As mentioned previously, do catch the Toy Guns Dance Theatre's performances at the Fringe Festival. They are so inspiring that I even verbalized the idea of taking their class. Well, let's see how my body and courage will hold up to that.

Needless to say, our foray into outdoor performances yesterday made for one exhilarating experience.

Karilagan Dance Society at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta

The Karilagan Dance Society is one of the featured performers at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta on June 11 and 12, 2016 at the Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Karilagan Dance Society is a non-profit organization founded in 1971 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is composed of Filipino-Canadians who aim to promote and live the Filipino culture and heritage through dances, songs and culture. This group has been travelling, performing and competing in and out of the country taking home major prizes.

For the Fiesta, they will be performing:

Bumaya - Is an Ifugao dance of thanksgiving to their God for a bountiful harvest. The movements of this dance mimic those of a rooster scratching the ground.

Binasuan - Means with the use of a drinking glass. The dancers display good balance, graceful movements, and unusual skills. They dance with three glasses half-full of water, one on their heads and one each in the palm of their hands as they execute continuous fast turns, sitting and rolling on the floor.

Binuyugan - A dance that portrays women fetching water from the well.

Tinikling - Known as the bamboo dance, the national dance of the Philippines. It is a dance imitating the movements of “tikling” birds as they play and chase each other. The dancers show their skills, endurance and grace as they hop and leap between two bamboo poles that are clicked together in time with the music.

Paunjalay - From the island of Mindanao, here is a tribal dance called “Paunjalay” that is traditionally performed by the bride and groom prior to their wedding.

Singkil - A dance of Muslim royalty, to the rhythmic clapping of bamboo poles, the dancers weave expertly through crisscrossed bamboo poles in solemn faces and maintaining a dignified pose dancing at a slow pace as it progresses to a faster tempo.

D'9 Zero Crew at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta

The D'9 Zero Crew is one of the featured performers in the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta on June 11 and 12, 2016 at the Sir Winston Churchill Square.

The D’9 Zero Crew was formed in October 2015. They are a group of 4 millennials who were teenagers during the 90’s in the Philippines. That’s what the “9 Zero” stands for, the decade of the 90’s. They didn’t know each other then in the Philippines, and just met each other through friends here in Edmonton. They discovered that they all have the same passion, dancing.They all had their own dance crew back then. They claim “We may be old now, don’t have the same body built and can’t perform as energetic as we were before, but our passion for dancing is still burning inside.”

Couples in Harmony at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta

Couples in Harmony is one of the featured performers at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta on June 11 and 12, 2016 at the Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Couples in Harmony was formed in October of 2008. Inspired during the worship in their household prayer meeting, they sang beautifully and spirit-filled. Since then came the birth of the choir serving different parishes and has welcomed other members who share the same passion in music and serving the church. 

Emma and Sharmaine Pagtakhan at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta

Emma and Sharmaine Pagtakhan are featured performers in the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta on June 11 and 12, 2016 at the Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Emma and  Sharmaine Pagtakhan are sisters who love to sing and dance.  Emma is 16 years old and  Sharmaine is 14. They have been singing ever since they were little. They have been opening acts for several Filipino concerts and celebrities including Be Careful with My Heart World Tour, Got 2 Believe, and  Pinoy Champs. They have competed and won several awards at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Northern Star Talent Search at K Days, and Futuresfest at Visionary College. They are also occasionally invited to sing at birthdays and weddings. 

Jimmy Buena at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta

Jimmy Buena is one of the featured performers at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta on June 11 and 12, 2016 at the Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Jimmy Buena is a nunior high teacher at Sister Annata Brockman Catholic School. He teaches Math, Science and Filipino Language at the said school. With regards to his singing accomplishments, he started singing when he was 10 years old and has been joining different singing competitions and concert front acts (Darren Espanto, Sam Milby, Angeline Quinto, Jovit Baldovino, the cast of Be Careful with my Heart, Randy Santiago, Gino Padilla and many more) since then. As for contest awards, he has placed 2nd in the Tanghalan ng Kampeon Bulilit portion in 1990, 2010 Pinoy Singing Sensation 3rd placer, 2014 Edmonton's PNT Idol Champion, 2011 FSGC Singing Idol Champion and 2013 Calgary Singing sensation Champion. This July 7-18, 2016, he will be one of the representatives of Team Canada for the World Championship of Performing Arts under the Senior Vocal category in Long Beach, California where more than 50 countries will be participating.