112th Philippine Independence Day

The Barong tagalog
Pinoy Ako, Pinoy Tayo!







On Saturday June 12th Jeff and I hosted a party in celebration of the 112th Philippine Independence Day! The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite, Philippines. The Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain, which had been recently defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
We have a very small Filipino community here in Yaoundé…but what we lack in size we make up for in spirit and enthusiasm! We rounded up around 20 Filipinos and another 30 guests and made a party to celebrate our independence day! Our fellow Filipinos come from the Catholic church here in Yaoundé, ASOY, EDMARK, SORAWELL, and VSO. Our VSO colleagues came all the way from the North-West province of Cameroon and stayed the weekend at our house. Father Naz, from a local parish, is the president of Filipino Community of Cameroon (FCC), Yaoundé chapter. Our guests represented Cameroon, France, Tunisia, Japan, Belgium, and of course the US Embassy!
Our food was totally Filipino…headed of course by some lechon…roasted pig which was cooked over an open fire at our backyard right before the party. Other dishes included, chicken adobo, beef machado, bicol express, pancit, menudo, papaya achara, cassava cake, leche flan…not to mention the rice! Haha.
We performed some tinikling dancing, and of course all the Filipinos danced proudly to PINOY AKO!!! A great time was had by all and we are already looking forward to next year’s celebration!