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12 June 2024, Ottawa – The annual flag raising ceremony at the Ottawa City Hall on Wednesday morning, 12 June 2024, jump started the series of activities in celebration of the 126th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence and Philippine Heritage Month organized by the Philippine Independence Committee in the Ottawa Valley (PICOV) chaired by Mrs. Nora Arriola and supported by various Filipino-Canadian organizations.

In solemn rites, officers and personnel of the Philippine Embassy, led by Philippine Ambassador to Canada, H.E. Maria Andrelita S. Austria, together with Ottawa Mayor, His Worship Mark Sutcliffe, joined the Filipino-Canadian community in raising the Philippine national flag in front of Ottawa City Hall.

A Filipino-Canadian ukelele group known as Mabuhay Strummers accompanied the singing of the Philippine and Canadian National Anthems while Ambassador Austria raised the Philippine flag.

Members of the Filipino-Canadian community who attended the flag-raising were then invited to the traditional community breakfast at the Embassy’s Mindanao Hall. During the breakfast, the Independence Day video messages of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo were then presented. The guests enjoyed traditional Filipino breakfast fare such as arroz caldo, tokwa’t baboy, pan de sal with Filipino-style sauteed corned beef, and scrambled egg. END