Toronto, Canada—The Mabuhay Philippines Festival is the largest, longest-running celebration of Philippine heritage, art and culture in Canada. On the weekend of November 27-28, 2021, it celebrated its 23rd year, hosting a dinner gala and a songwriting contest with performances. The previous year it was online as a result of the pandemic.
What is unique about this year was that it partnered with Universal Peace Federation. Before the main program, Dr. Franco Famularo and Mr. Robert Duffy gave presentations about Ambassadors for Peace and UPF projects. At the main program, Dr. Moonshik Kim briefly introduced UPF to the audience and showed a video presentation about UPF. During the dinner gala, UPF leaders appointed 28 new Ambassadors for Peace. Dr. Moonshik Kim, Dr. Franco Famularo, and Mr. Robert Duffy then presented each appointee with a framed certificate, a gold medallion from UPF which Dr. Kim put around each one’s neck, and a bag containing two books, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen and Mother of Peace, while the emcee gave an overview of each recipient’s contribution to society.
As an ongoing project, UPF is expanding its reach to intermingle with various ethnic groups in Canada, such as the Filipino community among others, through which it is building a collaborative effort toward peace.