Hundreds of people wearing colorful costumes and big smiling masks are on Sunday to parade through the streets of Taipei in celebration of one of the Philippines’ most joyous festivals, its organizers said yesterday.
The Taipei MassKara Festival parade is to start at 1pm, leaving from St Christopher’s Church in Zhongshan District (中山) and proceeding along Zhongshan N Road, and Nongan and Shuangcheng streets, to Qingguang Park, organizers said.
The festival is intended to bring smiles to people’s faces amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and to celebrate diversity and multiculturalism, Taipei Department of Civil Affairs Commissioner Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰) told a news conference.
“Taipei is a diverse and friendly city, so we hope that all our immigrants, old and new, will feel that Taiwan cares about them,” Lan said.
The Taipei City Government also hopes that the parade, which is expected to attract about 1,000 participants, would help boost spirits among immigrants and migrant workers from countries heavily affected by the pandemic, he said.
The parade is to feature costumes designed by Filipino designer and migrant worker Mark Lester Reyes, whose work has made him a household name among Taiwan’s Philippine community.
About 32 Filipino migrant workers at the parade would wear his designs, some of which are made from recycled items, such as plastic spoons, Reyes said.
“Be amazed by the Filipino culture shown on the day and see for yourself how migrant factory workers and caregivers can portray their talent,” he told the news conference.
Working with the city government, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei scouted Filipino talent in Taiwan to source some of the masks to be featured in the parade, office Vice Chairman and Deputy Resident Representative Gilberto Lauengco said.
The MassKara Festival, also known as the “Festival of Smiles,” is one of the biggest in the Philippines. It originated in Bacolod in the 1980s during a crisis, when the price of sugar, the region’s main source of income, dropped to an all-time low.
The city’s residents responded by donning colorful costumes that featured bright smiling masks to signal their intention to overcome the crisis.
Since then, MassKara has been celebrated annually in October, with Bacolod becoming known as “The City of Smiles.”
“This festival symbolizes the resiliency of Filipinos in times of hardship,” Lauengco said. “It shows that Filipinos are tough and would be able to survive even in the direst of situations with a smile on their faces. Despite this pandemic, it serves as a timely reminder that there is still hope and that we can smile in the face of adversity and eventually emerge stronger than ever.”
There are about 7,000 Filipinos among the 45,648 migrant workers in Taipei, according to government data.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS