Pride in Canada

The Winter Olympics in Vancouver may be long over but for a number of  Filipinos,  including Negrenses living in Canada now,  it came as an opportunity for them to show their appreciation for their adopted country, which will celebrate its national day on Thursday.

The quadrennial games provided them an opportunity "to give back something to our adopted country", as summed by nurse Rod Isidro, a native of Zambales.

Rod served as an Event Services volunteer, the biggest group of volunteer is the games, who performed access control to athletes, official, media and the crowd and also information resource, one that had direct contact with spectators, too.  "Volunteerism  is new to me, I haven't done  before, even in the Philippines," he said, adding that he worked with volunteers from all walks of life, races and nationalities.

Bacolod native Noel Ibrado Jr., who lived at Capitol Heights 2 in Bacolod City before his  whole family moved to Canada 20 years ago, recalled the joyous atmosphere during the games, held Feb. 12-28 this year  Filipinos in Vancouver really enjoyed the atmosphere, he recalled, as they just had fun being part of the great event.  Many visitors to the country were curious about Canada, especially Vancouver and British Columbia as one of the beautiful places to live in the world, he added.

Isabeleño Chelito "Chill" Garcia, a Commerce graduate of the University of Negros Occidental Recoletos who move to Canada in 2007 and is married to a Fil-Canadian, recalled how people from all over the world described the Vancouver Games as "something they haven't seen before in any Olympics they had been to".

People flocked  on the streets in red and white, the maple leaf, their national emblem, emblazoned on their shirts, packed venues despite the expensive tickets in concerts, street parties, light-and-sound shows on main streets, people giving high fives to everyone, kissing and hugging and, yes, the impromptu singing of "O Canada", the national anthem,  among  young and old people we met on the streets, Garcia said.

Another Negrense, Ferdinand Roxas, a Civil Engineering graduate, also of UNO-R,  and a native of Fabrica, Sagay City, found in the games "a spark  of patriotism , pride and support to the Canadian athletes", no matter what the game was.

It was fantastic, echoed Roxas, I've never seen crowns on this scale before, in such a joys yet peaceful celebration; a collective outpouring of Canadian patriotism, pride and support to our athletes, win or lose. " Many wore red jackets, red hats, red mittens and other red stuff, while holding the Canadian flag and singing O Canada on the mains streets and other places," he added.

Garcia feels "privileged to me part of the historic event".

The biggest triumph for them, though, was the hockey gold medal match between the hosts and Team USA, a heated rivalry which Canada won, 3-2, in overtime, sending giant waves of frenzy to people across the country where hockey is the most loved sport. "people across the country went berserk, the fans erupted with the loudest of roars," Roxas recalled.

Ibrado recalled that for the championship game alone, ticket soared to at least $5,000, indicating how popular hockey is in the country.

Garcia remembers well how the cars honked, people rejoiced in the streets, hugged and even cried in what he called a  "defining moment" in his life in Canada, something he has never seen elsewhere before. "It was so priceless an experience," he further said.

Roxas described the euphoria as something, if not greater, a feeling  Filipinos share when our own Manny Pacquiao wins his fight, which makes us feel proud of our country and our own people.

For other events, like figure skating - ice dance competition tickets were sold at $160, the amount  paid by Garcia, where he experienced "an unforgettable moment in my life" - when the huge crowd shouted and sang the national anthem after the Canadian pair, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the gold.

The winter event was viewed by the Filipinos, perhaps,  in various perspectives but with identical meaning and depth.  "Olympic Games can teach, remind and inspire us on our own personal journeys," Roxas  underscored.

Its greater impact, pointed out Isidro, was not necessarily on Filipinos in Vancouver or any specific nationality but to everyone "beyond borders of nationality, race, gender, religion political views and other considerations", adding "It was a showcase of skills and camaraderie, a triumph of the human spirit."

He  also o said it served as an opportunity for Vancouverites to show the world how wonderful their place is, the hosting of the games cementing the notion that it is, indeed,  'the Best Place on Earth'.

Appreciating the Olympics - both Summer and Winder - as wonderful events, Ibrado expressed the hopes that Filipinos should start to know more about winter sports,  saying "they are quite interesting and enjoyable to play and watch."

 Isidro, apparently echoing similar sentiments of fellow Filipinos, about his volunteerism in the games said: "Canada has been good to me and my family. I take great pride and honor in being able to contribute to Olympism, as he reiterated  his pleasure of  "giving back to his adopted country".

back to top