Vancouver, B.C.
A dream revisited…
Analysis
Teodoro Alcuitas
Editor, Philippine Canadian News.com
The architect who designed the Filipino Plaza more than 30 years ago in 1986 was delighted his work has been refurbished for the celebration of Filipino Heritage Month. A flag-raising ceremony on June 4 at the plaza ushered the month-long celebrations in the province and across the country. Organized by the United Filipino- Canadian Associations in B.C. (UFCABC), it was attended by a number of government and civic dignitaries. The slight wind and breeze that made the Philippine and other flags flutter, provided a perfect backdrop for the celebrations.
“The Sarimanok has come alive,” Bert Morelos told Philippine Canadian News in an interview, referring to the newly painted Sarimano at the top of the arch. The carved image has deteriorated after all these years and barely visible.
Bert Morelos did the design of the Filipino Plaza – a landscaped linear park located underneath the Nanaimo Station Sky Train on Vanness Avenue. one of the dozens of open parks built in 1986 as part of BC Transit’s Parkway Program showcasing different cultural parks on the 26-kilometre path that parallels the SkyTrain.[ Many ethnic communities created legacies on the linear park under the Skytrain in 1986 and today, out of the 20 parks only three remains including the Filipino Plaza.
It was a joint project by the United Filipino Canadian Associations in BC, The Rotary Club of Vancouver Mountainview and the Filipino Plaza Committee 1985. Of the original members of the group, three were recognized and presented with a Visionary Award by the UFCABC – Bert Morelos, Emer Robles and Nelson Didulo.
https://www.ufcabc.org/philippine-heritage-festival-2023
The birth of the Filipino Plaza Commitee and the construction of the plaza was widely covered in the media including local media Atin Ito.
