by Maria Veronica “Vernie” G. Caparas*
November 30 is Bonifacio Day in the Philippines and among many Filipinos in British Columbia, Canada. Andres Bonifacio, after whom the national celebration is held every year, is one of the Philippines’ heroes whose revolutionary ideas and actions spawned changes in and out of 19th 19th-century Philippines. In 2025, the 30th also falls on the last Sunday of November. On that day in British Columbia, three events stand out – all wrapped in a call for a corruption-free Philippines.
• The First Sunday of Advent, when the Candle of Hope is lit in faith communities and churches.
• The parol-making with artist couple facilitators, Bert Monterona and Mylene Maranoc, at St. Mary the Virgin South Hill Church in Vancouver, BC.
• The rally at the GL Metrotown Skytrain Station against corruption in the Philippines.
The First Sunday of Advent
The Reverend Expedito Farinas, aka Apo Expie, in his twelfth year as St. Mary the Virgin South Hill Church’s pastor, led the lighting of the Candle of Hope with the children and adult congregants.
St Mary The Virgin welcomes you (photo by Apo Expie).
This church has been a witness to the congregants’ experience of a sense of community beyond age, color, culture, education, race, or social status. Reverend Expie’s church remains open to many migrant communities, especially Filipinos who find comfort in The Reverend’s homilies that speak to their struggles and strengths.
With Advent, Filipinos gear up for the coming of the Messiah while grieving over many issues, not only in British Columbia but also in their homeland. “During the dark times of our lives and as we are aware of what’s happening in the Philippines, we must have that light in ourselves. We keep that light of hope in our community. The response to that light of hope will be greater,” beams The Reverend. His message to the President of the Philippines? “Let’s get rid of all corrupt officials. We do not want corrupt officials. Lahat ng kurakot, managot! (The corrupt must account for their sins!).”
For the First Sunday of Advent, Apo Expie also leads the Taize Advent Prayer at Christ Church Anglican Center in Surrey, BC with four more Filipino priests and other Asian priests. The Reverend adds, “Taize is a prayer service for peace and hope not only in Canada but around the world. Are we ready for this prayer?”
The Parol-Making
Parol-making at St Mary’s hall (photo by Apo Expie).
The artist couple Bert Monterona and Mylene Maranoc have been guiding the migrant communities in parol-making for four Christmas seasons now. While the parol** symbolizes the starlight that guided the Magi to the newborn Christ’s manger, today’s parol aims “to shed light within ourselves. We are aware of what’s happening in the Philippines, and we hope to spread the light to Filipinos worldwide,” emphasizes Apo Expie.
Apo Expie joins the parol makers.
The parol is made with sticks and papel de japon (Japanese paper). “They’re free to choose the colors they want for their parol,” says Maranoc, who has been assisting the parol makers with assembling their sticks to form stars, big or small. Beside Maranoc sits Abby Leung who started working on her skeletal parol, listening closely to the former’s instructions and demonstrations.
It is Leung’s first time to make a parol, “I want to know more about Filipino culture,” smiles Abby. She delights in putting it up to brighten her home, a site of legal battles for more than two years now. At 62, Leung faces eviction from her home that she has been renting for close to 20 years now. Her legal warriors from the Vancouver Tenancy Union stand up for her, ensuring that she maintains a roof over her head. A Chinese migrant, Abby gets moral support from members of Migrante BC and BAYAN, both progressive grassroot organisations that oppose anti-immigrant policies.
Yolanda Adamson joins the parol makers for experience in making a parol. For 59-year-old Marlene Cudiamat, parol-making is a revered Filipino tradition every Christmas, “The parol is a symbol for Christmas.” Marlene wants the President of the Philippines to “Keep going. We are supporting him. We are behind him. We are praying for him.”
“This is our first time to make a parol. We will hang the parol at home. Parol-making is our way of celebrating Christmas,” chorus Nida Disu and Lolita Era – both Filipinas who have been in Vancouver, BC since 1987. Nida and Lolita are drawn to The Reverend’s homilies and love the community bonding after Mass.
The Rally against Corruption in the Philippines
The protesters demand change, 30 November 2025.
Cries of Marcos – Duterte = one skein! Oust Marcos – Duterte! Reject and Resist US-Marcos II Regime! can be heard beyond the ground level of the Metrotown Skytrain Station where approximately 150 representatives of a number of organisations staged a two-hour protest rally against Marcos, Duterte, and their minions: Anakbayan, Bayan, GABRIELA BC, Global Pinoy Diaspora Canada, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – Canada, International League of Peoples’ Struggle, Malaya, Migrante BC, Migrante Canada, Pinoy Pride Vancouver, and Sulong UBC (University of British Columbia).
Pinoy Pride Vancouver members Darla Tomeldan and Cecilia Tumolva hope for a changed Philippines and urge the Philippine president to listen to the voices of the people. They stress, “We are not just LGBTQ folks. We are migrant workers, single mothers. We have families in the Philippines. Whatever affects the Filipinos in the Philippines also affects us.”
“It is so disheartening that families of corrupt officials in the Philippines could travel anywhere they please while our people, mired in poverty, do not have food on the table. We work here in Canada. We pay taxes. We know where our taxes go. In the Philippines, our taxes go into the pockets of the corrupt,” laments Treenee Lopez, the chair of Global Pinoy Diaspora Canada (GPDC), which she founded in 2011 at the height of the Philippines’ conflict with China over the West Philippine Seas. With a 1000-strong membership Canada-wide, GPDC grew out of the 24-member-country Global Filipino Diaspora Council headed by lawyer Loida Nicholas Lewis of New York. Lopez asserts, “The issue of corruption affects not just those in the Philippines but all Filipinos worldwide. We want to support the call for good governance not just now but for the future.” Lopez expects President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. to expel the Dutertes, the Bong Gos, and all the corrupt from the government.
Meanwhile, Migrante BC Deputy Secretary General CJ Demanarig calls for the launch of a Philippine government that represents the people. He condemns the government officials who all do a Pilate in the nagging case of billion-priced ghost flood control projects. CJ also calls out the insensitivity of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry secretary who stated that Php500 for a family of 4 is sufficient for a Noche Buena***. “This is a big insult to us migrants who work ourselves to death so we can send remittances to our families in the Philippines.”
Migrante Canada Executive Officer Erie Maestro emphasizes, “The struggle includes every one of us. And we, who may not be as young as you are have hearts that do not grow old. Our vision towards a better Philippines does not grow old. Our dreams for the Filipino people do not grow old.” Maestro urged the rallyists to secure from Filipino stores or remittance centers a copy of the laymen’s version of “Flood the Streets” to strengthen and solidify the ranks of protesters.
Jeff Solis, born and raised in Canada of a Filipina mother and a Pakistani father, serves as the BC regional representative of International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – a broad coalition of civil society organisations that support and help Filipino communities around concerns as pressing as the recently Carney – Marcos signed Visiting Forces Agreement between Canada and the Philippines that “risk strengthening the very systems through which corruption and human rights abuses flourish.”
November 30 in this part of the globe celebrates Bonifacio’s nationalism as a Filipino and as a revolutionary against imperial forces that remain incognizant of people’s rights to good governance.
*The writer, Maria Veronica “Vernie” G. Caparas, a freelance journalist, performed in street plays and joined several protests and lightning rallies against the Marcos conjugal dictatorship.
** Parol refers to the traditional star-shaped Filipino Christmas lantern and is usually made of bamboo and paper, capiz, and other materials.
*** Noche Buena (Spanish for “good night”) refers to the grand family meal taken after the Simbang Gabi on December 24th, Christmas Eve. Simbang Gabi is a devotional, nine-day series of Masses attended by Filipino Catholics in anticipation of Christmas.