A Landmark Night of Unity and a Lingering Question: Community Applauds UFCABC and Pinoy Festival Alliance – Hosted Dialogue, Looks to FLS for Answers

By CJ Lacaba

​(September 29, 2025) – Last night, under the adept guidance of the United Filipino-Canadian Associations in British Columbia (UFCABC), our community witnessed a landmark event in the journey toward a Filipino Cultural Centre. The “Stronger Together – One Voice Dialogue” was a resounding success in  fostering transparency and collaboration, leaving attendees with a renewed sense of hope and a clear direction forward.

​The community extends its immense gratitude to UFCABC for organizing and hosting such a pivotal forum, and to the Pinoy Festival Alliance for their invaluable support. The event was exceptionally well-organized, with UFCABC’s hosts skillfully moderating a complex discussion, ensuring a smooth, respectful, and productive flow from start to finish. Their efforts created a safe and effective platform for the kind of open communication our community has long desired.

​This spirit of dialogue was fully embraced by the leadership of the National Pilipino Canadian Cultural Centre (NPC3), Mabuhay House Society (MHS), and Filipino BC (FBC). In a powerful show of dedication, all three organizations arrived with their full boards of directors, ready to engage in a substantive and open conversation. 

From left to right: NPC3 – Leonora Angeles, FBC – RJ Aquino, MHS – Lester De Guzman, FBC – Christina Moser

​During the forum, each of these three organizations delivered a detailed 10-minute presentation, outlining their respective accomplishments, strategic plans, and clear next steps toward achieving our collective goal. 

The community was pleased to witness this clarity, as complex visions were translated into tangible, actionable pathways. The event further fostered a remarkable display of mutual respect, with the organizations posing thoughtful questions to one another and providing direct, constructive answers.

​Heeding a powerful and unified call for solidarity from the audience, all three attending groups affirmed their unwavering commitment to work together. This was not merely a statement of intent; it was a report of action. In a tangible sign of progress, it was shared that Mabuhay House Society and Filipino BC are already in active discussions to align their efforts, with the National Pilipino Canadian Cultural Centre pledging its full and unconditional support for their collaboration. 

This moment represented a significant breakthrough a visible and promising foundation for a truly unified project.

​Yet, casting a shadow over this remarkable progress was the conspicuous and total absence of the Filipino Legacy Society (FLS).

​The community did not gather to criticize, but to connect. The dialogue was intended to be a platform for FLS to build a foundational relationship with the community and its peer organizations a chance to convince us of their vision through open conversation. It was also a chance for all our leaders to find a way to set aside historical differences and explore how the decades of experience from established groups could synergize with the new energy of FLS. Last night’s dialogue could have been the start of that beautiful and necessary work.

​While we acknowledge the FLS’s stated reasons of prior commitments preventing their attendance, the outcome remains: a gap in understanding has formed at the very moment we sought to close all others. The path to unity has encountered a detour, and the community is now left to wonder how to move forward together when a key partner was not there to take the first step with us.

​The purpose of this reflection, however, is not to dwell on a missed opportunity, but to earnestly create a new one. The dream of our cultural centre is far too important to be derailed.

​Therefore, we publicly and sincerely extend a new invitation to the leadership of the Filipino Legacy Society. We invite you to meet with the collective of leaders from NPC3, MHS, FBC, and the community representatives who gathered last night. We ask you to give us the chance to have the dialogue that was missed, for you to share your plans, for us to ask our questions, and for all of us, together, to find a genuine and viable path toward a single, unified effort.

​The door that was open last night remains open today. The community has shown its readiness to engage with respect and an open heart. We now await your response, hopeful that we can soon take the next, truly unified step on this historic journey. The next move is yours.

Feature photo: From left to right: NPC3, MHS, FBC, FLS