The Filipino American Student Association (FASA) legacy will continue at the Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN) on April 20 at the Chiles Center. Doors will open at 4 p.m. and food will be served from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. — a menu that includes traditional dishes such as pancit, lechon, adobo, lumpia and lugaw.
The show will feature all student-choreographed dances including Sakuting, Traditional Tinikling, Bangko and Bulaklakan. Tickets to the event can only be purchased online for $14.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of PCN, as well as the first time in the event’s history that it will be hosted in the Chiles Center.
“I remember last year interning [for the] board and everybody just being like, ‘Wow this crowd is so huge,’ and the Quiet Side was filled to the brim with people,” Co-PCN Chair Camille Dela Cruz said. “We heard a lot of people [FASA members] being like, ‘Next year: Chiles.’”
Dela Cruz emphasizes that the event is open to anyone, even if they are not personally tied to Filipino culture.
“If you're open to learning about why we care so much about our Filipino culture, we invite you to please come because we would love to share what we have been trying to figure out within ourselves as Filipino Americans with everybody at UP and out [in the community],” Dela Cruz said.
FASA members pose with fans.
To honor the tenth anniversary as well as the move to Chiles, this year’s theme was chosen to be “Pamana,” or legacy. For Co-PCN Chair Jazmyn Flores, the theme honors past legacies and the future of the FASA community.
“We just really want to pay homage, to not only just this club's legacy, but the legacy of all of our members and what goes into creating this amazing community currently and all the way up till the past,” Flores said.
For Dela Cruz, “Pamana” also includes paying homage to her family and the generations that came before her.
“I think it's kind of like a reminder that this club wouldn't be here today without the founders of FASA and even without our families,” Dela Cruz said. “I wouldn't be who I am without them. And so I think it kind of just helps pay a whole tribute to remembering the people before us who helped pave the path for how we are right now.”
FASA members pose in front of the Franz Hall stairs.
Now that FASA will be hosting in a bigger space, they need to accommodate more guests than ever before. Treasurer Aiden Sanchez acknowledged that this contributed to an increase in the cost of the event.
“We're blessed to have a good-sized Waldschmidt account. However, every year at PCN, it goes down because we spend it on everything and we barely break even,” Sanchez said. “So I'm really relying on fundraising, meal point donations — like all the cultural clubs.”
The food is catered through Bon App, and meal point donations have been aiding the club pay for the expense.
“If there's one thing about FASA is we’ll all come together to help each other out,” Sanchez said. “So when we first released the meal point drive, I was very happy to see all these general members donating the extra meal points.”
Despite the financial constraints, big support has been found within the entire FASA community. Dela Cruz and Flores credit the members’ hard work and dedication for contributing to the success of this year’s PCN.
“We can plan all that we want, but without our board, without our general member engagement, PCN is nothing,” Dela Cruz said. “I feel like I'm gonna cry the day of PCN because of just how happy and fortunate I am to be working with a community that is willing to take the initiative and is willing to reach out and help us with something like this, because PCN is nothing without the Kapamilya — and I stand by that.”
Having the club prepare for such a big event has even brought members closer together. For President Ryley Vargas, he feels like PCN has given him the opportunity to engage more with his club members.
FASA members pose in the academic quad.
“I think in the first semester, because I was more hands-on running all the events, I wasn't able to meet all the general members,” Vargas said, “But now that I'm able to take a step back and really be one of the people working, I'm able to meet everyone, and I really wish I met all these people in the first semester.”
In thinking about the legacy she wants to leave, Flores hopes that this year’s PCN will further connect the crowd with FASA and demonstrate what the club is truly about: their “kapamilya” or family.
“Hopefully, in our crowd, [there’s] that little click, that little spark, that little something that connects them to our Kapamilya,” Flores said. “Our club isn't just our members, it's not just the Filipino community, it's not just Filipino Americans, it's not just students. It's our families. It goes beyond just this campus.”
More information on PCN can be found on FASA’s Instagram.
Editors note: A previous version of this story incorrectly named a founding member of the Filipino American Student Association (FASA).
Tiffany Marquez Escobar is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at marqueze25@up.edu
