World

A growing Filipino diaspora means plenty of celebration worldwide for Philippine Independence Day

Published

2 years ago

June 11, 2024

A growing Filipino diaspora means plenty of celebration worldwide for Philippine Independence Day

In the Philippines — where Spanish and later U.S. colonial rule persisted for nearly four centuries — June 12 is the real Independence Day. That date in 1898 was the pivotal moment when the island nation first made a bold move for autonomy.

Ahead of this year’s holiday in Manila, the nation’s capital, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on Filipinos in a video message to display the country’s flag everywhere “as we continue to fight for independence. Independence in different aspects of our being Filipinos, but more than this independence in our territory, our sovereignty.”

Since 2023, the Philippines has faced increasingly tense territorial confrontations with Beijing in the South China Sea.

The much-awaited annual celebration would be festive with an array of activities, which started Monday at the capital’s historic Rizal Park, Marcos said. There’s a bazaar along with government stalls offering services to the public. The festivities include a cooking competition, a chili pepper-eating contest, free showing of movies about Filipino heroes, free nightly concerts and an obstacle-course race. A parade of 22 floats representing different provinces will be staged on Independence Day to be capped by a musical concert, he said.

The revelry surrounding Philippine Independence Day stretches far beyond the Southeast Asia archipelago, from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates. Millions of Filipinos across cities in the U.S., Europe and Australia will be able to find parades, street fairs, galas and other gatherings close to home. Some are even flying in well-known talent from the Philippines. The occasion’s growing reach and inclusive ethos demonstrate how much the Filipino diaspora continues to assert cultural pride and flourish around the globe.

Historical

The fight for independence dates back to 1565 when Spain colonized the Philippines, naming it for King Philip II. It wasn’t until 1896 though that talk of revolution catalyzed action. Andrés Bonifacio, a leader of the Katipunan, a brotherhood of anti-Spain revolutionaries, and others tore up their “cedulas,” residential tax certificates for people considered Spanish subjects.

“It’s like tearing your passport or whatever identifies you as a citizen of a nation,” said Richard Chu, a history professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who was born in the Philippines. “So, they tore that up symbolically as a break and declared independence — or at least (were) fighting for independence from Spain.”

Emilio Aguinaldo, also a member of the Katipunan, saw an opportunity for liberation when the U.S. declared war on Spain on April 25, 1898, over its treatment of Cuba. On June 12, he proclaimed independence and a year later, even became the first president of the Philippine Republic. But, the U.S. refused to recognize the country as a stand-alone territory, igniting the Philippine-American War, which lasted until April 1902.

78 years of independence

The Philippines finally became independent on July 4, 1946. So, the Fourth of July was the traditional holiday until President Diosdado Macapagal changed it in 1964 to June 12.

As a child in the ‘70s, Chu remembers watching preparations in Rizal Park. Festivities started in the morning with the senior Marcos raising the flag as cabinet and military officers looked on. The parade was more of a “military parade followed by people from different government agencies.”

“It’s supposed to be a festive celebration and every other city or major town would have its own Independence Day celebrations,” Chu said.

Independence Day may evoke mixed feelings for some who don’t have the same nationalist fervor or agree with its government’s policies. This is one reason Chu doesn’t feel an urgent need to mark the holiday. At the same time, he likes being with other Filipinos in his community.

“If I lived in Boston, I probably would participate just because of the festivities, like the food vendors and maybe some popular Filipino American scenery,” Chu said. “I am proud to be Filipino for sure.”

Festivities in the U.S.

New York City held a parade and a street fair along Madison Avenue on June 2. The same weekend in Seattle there was a two-day Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival. There have been large fiestas and smaller picnics in Texas, California and Colorado, among other states.

In Phoenix, the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team is holding its first-ever Filipino Heritage Celebration at Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.

Amilyn Pierce, who is part Filipino and the Diamondbacks’ vice-president of government affairs, credits a team business consultant who is also Filipino, Hunter Fitton, with pitching the Independence Day event. He pointed out high presence of Filipinos in the state. He also recruited local Filipino dance groups and food trucks. Diamondbacks caps with the Philippines flag also sold out.

“I was surprised to find that out that there was such a huge Filipino community,” Pierce said. “I just really love that the team has made it a priority to reach outside of maybe what someone might think is the normal or the stereotypical demographic.”

Celebrations in Europe

Across countries in Europe, there are large gatherings with longstanding reputations. Given that the Filipino diaspora is one of the largest diaspora populations in the world, it’s not surprising how many celebrations there are, said Chu, the Amherst professor.

In the Netherlands, the Kalayann Fiesta Foundation Netherlands held an Independence Day Picnic over the weekend. Ice Seguerra, a popular Filipino actor and singer-songwriter who is a transgender man, was the guest performer.

Journey Torres, who immigrated to the Netherlands from the Philippines in 1999 when he was 8, recalls going to a Philippine Independence Day event in Amsterdam two years later. He described it as having the atmosphere of a small “family barbecue party.” There weren’t many other Filipinos then. But by the 2010s, jobs and cultural exchange programs brought more. The event gained more notoriety with Filipinos coming from Germany and Belgium.

“Now there are also busses that goes from Belgium to the Netherlands,” Torres said. “I believe it’s one of the first Philippine Independence Day celebrations that was organized here in mainland Europe.”

The Philippine Independence Day Association in Rome has been organizing events for over 15 years in hotels, parks and piazzas. They seem to keep getting bigger and drawing Filipinos from all over Italy, said Jaiane Morales, the event’s programming deputy.

This year’s daylong fete, which was Sunday, took place inside a concert hall but with Pinoy food stalls outside that, among other fare, served the traditional Filipino ice cream dessert of halo halo as well as the Italian classic gelato. The goal is to have a feast of food and “Filipiniana costumes,” Morales said.

The theme of the event’s talent show, “Balik Saya” or “returning joy,” is meant to foster meaningful connection abroad. Millions of Filipinos have departed the Philippines, a leading source of global labor, in search of jobs and better opportunities to earn and provide for loved ones they’ve left behind.

“If they are missing their families at home, then this is one way of easing that loneliness,” Morales said.

___ Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.

___

Terry Tang is a Phoenix-based member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. You can follow her on X at @ttangAP.

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World

Iran Live Updates: Global Markets Tumble After U.S. Warns War Could Last Weeks

Published

12 minutes ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

President Trump is meeting Germany’s leader at the White House after sidelining his European allies in the decision to attack Iran. Oil and gas prices surged and stock markets fell, after U.S. and Israeli officials signaled that strikes on Iran would intensify.

World

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

Published

1 hour ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described what he believes is the “best option” for Americans looking to flee Israel amid the ongoing unrest across the Middle East.

Huckabee said overnight, “We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here,” and that there are “very limited” options available.

“As of now, the best is utilizing Israel’s Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the U.S.,” Huckabee said on X. “Not sure when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen. Hopefully soon, but even when it does, there will be VERY limited flights with priorities to those who already were ticketed by El Al. Doubtful that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.”

“The Ministry of Tourism is operating buses to Taba. That crossing is further away, but it’s open 24/7. There are some flights from Taba, but there are also options to get to Cairo, and it’s operating normally except to Middle Eastern countries. To get out, it’s the best option for now,” Huckabee added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, left, and emergency personnel at the site of an Iranian missile strike on a residential building in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 1, 2026. (Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images; Ronen Zvulun/TPX Images of the Day/Reuters)

Huckabee also said he does not recommend Americans exit via Jordan at this time, as “Flights are not consistent and access across the Allenby crossing has limited hours.”

“All of our personnel from [the] embassy are sheltering in place, but I realize you may need to get people out and back home and not continue to incur hotel costs,” the ambassador wrote.

NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

People take shelter in Tel Aviv on Sunday, March 1, 2026, after Iran launched missile barrages following attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

U.S. Embassy Jerusalem said in a statement early Tuesday morning that it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It also mentioned the Israeli Ministry of Tourism’s buses to Taba.

“To be added to the passenger list for a shuttle, you must register via the Ministry’s evacuation form,” it said.

A firefighter works to put out a fire in Tel Aviv after Iran launched missiles into Israel on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters)

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“The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety,” it added.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

World

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Published

2 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Hours after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel and US military assets located in several Gulf countries.

Iran has since struck targets in Israel as well as US military assets in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While the Iranian attacks initially focused on US military assets, Gulf states said Tehran has expanded attacks targeting civilian infrastructure including hotels, airports and energy facilities.

What sites has Iran hit in Gulf countries?

US military assets

On Saturday, Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, located in the capital, Manama.

Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said that Ali al-Salem airbase came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems.

In Qatar, the Defence Ministry says it “thwarted” attacks on the country in accordance with a “pre-approved security plan”, intercepting “all missiles” before they reached the country’s territory. On Saturday, Iran had targeted the Al Udeid airbase, which hosts the US forces, the government said.

Over the past four days of the conflict, attacks on Gulf countries have intensified, and governments in the region say they have intercepted large numbers of Iranian missiles and drones.

Bahrain said its air defence systems have destroyed 73 missiles and 91 drones launched by Iran since the start of the latest conflict.

The UAE Defence Ministry spokesperson said that 186 missiles were launched and 172 of them were destroyed. One missile landed on UAE territory. Additionally, 812 Iranian drones were monitored, and 755 of them were intercepted.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said that three cruise missiles were detected and intercepted since Saturday. Additionally, 101 ballistic missiles were detected, and 98 were intercepted. Thirty-nine drones were detected, and 24 were intercepted. On Monday, the Qatari Defence Ministry said in a statement that the air force downed two Iranian SU-24 fighter jets.

US embassies

Early on Tuesday, a “limited fire” broke out at the US embassy in the Saudi capital of Riyadh after it was hit by two drones. The attack caused “minor material damage” to the compound, the Saudi Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Black smoke was ⁠seen rising over Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, which houses foreign missions, after the attack, the Reuters news agency reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait released a statement on Tuesday saying that a “treacherous Iranian attack” targeted the US embassy building in Kuwait. This came a day after videos emerged that showed smoke emerging from near the embassy in Kuwait City.

The statement called the attack a “flagrant violation of all international norms and laws, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 1961 on Diplomatic Relations, which grant immunity to diplomatic buildings and their staff even in cases of armed conflict.”

On Monday, three US jets crashed in Kuwait. The US military blamed the crash on “friendly fire”, but a Kuwaiti statement did not give a reason for the incident.

The US embassy in Kuwait on Tuesday suspended operations until further notice, citing the “ongoing regional tensions”.⁠

Energy infrastructure

Qatar’s state-run energy firm and the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), QatarEnergy, announced on Monday that it had halted LNG production following Iranian attacks on its operational facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed in Qatar.

Iranian officials have publicly denied targeting QatarEnergy.

Saudi Arabia shut down operations at the Ras Tanura plant, its biggest domestic oil refinery operated by Saudi Aramco, after a fire broke out at the facility that officials said was caused by debris from the interception of two Iranian drones.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted an unnamed Iranian military source as saying: “The attack on Aramco was an Israeli false flag operation,” adding that Israel’s goal was “to distract the minds of regional countries from its crimes in attacking civilian sites in Iran.”

“Iran has announced frankly that it will target all American and Israeli interests, installations and facilities in the region, and has attacked many of them so far, but Aramco facilities have not been among the targets of Iranian attacks so far,” the source told the agency.

Tasnim quoted the source as saying: “According to data provided to us by intelligence sources, the port of Fujairah in the UAE is also one of the next targets of the Israelis in the false flag operation, and this regime intends to attack it.”

Airports

Airports have been targeted in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, and also in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. Officials have blamed Iran for the strikes, though Tehran has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks on those facilities.

An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that Erbil International Airport was targeted twice on Saturday, with a drone attempting to target the airport and air defences intercepting and shooting it down.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference on Tuesday that there were attempts to attack Hamad International Airport, but they all failed.

At Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, at least one person was killed and seven wounded during what the facility’s authority called an “incident.”

The Dubai media office wrote in an X post that part of Dubai International Airport “sustained minor damage in an incident”, without specifying what the incident was or who was behind it.

The region’s airspace, one of the busiest in the world, has been closed in the wake of the conflict, stranding tens of thousands of travellers. About 20,000 passengers have been stranded in the UAE, while almost 8,000 people are also stuck in transit in Qatar as the airspace remains closed.

Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad, which together operate more than 1,000 flights daily, have suspended operations. Emirates on Monday announced limited flight resumption, but normal operations have not started.

Hotels and residencies

The Interior Ministry of Bahrain said on Saturday that several residential buildings in Manama had been hit, reporting on X that the civil defence was engaged in firefighting and rescue operations at the affected sites.

On Saturday, Iran fired 137 missiles and 209 drones across the UAE, its Ministry of Defence said, with fires and smoke reaching the Dubai landmarks of Palm Jumeirah and Burj Al Arab.

Videos circulating on social media showed smoke emerging from the entrance of a five-star luxury hotel, Fairmont The Palm, in the Palm Jumeirah area.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Iranian targets are not just military, but all of the country’s territory. He did not go into detail about which parts of Qatar are specifically being targeted.

Al-Ansari said that all red lines have been crossed; from the north to the south of Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from Doha, Qatar.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had targeted a hotel complex in Bahrain because it was hosting US soldiers.

“We are not targeting our brothers or neighbours in the Persian Gulf. But we are targeting US targets, and this is clear,” Araghchi said on Tuesday.

“We started by attacking their military bases, and they evacuated their military bases and moved them to hotels and created human shields for themselves. We try to target military personnel, infrastructure and facilities helping the US and its army in launching operations against Iran.”

Why is Iran targeting civilian infrastructure in the Gulf?

One of the reasons why the Iranians are resorting to hitting civilian infrastructure in neighbouring countries is to “demonstrate their military capabilities,” Luciano Zaccara, Iran and Gulf analyst at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera.

“Iran is retaliating against all the attacks, not in one place, but in almost 10 simultaneously,” he said.

“The other thing is the political message they want to give that if Iran is attacked, the impact will be global,” Zaccara said, noting that the main message is that not only Iran, but the economy of the whole region, will be affected.

“And neither the US, the region, nor the consumers of energy are able to continue this way,” he said.

Zaccara added: “But at this point, they [Iran] don’t care that much, considering that they have been under sanctions for a long time. So it’s not affecting the Iranian economy that much. And the fact that the oil price is going up – even though they export very little – means they are still surviving.”