Meaningful Day for a Dedicated Community Leader

Volume 1, Issue No. 27

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

 Our latest as of Monday, January 27, 2020 

~ Mainstream recognition is hard to come by especially for Canada's visible minorities. But when it is extended, it overflows with genuine affection and respect. That was what happened to Teresa M. Torralba, the original Batangas native and brains behind such successes as Filipinos Making Waves Festival and Taste of Manila street festival, and of course, the feel-good Waves newspaper. When she marked her 60th birthday on Saturday, January 25, 2020, friends in Canada's Parliament took a pause and celebrated with her.

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AS TERESA M. TORRALBA TURNS 60

Priceless Gifts Worth Keeping

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

'Tell me what company you keep and I'll tell you what you are". - Miguel de Cervantes

TORONTO - Teresa Torralba celebrates her birthday and the community celebrates with her. Why?

Families and friends, friends of friends and just about everyone who knew her came for one splendid night of camaraderie and enjoyment in one of the unostentatious birthday bashes I've attended in the Greater Toronto Area.

By practice in the socials-oriented Filipino community, the event was low-key; it was more of an indoor get-together of kindred souls than a grandiose display of opulence notable in Filipino parties.

There was absolutely no pretense of showing off, no attempt to look impressive, nothing to overwhelm the attendees with an abundance of food, expensive pieces of jewelry, long-winding speeches and luxurious clothes. And, if I may add, no beauty queens with glittering crowns and large sashes.

Age sixty opens a new threshold, and that was it for Teresa who, looking fortyish at first glance, turned magically 60 on January 23, and celebrated the milestone on Saturday, January 25, 2020. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjtVTEwqyS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjtVTEwqyS0).

Her richness was in being surrounded by family and extended families beyond the merger of the Mendoza and Torralba clans of Batangas, the province known for its distinctive ala eh long before Canada had its interjection eh. Ala eh, eh!

They were all there plus countless other acquaintances, confidants, and trusted people whose names need not be mentioned. (Toronto-based musical artists Alyssa Datu, Maria Panaligan and Isabella Santiago pay musical tribute to Teresa with their soulful rendition of the megahit love song Pers Lab composed by Mon Torralba: https://youtu.be/k6b8B2MvhTg).

I personally think many people mistake a gaudy festivity for success, even associating extravagance as public acceptance than with austere simplicity in marking the birth anniversary, which was what Teresa's occasion was all about.

In the end, what mattered was not so much the number of guests as the caliber of people who were there. 

"Tell me who your friends are, and I tell you who you are," the adage reminds us, and it speaks well of the company she keeps since debuting years ago in Toronto's social and political scenes through her famed Filipinos Making Waves Festival at Yonge-Dundas Square, the feel-good Waves newspaper, and acting behind the curtain - actually the brains of it all - in the phenomenal Taste of Manila street festival.

I felt lucky to have made it on her list of invitees, for it gave me the occasion to rub shoulders with people I only see in the news, the decision-makers themselves, and lesser mortals who invigorate the community.

Ordinarily, in news coverages, it is a necessity to ask questions and talk with people in the know, for example, Members of Parliament like Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development; Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship; and Salma Zahid, the lawmaker responsible for creating Filipino Heritage Month in Canada.

Mendicino was gushing with thanks in articulating the sense of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the government of Canada acknowledging Teresa's involvement in events that promote active community participation. "On behalf of the Prime Minister and the government of Canada, we are very grateful for all your contributions and for everything you do . . . " Mendicino stressed. (Video at: https://youtu.be/5fO_sSpKGuk).

But Teresa's was a private event, yet the three MPs graced the occasion with their presence - a subtle expression of support and a recognition of her leadership in the expanding Filipino Canadian community. It's even more significant when viewed in a personal context.

Respect begets respect, and with it comes genuine affection. Teresa got them so handily on this special occasion, and not just from every Tom, Dick, and Harry, but from men and women of power and influence. Those are the gifts worth treasuring forever. (Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved).