Taipei, June 23 (CNA) A Philippine Cultural Festival that includes a parade, song and dance performances and a Miss Talent contest will be held in downtown Taipei Sunday to celebrate Philippine culture, the Taipei city government's Department of Labor announced Saturday.
The celebration, which is a part of the 2007 Southeast Asian Cultural Activities series organized by the Migrant Workers' Cultural Center (MWCC) , is held to ease the homesickness of the more-than 8,000 Filipino workers in Taipei City and to foster bilateral understanding between Taiwanese and Filipinos, said Department of Labor Commissioner Su Yin-kuei.
The first event will be a cultural parade that starts from St. Christopher's Church going to the Taipei Art Park, where the remaining activities will take place. To highlight the diversity of Philippine culture, there will be song and dance performances by various indigenous tribes, as well as a choir from St. Christopher's Church and foreign groups.
A Miss Talent contest will also take place, with the final winner getting a Taipei-Manila round-trip ticket and cash.
The Taiwan government has been very supportive of foreign workers, according to Reynaldo Gopez, labor representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).
Father Romeo Velos from St. Christopher's Church, where thousands of Filipino Catholics gather every Sunday for Mass, said the international community is no loner homogeneous and that foreign workers are not only laborers and strangers.
"They are, at the same time, residents and our brothers and sisters, " Velos said.
June 24 is Manila Day in the Philippines, Department of Labor official Victoria Huang said. In addition to the Philippines, the department also organizes similar cultural events for workers from Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand every year.