It’s no coincidence that Kaibigan, the name of Portland State’s Filipino American Student Association, means “friend” in Tagalog. The association has received the PSU Student Group of the Year award from Student Activities and Leadership Programs three times.
Like any good friend, Kaibigan knows how to throw a good party. This Saturday, Kaibigan will be hosting its Fifth Annual Pilipino Cultural Night, also known as PCN.
Kaibigan’s gathering will have an array of fabulous guests. The event’s keynote speaker will be Filipino-American author, comedian and professor Kevin Nadal. Named one of People Magazine‘s hottest bachelors in 2006, Nadal frequently performs his comedy and poetry at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, as well as the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City. Though it’s not all laughs and good looks—Nadal has also been featured several times on the Filipino Channel and Filipinas Magazine, and he is the author of Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice.
Also headlining this year’s PCN is artist and activist Anne Beryl Corotan. Corotan will perform spoken word and showcase music from her first Filipino folk acoustic album called Himig Sandata.
PCN’s theme, “ISA: Uniting as One,” highlights an idea that many of the members of Kaibigan can get behind.
“For the past eight years, Kaibigan has strived to build unity both on campus and in the greater community,” said political chair Christian Aniciete. “Kaibigan hopes this sense of unity transcends differences in age, generation, skin color, gender and ideologies, especially during a historic time when the Philippines elects a new president.”
Kaibigan members won’t be the only ones attending the event. This year, 400 people are expected to attend PCN, including Portland State students, families and community members from the Filipino American population as well as the greater Portland community.
To welcome the array of different faces at this event, Kaibigan members will be getting down with dances they taught to each other, which is evidence of just how student-oriented this group really is.
The dances showcased will include five traditional numbers from the Philippines, as well as a hip-hop remix of one of the Philippines’ traditional dances. Kaibigan Publicity Coordinator Tina Le is one member who’s excited for this year’s lineup.
“Each year holds a new cast, therefore adding new views, styles and methods in celebrating Pilipino Cultural Night,” Le said.
Other dance and music offered will be the Portland-based Filipino American dance group Teatro Bagong Silangan, and four singers who will sing in Tagalog. The PSU Kaibigan Spoken Word Ensemble will be performing a powerful piece entitled “If You Want to Know What We Are.”
“The poem is written by Filipino American author, poet and labor right activist Carlos Bulosan who wrote in response to questions frequently asked of people of color like ‘what are you?’ and ‘where are you from?'” Aniciete said.
What is a party without delicious food? Traditional Filipino cuisine will be served, including the well-known lumpia shanghai (which is a Filipino eggroll), bihon pancit (a traditional noodle dish), Adobo chicken and sinigang pork (a tamarind soup with pork also known as sour soup).
Whether you’re a Filipino/Filipino-American student wanting to learn about your own past and future, a supporter of the Kaibigan Scholarship Fund (where all proceeds from the event will go) or just interested is someone else’s rich culture, PCN is not a party to be missed.