19 years ago, on January 16, 2002, Jon Jon Rivero (Founder of the Balikbayan Project) made a promise to his dad to go back to the Philippines right before he died. Jon Jon’s dad wanted to always take his family back to discover their humble beginnings but they were unable due his brain tumor and financial constraints. In 2006, Jon Jon kept his promise and embarked on a life long journey of learning, service, and discovery.
Dr. Jose Zamora Rivero and Mrs. Gloria Rivero were trailblazers of sharing Filipino Cultural Dances and Folk Music in provinces from the prairies in Alberta and Saskatchewan and as far as the maritimes in New Brunswick during the 1970’s (during the emerging diaspora of the Filipino people abroad).
Both Dr. Jose Z. Rivero and Mrs. Gloria Rivero belonged to a small group of pioneer Filipino Canadian Families in Saskatchewan that promoted the preservation and sharing of Filipino Folk Dances & Music with the next generation of Filipino Canadians, their children. Jon Jon Rivero, Founder of the Balikbayan Project, and Joel Rivero (Jon Jon’s brother) grew up with a tight-knit group of family friends that would share their love for performing Filipino Cultural Folk Dances and Music at many multi-cultural festivals in Western Canada. It is these dances and cultural folk musical art forms which served the basis for the Balikbayan Project’s Pagpasabot Self-Expression Festival each year with Streetlight Philippines since 2007.
This is a video to remember Jon Jon’s dad on his death anniversary, recorded on January 16, 2021 in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
The Filipino Canadian Maharlika Dance Group of Regina, at The Mosaic Festival of Cultures put on by the Regina Multicultural Council, circa 1994. (Jon Jon Rivero is in the front row wearing glasses and his brother is wearing the yellow scarf, seated behind him.)