What is Kilusan Pilipino?
By Ezra Rene Cabral
Multiculturalism, the preservation of different cultures/cultural identities within a society as state or nation, is a concept that was implemented into the CSU Channel Islands campus since its founding in 2002.
Since then, between the years 2002 and 2013, the campus has become the birthplace of nine major clubs dedicated to the concept of identity and pride in one’s own heritage.
You may have heard of such clubs as Adelente Mujer and Spectrum, which are great examples, however there is one that is not often discussed about: Kilusan Pilipino.
Founded in 2010 by a group of Filipino students who saw the need for a club suitable to their recognition in the greater community, Kilusan Pilipino has grown into a club which participates in an array of internal and external activities.
The goal, as described by the current elected president, is to “better educate, inform and display the customs and traditions that make up the Filipino culture.”
This objective is modeled after a quote spoken by Filipino nationalist hero Jose Rizal, “He who does not know how to look back at the place from which he came will never arrive at his destination” or colloquially to its simple translation, “Know history know self, no history no self”.
Kilusan Pilipino Vice President, Jomae Ofreneo, elaborated a better understanding of this unique organization.
“I was a transfer student”, she unfolded, “I came to CI about two years ago and I was new so I didn’t know anyone. I was interested in joining clubs on campus and I’m Filipino myself so I was interested in joining the Filipino club.”
She didn’t appear to be the only one who found her place in Kilusan for this reason. Others also explained that they felt that their identity itself carried them to seek out a better understanding of their heritage.
As Ofreneo noted, “A lot of us are at a point in our life where students try to find their identities and figure out who we are. A lot of us grew up in America so we feel uneducated or uninformed of the Filipino culture so it helps us get back to our roots.”
While speaking to Oferneo, the rest of the club was engaging in a game in which the goal was to locate and assemble a complete set of pieces for a puzzle.
Each team had to randomly select an unknown piece from a pile and determine if it properly belonged to the desired set or if it belonged to another.
In the end, all three team were missing one piece, which launched a new game to seek out the last remaining piece and complete the puzzle.
The journey to find the last piece to complete the near perfect image can be reflected upon ourselves. In a sense, our lives are like one huge puzzle, a piece of our identities go into place while we spend the majority of our time trying to find the more complicated shapes that are missing.
Like what Kilusan Pilipino is trying to achieve, by exploring our roots we might be able to fill out those empty and oddly shaped holes in our lives.
“We welcome people of all ethnicities,” Oferneo continued, “You don’t have to be Filipino to join this club. We just like to educate about the Filipino culture and grow and even if you’re not Filipino you can make a connection between your own culture and Filipino culture.”
The club 2013 goals are to increase their reach and connection with the campus along with all of Ventura county in community services and events to educate the public in traditional Filipino customs.
If you are further interested in these kinds of events, the club holds a festival during the spring semester, dedicated to showcasing traditional dances along with other Filipino customs.
Kilusan Pilipino holds their general meeting on Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. in room Malibu 100.
Membership cost $25.00 for new members and $15.00 for returning members.
For more information check out their slot in the Student Leadership Program database or contact the club executives if you have any questions. You can reach out to Vice President Ofreneo via email: jomae.ofreneo556@myci.csuci.edu