LA Dodgers honor Fil-Am community

Consul General to Los Angeles Willy Gaa threw the ceremonial pitch at the Filipino-American Community Night at the Dodgers Stadium before the game between the LA Dodgers and the San Diego Padres last July 24.

This was the second time that the Los Angeles Dodgers invited the Philippine Consul General to throw the ceremonial pitch. The firs time was in 1994. The event was organized by the Filipino-American Community led by Bobby Reyes, chairman of the 2006 Philippine Independence Day steering committee for Southern California.

The LA Dodgers agreed that half of the proceeds sold by the Filipino-American Community will be donated to the ANCOP Foundation (USA) Inc. that will build the proposed Gawad Kalinga villages which will have a baseball ball field and a Little League.

Before the game, the Sining Kamboyoka Group, a non-profit cultural organization with a mission of promoting Filipino culture and heritage, performed the "Singkil" dance before an audience of thousands of Dodgers fans and members of the Filipino-American community. The Philippine National Anthem was sung by Chelsea Emata, a Filipino-American pop recording artist.

Also present at the event were Linda Gaa, Rick Munda, representing ANCOP Foundation, Christine Dy of the Department of Tourism and deputy consul general Mary Jo Aragon.