Filipino Americans celebrate culture and community at Iskwelahang Pilipino graduation

Boston Globe

16 hours ago

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Camille Halloran, 9, from Boston, performed a traditional Filipino dance during a graduation ceremony and cultural dance showcase for Iskwelehang Pilipino.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Founded in 1976, Iskwelahang Pilipino claims the title of the oldest continually operating cultural school for Filipino Americans in the country. During the school year, students from toddlers to teens gather for classes in Filipino music, dance, language, history and identity. The annual graduation doubles as a cultural showcase, with performances by Iskwelahang Pilipino's rondalla string ensemble, regional folk dances and original student projects.
This year's celebration, the 49th anniversary of the school's founding, carried extra weight, as it was the first graduation since Iskwelahang Pilipino relocated from Bedford, its longtime home, to a new space in Watertown. After a year of moving between temporary locations and uncertainty about the school's future.
It also came at a time when both
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Iskwelahang Pilipino's executive director, Myra Liwanag, has been part of the school since 1986, was a member of the first graduating class and now leads the organization her niece is graduating from. Watching this year's seniors perform, she said, was both joyful and bittersweet.
Graduating seniors Brandon Lindsey, and Victoria Liwanag performed the traditional Filipino dance called, 'Manton' during the graduation ceremony.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
'We want them to grow and be successful, but we don't want to lose them,' said Liwanag. 'Some of them are going far away, but we've been fortunate that a lot of those who stay get back involved.'
Several alumni did just that, returning to take part in this year's performances — some stepping in just days before the show to join the rondalla ensemble or reprise dances they had learned years earlier.
'Rondalla — which is 'circle in the round' — is about developing a community. That's why people never graduate from it, because you don't graduate from a community,' said Elsa Janairo, who now directs the string ensemble she
first joined as a child, also in 1986
.
'So moments like these are milestones, but they're not endings, and it's wonderful when we have the opportunity to bring back alumni and have them support the younger students and just keep the cycle going.'
The graduation's dance segment featured pieces from the Maria Clara Suite, a repertoire of dances introduced during Spain's 333-year colonization of the Philippines. Drawing from Spanish styles like flamencoand jota, the performances reflected how Filipinos adapted colonial influences into uniquely local forms.
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'It's part of our ingenuity,' said Patricia Yusah, who has taught Filipino dance at Iskwelahang Pilipino for more than four decades. 'We took what was brought to us and Filipinized it.'
Yusah said the program rotates regional styles each year to reflect the cultural range of the archipelago — from indigenous mountain dances to dances from the lowland regions of Luzon and the Visayas shaped by Spanish and Catholic traditions, to Muslim traditions from Mindanao.
'There's always something new to show,' she said.
Just as its dances reflect the country's diversity, Iskwelahang Pilipino's lessons dig into the history behind them. The curriculum includes history units on colonialism, Filipino resistance and lesser-known Filipino American figures. Lilly Bolandrina, a 2020 graduate who now volunteers with the school's communications team, said the experience shaped her political worldview.
Vela Harmon-Li wore a malong (a traditional Filipino-Bangsamoro rectangular or tube-like wrap.)
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
'Growing up, we mostly learned history from one perspective,' said Bolandrina — a perspective that neglected the Philippines, also a US colony for almost 50 years, as well as Filipinos and Filipino Americans' contributions to U.S. and world history. 'But at IP, we saw the fuller picture. It gave me pride, and it gave me tools to stand up for myself.'
As one of the few students of color in her elementary school, Bolandrina remembers being singled out and made to feel like she didn't belong.
'Being in a place that celebrates your differences, and treats you as important and valuable and special and interesting because of those differences, was just so empowering,' she said.
Iskwelahang Pilipino also helped her understand that being Filipino American doesn't mean existing halfway between two cultures — it means belonging fully to both.
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'No matter who you are, no matter how much Filipino you think you are — when you're here with us, we see you as a full Filipino, and we see you as one of us,' she said.
That sense of empowerment has taken on new necessity in recent years, amid rising anti-Asian discrimination and political threats to immigrant communities. Bolandrina said the school has grown more protective of its members by limiting public promotion of its location and choosing not to ask about immigration status.
'We want to stay open and celebratory,' she said. 'But we also want to stay safe.'
Children dance a traditional Filipino dance during the graduation ceremony.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
In spite of those challenges, Iskwelahang Pilipino's leadership remains resolute in preserving the school for the next generation of Filipino Americans. As the organization approaches its 50th year, Myra Liwanag said her focus is on building a foundation that can sustain Iskwelahang Pilipino for another 50.
'Everything costs more. Families are stretched thinner,' she said. 'But this kind of cultural education is so important, especially for kids who are only a generation or two removed from immigration. We want them to know that who they are is enough.'
Nathan Metcalf can be reached at