Filipino Club participates in Fusion, builds community

BYU’s Filipino Club has seen major growth in recent years.

The club hosts many fun and cultural events on campus, and several students said the club is really helping them build solid friendships.

Jasmin Balahadia is the co-vice president of BYU’s Filipino Club. She and other students were practicing for an event called Fusion, which is an Asian cultural celebration put on by BYU’s Multicultural Student Services.

“I feel like the Philippines has never really been represented at BYU, and so last year’s Fusion was our opportunity to showcase our culture to other people. And from then on, I feel like the Filipino Club has also become a much bigger thing,” Balahadia said.

The Filipino Club has been a way to find lasting friendships, according to co-vice president Shule Aggabao.

Aggabao said it was hard for him to keep in contact with the friends he made at BYU until he found the community in the Filipino Club.

Balahadia said growing up in Kaysville, she tried to fit in with the people around her instead of appreciating her heritage.

“When I served my mission Tagalog speaking, I got to learn more about the Filipinos and really embrace that culture and that side of myself that when I came back, I did not want to stop sharing it with people,” Balahadia said.

Many members of the Filipino club are preparing to perform five different dances in Fusion this year, which are idaw, singkil, carinosa, arnis anyo, and tinikling, Balahadia said.

“No one really performs it here in the United States and so we’re able to show our culture and my family and a lot of my friends are really happy about that, especially the ones in the Philippines,” Aggabao said.

The Filipino Club meets every other Tuesday and invites anyone interested to participate. Students can find more information on the club’s Instagram page at BYU Filipino Club.