By Nakoa Nunies| Staff Writer

In 1992 Dr. Fred Cordova and his wife Dr. Dorothy Cordova first introduced October as Filipino-American History Month, according to The Filipino American National Society (FANS). It wasn’t until November 2009, that the United States House of Senate and House of Representatives officially recognized October as Filipino-American History Month. Since then countless colleges, universities, museums, and community groups had sought out to commemorate Filipino-American heritage, culture, and values.

The KCC Bayanihan Club, also known as the Filipino Club, has celebrated its heritage by organizing nine events throughout October. Previously, the club has hosted a Filipino Book Curriculum Fair at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. As well as a “Filipino-style” ice cream social and a fiesta booth where the club handed out halo-halo to students at KCC.

The club will be bringing in guest speaker, Lane Wilcken, to talk about “Batok” Filipino tattoos on Oct. 25 at ʻIliahi 231 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There, Wilcken will discuss traditional Filipino tattoos, share his research, and show a live tattoo demonstration.

The Bayanihan Club has previously been deactivated for the past decade until it was recently revived in January 2016. The club’s focus is to provide ethnic understanding and cultural knowledge to the student of KCC. The club also helps to support the Filipino students attending KCC by giving providing them with a sense of belonging and to encourage other Filipino students to receive a higher education.

“The Bayanihan Club of Kapi‘olani Community College seeks to promote Filipino culture and values,” said Rhea Aninag the secretary for the KCC Bayanihan Club.

According to Aninag, Filipino culture is slowly but surely fading.

“There are a lot of Filipino Americans who aren’t aware of their culture because their parents don’t teach them,” she said. “The Bayanihan Club seeks to share and preserve Filipino beliefs.”

If you are interested in joining the Bayanihan Club or have any questions, you can contact a representative at BayaniahKCC@gmail.com. Click here to check out the KCC Bayanihan Facebook page and follow the club’s Instagram bayanihankcc.

Corrections: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the location of the event on Tuesday, Oct. 25. It will be in ‘Iliahi 231, not ‘Iliahi 123. The story has been corrected, and we apologize for the error. Also, an earlier version of this story stated there would be a Halloween get together on Friday, Oct. 28. That event has been cancelled by the club, and the story has been changed to reflect that.

To read all of Nakoa’s stories, click here. Nakoa can be reached at nakoakn@hawaii.edu