Two back-to-back weekends of faith, music and Filipino community spirit unfolded in Queens as the Diocese of Iligan Singing Clergy performed a benefit concert in Woodside, followed the next day by the 26th anniversary celebration of the God the Father Children’s Apostolate in Astoria.
The Diocese of Iligan Singing Clergy, popularly known as the Iligan Singing Priests or “The Voice of Iligan,” kicked off their 2026 U.S. fundraising tour on Aug. 1 with a concert at the San Sebastian Gym in Woodside.
The group is led by Most Rev. Jose Ramirez Rapadas III, the 54-year-old Bishop of Iligan, who accompanies the clergy musically during their performances.
Formed within the Diocese of Iligan in the Philippines, the group blends spiritual messages with classic and contemporary songs as a form of musical evangelization. Proceeds from their concerts, including additional New York-area stops billed as “ecological concerts,” support retired priests, seminarians, church building projects and environmental advocacy efforts tied to the diocese’s Home of Shepherds initiative for aging clergy.
A day later, the mood shifted from concert hall to parish hall as the God the Father Children’s Apostolate at Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria celebrated its 26th anniversary.
The apostolate, which normally holds a Novena and Healing Mass every fourth Thursday of the month at the church’s Upper Church on 29th Street, drew devotees from Astoria, the Bronx, New Jersey and Connecticut for the milestone gathering.
Rudy Fernandez, president of the God the Father Children’s Apostolate, and Tita Fernandez, president of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Queens and Bronx prayer community, helped host the celebration, which spilled into a festive gathering at a local barangay captain’s home hosted by Quinn and Eddy Aranez, complete with an abundance of Filipino dishes that organizers joked tested everyone’s diet resolve.
The celebration also marked a community introduction: New York State Assemblymember Steven Raga, the first and only Filipino American elected to the state Legislature, met members of the prayer group for the first time at the gathering.
Members of Ladies for Rizal, including Iris Capuno, Josie Neri Jampayas and Violeta Serrano Ibarra, also joined the festivities, which organizers described as feeling like a hometown fiesta transplanted to Queens.
Editor’s note: Hannah Suarez is a New York-based Filipina-American community organizer, producer and performing artist who promotes Filipino culture, cinema, fashion and disaster-relief fundraising through Concerned Artists of the Philippines, Bantawan Productions, Queens People’s Movement, Ladies for Rizal, TOFA and other platforms.
