The Philippine-American Friendship Community, Inc. (PAFCOM) marked the 36th Philippine-American Friendship Day Grand Parade and Festival on June 28, drawing hundreds of Filipino-Americans and local officials to Jersey City for a day of civic pride, culture and community.
The Philippine Consulate General in New York, led by Consul General Senen T. Mangalile, joined the celebration, marching alongside Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, Hudson County officials and PAFCOM officers down West Side Avenue toward Lincoln Park.
The opening program at West Side and Claremont Avenues featured messages from PAFCOM leaders, Grand Marshals Dr. Rod and Elma Castillo, Mayor Solomon and Consul General Mangalile, followed by a ribbon-cutting that formally launched the parade.
Founded in 1990 as the Philippine-American Friendship Committee and later renamed the Philippine-American Friendship Community, PAFCOM is one of New Jersey’s largest Filipino-American nonprofits. Under the leadership of its 2026 president, educator and community organizer Shiran Niño Ybañez, the group continues to strengthen Filipino-American visibility and intergenerational ties through flagship programs like the Friendship Day parade.
Based in Jersey City, home to more than 16,000 Filipino-Americans and a historic Manila Avenue corridor, the organization’s mission is to celebrate Philippine-American friendship, promote Filipino culture and support the integration and well-being of Filipino-Americans through parades, festivals and social services.
Friendship Day is held annually in Jersey City to recognize the city’s role as a long-time hub of the Filipino community on the East Coast and to honor the postwar Philippine-American alliance that inspired the original Philippine-American Friendship Day observance in the 1950s. PAFCOM’s volunteer leadership and committees coordinate the parade and festival, which traditionally fall on the same weekend as the New York City Pride March in Manhattan, underscoring the broader season of cultural and civic celebration across the region.
This year’s parade included civic, regional and community organizations from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The highlight was the announcement of the 2026 organizational winners: CEBU, Inc. for Best Performance; SOCKSARGEN, Inc. for Best Costume; GIUSA for Most Symbolic contingent; and Plaridel Lodge No. 302 of the Free and Accepted Masons for Most Number of Attendees.
The festivities culminated in Lincoln Park with cultural performances and musical numbers on the main stage. Vendor booths lined the festival grounds, offering Filipino food, crafts and heritage products, while families gathered under tents and trees to reconnect with friends and kababayan.
PAFCOM officials said the strong turnout reflected the enduring bayanihan spirit in Jersey City and their commitment to keep the Friendship Day parade and festival a cornerstone of Filipino-American life in New Jersey.
