Filipino community of Wagga looking to reach out to region's Filipinos

It's the idea that everyone helps everyone, it's the spirit of teamwork or camaraderie between compatriots.

Annabelle Borja, president of the Filipino community of Wagga, knows first hand how important that can be.

Mrs Borja and her family arrived in Wagga in 2012 and it wasn't long before their isolation took its toll, especially for her husband.

"We didn't know anyone, we have no relatives and friends here, we just landed in Wagga because we had a regional visa," she said.

"And my husband was about to surrender, he was really into depression and he wanted to go back to the Philippines because he has no one here."

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But on the feast day of mother Mary's birthday, Mrs Borja was sure there would be other Filipinos at mass and urged her husband to go along.

A Filipino man sat beside Mr Borja on the pew and after the mass they got chatting. He was a seminarian brother and that chance encounter brought the pair into the local community.

"That seminarian linked my husband to the Filipino store owner ... from there ... hooked us up to a job, a place to stay, hooked up to some friends," she said.

And it's with that in mind that Mrs Borja and the Filipino community of Wagga group are launching a data gathering campaign to find out how many Filipinos are in the area and to strengthen their links.

This year the Filipino community will be celebrating 125 years of independence from the Spanish and the local community wants to celebrate in style, so they want to reach as many Filipinos as possible.

There were approximately 690 people of Filipino descent living in Wagga according to the most recent census, but the group believes that figure could be much higher.

And by finding out a more accurate number of Filipinos living locally, they can also survey the group to see how they'd like to celebrate the big day.

Marina O'Donnell is the community cultural adviser for the group and she came to Wagga in 1984. Back then you could count the members of the local Filipino community on two hands, she said.

The community has grown since then and it is important for her to see other people thrive when they move to town.

"It's a nice feeling if you think you've helped people, made them happy," she said.

Independence day is the June 12, but the Wagga Filipinos will celebrate the day on June 17.

They plan to make it a "mini-Fusion Festival" showcasing their culture to the people of their adopted home with good food from across the 7100 islands that make up the Philippines, and lots of music.

"It's a fiesta, a feast, we want to showcase the food of the Philippines ... Australia is a very diverse country, we want to share that," said Mrs Borja.

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