In a gesture befitting friendly relations between two nations, Toronto's northeastern suburb of Markham has caused the installation of a life-size monument in the city of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, thus cementing the strong links between the Southeast Asian country and Canada.

 

Filipino artist Ignacio "Mogi" Mogado, who is also a journalist, sculpted Rizal's bronze replica, the first full-body statue of the historical icon whose execution by musketry on December 30, 1896, by Spanish colonizers sparked the revolution that led to the declaration of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898. Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti formally unveiled the monument in elaborate ceremonies at Boxgrove community park on Sunday, June 9, 2019, coinciding with the observance of June as Filipino Heritage Month in Canada. Federal, regional, city, and Philippine diplomatic officials and the different ethnic communities attended the event.

 

Ms. Ma-Anne Dionisio, the popular Filipino-Canadian singer of Miss Saigon and Les Misérables fame, punctuated the event with her rendition of a Philippine patriotic song "Bayan Ko" (My Country).

 

Filipinos numbering 8,905, according to the 2016 census, comprise 2.7 percent of Markham's 327,400 population, to place fifth, after the Chinese, White, South Asian and Black communities.