Minister defends Filipino community’s right to hold religious feast in Marsaskala streets

Byron Camilleri has called out disparaging comments made on social media towards the Filipino community after it celebrated the feast of Santo Nino in Marsaskala on Sunday.

The Home Affairs Minister defended the Filipino community’s right to hold a public religious celebration that has become an annual event in Marsaskala.

On Sunday, hundreds of Filipinos living in Malta gathered at the Marsaskala parish church for Mass and later took to the streets for a colourful and noisy procession with the statue of baby Jesus.

The feast known as Santo Nino is celebrated on the third Sunday of January and has become somewhat of a tradition in the seaside locality.

The celebration attracted some disparaging comments on social media that bordered on xenophobia and racism.

“These comments are not worthy of the people who made them and do not represent the beliefs of the Maltese and Gozitans of good standing,” the minister said.

Camilleri noted that in visits to the Maltese diaspora in Canada and the US recently he enjoyed seeing them celebrating their identity, including traditional celebrations with statues and bands.

“I have seen disparaging comments about the Filipino community in Malta who peacefully celebrated a religious feast… If these people are good enough to be carers, accountants and waiters among us, there should be nothing that stops them from living their life in peace among us,” Camilleri said.