This was an unusual view at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. A six -foot tall, wide shoulder mascot a white barong tagalog, wearing a traditional Philipino Gentleman The cap on her oversized head, and a precious, soft smile on her face stood near the airport arrival in Terminal 1, eagerly waiting with a small Canadian flag and stems of flowers mixed in hand.
As soon as the slipping doors opened, a red Philipiniana Bolero a small, beautiful mascot and a blue-white dress. His oversized head was implicated with a hair tied in a red head dupatta. He pushed into a car that had his belongings, Balikabayan The box, and as a basket at the top, waves with a small Philippine flag. They closed their eyes and moved towards each other, shared a worried neck and a reunion that was both Heartbreaker,
The male mascot “Kua Popoy” was introduced in 2024 by Pinoy Ontario vendors (POVs), an organization that celebrates and supports the Philipino businesses in Ontario. Seeing the excitement of the crowd as a popoy, participated in community programs in the last few months, Pov leaders were inspired to take the story further with the beginning of their girlfriend, “Khada Baza.”
“Ku Popoy arrives in Canada for the first time, worked hard [and] Pinoy Ontario’s founder president Paulo Bookud became ‘permanent resident’.
He was formally introduced for hundreds of attendees at the fifth annual summer barbecue party of Pov at Earl Bali Park, Toronto on 10 August. This was an important moment because his story reflects the life of many Filipino who chose to migrate to Canada.
“They are like love birds,” Ian said, which was one of the booth vendors in the incident. “Last year, the popoy was unhappy and alone. Thankfully, they joined again.”
Entrepreneur and participant Fred Oriyal called it an exciting development.
“Usually I see animals [as mascots]Correct? This mascot is something different … a Filipino uniform, “He said.” For the first time I saw Basha, [I said] ‘Wow, she is very Philipina!’ ,
But Popoy and Basha are more than only two mascot that ends their long distance relationship. They are stars in a clever “support local” campaign that is already bringing a smile on social media.
“We were told that it was very funny, that the POV was creative to think about,” Bookud said. “We will use Popoy and Basha to promote businesses, especially POV members.”
Local businesses thanked for this initiative.
“The good thing about the POV is that we support each other,” said Oriyal. “It does not matter whether it is a big business or a small business; Filipinos support each other. It is the beauty of our community.”
A participant told Omni news The initiative represents BayaniA Filipino characteristic of helping each other. According to Pov, Mascots is the first Filipino human-like mascot in Canada, which has great fun for Pinoy Pride and Filipino events.
“Who knows, they can also get married,” Bookud said laughing. “Our organization will discuss marketing strategies to promote businesses … It will be a huge difference because it is unique. They will see that scheduling will be done so that people can guess that [businesses] Popoy and Basha will travel. ,
Kua popoy and eaten Basha are ready to appear in community programs in September, carefully choreographed their appearances, using tasks rather than words, so that the audience understands the feelings, whether they are Filipino or not.