Church of Jesus Christ celebrates 31st National Family Week; encourages Filipinos to 'build forever families'

Over 6,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Cavite, Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan gathered in Pasay City to join nationwide efforts to celebrate and promote the importance of building strong families in Philippine society.

On September 30, 2023, at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Concert Grounds, the Church organized the “#BFF (Building Forever Families) Covenant Path Adventure,” an amusement park-themed fair that offers a blend of entertainment, engagement, and learning opportunities for attendees of all ages.

The event in Pasay City is the culmination activity of the 31st National Family Week celebration of the Church in the Philippines, the tail end of a week-long program carefully designed to provide spiritual nourishment and strengthen family relationships.

“Families are so important for our loving Father in Heaven. Our prophets have continued to teach us that the family is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children,” Elder G. Kenneth Lee, an Area Seventy of the Church, said.

“[This event] is helping find more activities for families [to] enjoy and have good recreational activity today,” he added.

National Family Week has been observed annually since 1992, after the signing of Proclamation 60 by President Fidel V. Ramos, which declares the last week of September as "Family Week." This declaration is in accordance with the Philippines Constitution, which affirms that “the state recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation.” The Church has remained committed at the forefront since 1992 in supporting this proclamation.

The week-long celebration complements the Church's partnership with the National Committee on the Filipino Family (NCFF) and all partnering government agencies and civil society groups. This year’s 31st National Family Week Celebration is themed “Pamilyang Pilipino: Pagtugon sa Nababagong Pananaw at Panahon” (Filipino Families: Responding to Changing Perspectives and Times).

Local stars and celebrities also graced the event, with social media influencer couple Eric “Eruption” Tai, and his wife Rona Tai, as hosts. This was the third year that the Tais volunteered to share their time and talents as #BFF Ambassadors of the National Family Week activities of the Church.

“The main essence of this event is to remind everyone that we are so blessed to have a family and we all belong to a loving family,” the Tais said in an interview, after the opening program of the event.

“It is essential that we spend time with our families, not only during Family Week, but every week,” they added.

Teenage star actress Xia Vigor also performed for the more than 6,000 attendees at the event, along with her co-hosts Caleb Costales and Daday Baluyot.

The trio led a series of daily online talk shows organized by the Church, from September 24 to October 1, 2023. The talk shows discussed a range of family-centered topics, including building mental and emotional resilience, facing adversities with faith, tips on how to establish family businesses, and ideas on how to safely navigate the online universe, to name a few.

Copies of the online shows, as well as videos and photos from the “#BFF Covenant Path Adventure," are available on the Church's Facebook page.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that families can be eternal. The Church teaches that if we live righteously, we can return to live with our Heavenly Father as part of His family forever. The blessing of an eternal family is made possible because of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

To know more about the Church, its beliefs, local humanitarian efforts, and programs, including its dedication to the country’s National Family Week, click here.