San Diego Padres Filipino Heritage Night Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

San Diego Padres Devalues Filipino Heritage Night
June 16, 2016 – Filipino Heritage Night, a night in conjunction with the San Diego Padres, was being held in June to coincide with Philippine Independence Day (June 12) and to accompany several community events held in San Diego to commemorate this day. Unfortunately, this year the San Diego Padres showcased what many attendees have considered and said to be a lack of care and respect for the Filipino community and culture held on Saturday, June 4th.
Padres improper planning resulted in several last-minute changes that left Filipino performers disrespected, attendees without their promised commemorative t-shirt to showcase their support of Filipino Heritage Night, and ultimately a devaluing of the Filipino culture because of a lack of respect and care for its importance.
The Padres originally planned Filipino Heritage Night to be held in the Park Blvd corner then changed to Park at the Park – which later was found to be overbooked by the Padres. The logistics of the evening, including Pre-Game Show schedule and location, ticket promo code, and commemorative t-shirt distribution had long been finalized; however, the last-minute changes to performance times, conflicts with overbooking the stage, and then exhibited a lack of organization despite having planned the event in advance.
Many performers, all of whom were volunteering (yet still had to buy their own tickets to get in), were either cut short or completely from the schedule due to the Padres’ last-minute addition of a non-Filipino band performing in between each scheduled act. Various requests that Filipino Heritage Night be represented cohesively were suggested, but fell short to ‘this is just how we’re going to do it.’ Almost none of the acts were allowed to perform on stage, and headline Katriz Trinidad, a former contestant on “The Voice,” was reduced to a mere 30 seconds.
Commemorative t-shirts were also promised to attendees who used the webt community code to purchase their tickets. Many fans and supporters, unfortunately, walked away without a t-shirt and were asked to pick up their shirt at a non-Filipino Heritage Night game a week later. This presented problems for those who traveled out-of-town to support the specific game and an even greater stray for the Filipino community and its supporters who came to celebrate the night together – but couldn’t.
This mishandling comes only two weeks after the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus were unable to sing the national anthem as scheduled for OUT at the Park weekend, but played a recording of a woman singing the anthem instead.
The Filipino Community wants to ensure that the Padres organization hosts all community events in a more efficient and respectful manner with sincere and authentic intentions. The Padres needs to resolve these issues (especially with cultural significance) in a more professional manner so avoidable mistakes do not create a devaluement and consequence to a community culture.
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Below is the San Diego Padres response.

We were surprised to learn of the statement issued today regarding Filipino Heritage Night at Petco Park, as we had not received any complaints in the two weeks since the event on Saturday, June 4. Having heard the concerns expressed today, we have already reached out to those who planned the event to discuss their concerns. 

The Padres have been proud to host Filipino Heritage Night annually since 2008, and we were especially proud this year to work closely with the Filipino community to grow the event. Interest and demand in this year’s event surpassed projections based on years past. When we realized this was the case, and that the number of T-shirts originally ordered was not sufficient, we immediately placed an order for 200 additional T-shirts to ensure every member of the group would receive one. The additional T-shirts were not available by June 4, but every person who did not take one home that night was offered the opportunity to either have a T-shirt mailed to them, or receive complimentary tickets to another Padres game to pick up their T-shirt. In fact, more than 200 members of the group have been hosted at Petco Park this week and have picked up their T-shirts.

In addition to specially-designed T-shirts, Filipino Heritage Night, like other heritage celebration nights, includes the opportunity for pre-game performances. Per the group’s preference, we were able to accommodate the performances at the Park at the Park. That necessitated the integration of multiple elements of that night’s entertainment program, including a live band, which is consistent with every Saturday night game. We have confirmed that every act affiliated with Filipino Heritage Night that was scheduled in advance and cleared in accordance with our protocol, was provided the opportunity to perform as promised. In addition, we were presented with unscheduled performers at the last minute, and added as many of them as possible, in an attempt to accommodate everyone.

The Padres have long been proud to celebrate the diversity that makes San Diego America’s Finest City.”