12 December 2005 – The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that in an effort to promote Philippine culture through dance, music and the visual arts, the Bamboo Band of The Philippine Cultural Arts Society (PhilCAS) conducted Christmas caroling tours dubbed "Mano po, Ninong, Mano po, Ninang.”

In its first performance to kick off its Christmas caroling tours, the group paid a courtesy call on the new Consul General Mrs. Minerva Jean A. Falcon on 02 December 2005. The group came in Filipino costumes and entertained the Consul General and Embassy officers and staff with Christmas music from Philippine bamboo musical instrument.

The Christmas caroling tour is part of a fund-raising effort for the organization's upcoming participation in Montreal and the International Folk Festival in the Netherlands in August 2006.

Composed of teenage students from the Filipino community in Richmond, the Bamboo Band is the first of its kind in British Columbia and was organized by PhilCAS of BC, a non-profit cultural organization for the youth dedicated to the preservation of Philippine culture through dance, music and the visual arts. END