- Panyolito, a singing group which is part of Philippine Advocacy Through Arts and Culture, performs
July 6, 2008
July 1, 2008
Part I: THE BIRTH OF THE PHILIPPINE WORKING CLASS AND THE KATIPUNAN
Migrante Ontario Youth and the Filipino Students’ Association of Toronto (FSAT) are proud to present “The Birth of the Philippine Working Class and the Katipunan,” a lecture on Philippine history to be held on Saturday, July 5, 2008, 1-4pm at the Charbonnel Lounge, St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, 81 St. Mary Street (south of Charles St. West, west of Bay St.).
July 7 marks the founding anniversary of the Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Highest and Most Revered Association of the Children of the People). Founded in 1892, the Katipunan quickly became a nation-wide organization which would lead the Philippine Revolution of 1896 to end almost 400 years of Spanish colonial rule.
The lecture, “The Birth of the Philippine Working Class and the Katipunan,” will focus on the period of Spanish colonialism and how economic policies at the time resulted in the emergence of the Philippine working class. The lecture will also look at the Katipunan as an organization initiated by workers and its role in the struggle for national liberation.
The featured resource person at the lecture, Ricky Esguerra, is former instructor of Political Science a the University of the Philippines. He is currently on the executive committee of the Community Alliance for Social Justice, and member of the Philippine Solidarity Network.
This lecture is the first of the Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran Memorial Lectures prepared by Migrante Ontario Youth in commemoration of the long-time labour leader turned congress representative, who passed away in May 2008 shortly after a visit to Canada.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact:
Migrante Ontario Youth
Mithi Esguerra
migranteON.youth@gmail.com
647-239-6553
The Filipino Students’ Association of Toronto (FSAT)
Lei-Ley Hull, Education & Community Affairs Executive
fsat.educational@gmail.com
416-801-4869
June 17, 2008
WHAT MAKES A HERO
Music and spoken word performances commemorating Jeffrey Reodica and the community’s campaign for truth and justice
Saturday, June 28, 2008
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Wellesley Community Centre, Room B
495 Sherbourne Street
(northeast corner of Sherbourne And Wellesley)
Migrante Ontario Youth, with the support of the Community Alliance for Social Justice and Philippine Advocacy Through Arts and Culture, is holding a cultural event on Saturday, June 28, 2008, 2-4pm at Wellesley Community Centre, Room B, 495 Sherbourne Street, Toronto (northeast corner of Wellesley and Sherbourne Sts.). The event, entitled “What Makes a Hero”, aims to commemorate Jeffrey Reodica and the Justice for Jeffrey campaign, and to update the community on the results of the campaign.
Jeffrey Reodica was 17 years old in 2004 when he was shot three times in the back by Det. Constable Dan Belanger of Toronto Police Services’ 41 Division in Scarborough. His death caused an uproar in the community, leading to the formation of the Justice for Jeffrey Coalition (J4J) which held protest actions and succeeded in getting a Coroner’s inquest conducted one year after Jeffrey’s death and generated responses from the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ombudsman of Ontario.
Migrante Youth Ontario’s organizers were part of J4J.
“It’s important not to forget what happened to Jeffrey and how the Filipino community came together to demand justice for his death,” says Debbie Celis. “Two important things can be learned from this – one, that challenges like racism and discrimination are very real in our community; two, that as a community we are capable of acting together and in solidarity with others to fight for our common interests.”
Divine Montesclaros explains: “We decided to have ‘What Makes a Hero’ now, because it was around this time in 2004 when the Justice for Jeffrey campaign was taking shape. June is also a significant month because it’s the month when we celebrate Philippine Independence Day, and the way that we fought back when Jeffrey was killed is a continuation of our ancestors’ struggle against oppression by colonial powers.”
“What Makes a Hero” will feature music and spoken word performances by young artists in the community, highlighting issues of Filipino youth. There will also be speakers, including members of the Justice for Jeffrey Coalition who will report on the results of the J4J campaign, as well as members of the Reodica family who will give updates on the current status of their legal battle.
The event is free and open to the public. Migrante Ontario Youth is also looking for more performers to contribute to the program.
For more information and to perform, contact Mithi Esguerra at (647) 239-6553 or Debbie Celis at (416) 556-6265, or e-mail migranteON.youth@gmail.com.
June 17, 2008
Picket rally for cancer patient facing deportation
Friday, June 27, 2008
4:00 p.m.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada office
5343 Dundas Street West (across Kipling subway station parking lot)
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has denied cancer patient, Juana Tejada, her right to stay.
Allow Juana Tejada to remain in Canada for treatment and to receive permanent status so she can sponsor her family.
For more information:
migrante.ontario@gmail.com
www.migrante.ca
* * * * *
14 June 2008
We condemn the decision of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) not to grant permanent resident status to Juana Tejada on the ground of her terminal illness. This is a gross violation of the basic human right to life enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Juana came to Canada under the Live-in Caregiver Program in the hope that she and her family would have a better life. Grinding poverty and unemployment in the Philippines push over 2,000 Filipinos out of the country every day.
After twenty-four months of serving Canadian society through domestic work, Juana is now eligible to apply for permanent residency. But since 2006 when her cancer was first discovered in a medical exam for her application for permanent residence, CIC continues to deny Juana her right to stay in Canada. A CIC case officer argues that her “health condition might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand to health and social services,” and thus, an economic burden to the Canadian government.
Migrante Ontario, along with other concerned groups, organizations, and individuals, demands that the Canadian government allow Juana Tejada to stay, and to sponsor and bring her family to Canada. In the first place, caregivers should have been given permanent residency status, recognizing the importance and high quality of their service to Canadian society, and the continuing high demand for that service.
Juana Tejada fulfilled the requirements, stringent as they are, set in the LCP. She worked in the service of a Canadian family and all in good faith. That she fell ill was not of her own will. All she wanted was to be able to bring her family over, be reunited with them and together share the fruits of her hard work.
Yet, the Tejada case and other similar ones clearly demonstrate how the Canadian government treats migrant and foreign temporary workers. While enticing cheap labour from crisis-ridden countries like the Philippines to sustain its own economic progress, it is quick to dispose of those that it considers ” damaged goods after the system has bled them dry.
And as the right to life includes the right to medical care, Migrante Ontario insists that the Canadian government continue to provide Juana Tejada, as it would its own citizens, the proper medical service and health care especially in her time of great need.
Justice for Juana Tejada!
No to deportation!
Permanent residence now!
April 8, 2008
Progressive Philippine Congress representatives in Toronto - April 2008
Posted by migonyouth under EventsNo Comments
CRISIS IN THE PHILIPPINES:
Corruption, Repression and People’s Resistance
Two long-time activists, now members of Philippine Congress representing women and workers’ movements, are visiting Canada to call on the Canadian government to stop supporting the repressive and corrupt regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Under the guise of the war on terror, President Arroyo is waging a violent crackdown on people’s organizations and government critics. More than 800 social activists, human rights advocates, progressive politicians, journalist, lawyers and judges have been assassinated. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and summary executions attributes many of the killings to the military. Massive protests demanding President Arroyo’s resignation amidst allegation of corruption bring to mind the 1986 People Power movement that ended the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
Join guests Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Partylist and Rep. Luz Ilagan of Gabriela Partylist
Wednesday, April 9 at 6:00PM
Ontario Institute For Studies in Education
252 Bloor St. West (Above St. George Subway)
Rm# 5-260 (5th Floor)
For more information: Ramon Grajo: 416.486.8428
Co-sponsored by: Philippine Legislators Organizing Group-International Tour, Centre for Women’s Studies in Education at OISE, Bayan-Canada Organizing Committee, Migrante-Ontario, Toronto-York Region Labour Council, Justice and Global Ecumenical Relations Unit of the UCC, Philippine Network for Justice and Peace, Labour Education Center, Asian Solidarity Network, KAIROS, BASICS Free Community Newspaper, Toronto Women’s Bookstore
* * * * *
PULONG BAYAN (Community Meeting):
Up-close and Personal with Satur Ocampo
A chance to talk with your Congress representative
From business journalist to long-time activist and long-time political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship… Now Bayan Muna partylist president and outstanding Congressman, Rep. Satur Ocampo — deputy minority leader and head of the Independent bloc — is coming to Toronto to talk with kababayans on the crisis in the country of the Arroyo presidency.
No real growth in the economy, over 3,000 a day heading abroad, unbridled corruption charges against the First Family, unrest in the lower ranks of the military, mass protests… Are we nearing the end of the Arroyo presidency? What are the possible ways forward for the Philippines?
Come, hear and meet our representative. Be heard and express your concerns. There may not be another chance with the growing crisis!
Sunday, April 13 at 2:00pm
Fr. Madden Hall, Carr Hall
St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
100 St. Joseph Street
(between Bay St. and Queen’s Park Cr. East,
north of Wellesley St.)
Co-sponsored by: Migrante Ontario, Bayan-Canada Organizing Committee, Santaginian Association of Ontario, Philippine Advocacy Through Arts and Culture, Community Alliance for Social Justice, Philippine Press Club of Ontario, United Steelworkers, Filipino Students’ Association of Toronto
April 8, 2008
Philippine Vignettes: A Photo Exhibition by Alex Felipe
Posted by migonyouth under EventsNo Comments
Opening Night: 8 April @ 7:30pm.
Runs Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 7:30pm
to Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 1:30pm
Cafe Tinto
89 Roncesvalles Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Alex Felipe is a Filipino-Canadian photographer that has just returned to Toronto after spending three months following the human rights situation in his mother country—which included a disturbing Canadian connection.
The Philippines is a country stuck in the cycle of poverty shared by many other so-called developing nations. Sixty-nine million (out of a population of ninety-one million) are living on $2/day or less.
Corruption, neo-colonial policies, and human rights abuses are the norm. According to the latest corruption survey by Berlin-based Transparency International rates the country the worst in Southeast Asia.
The current administration, led by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is accused of almost 900 extrajudicial killings and almost 200 disappearances—as well as torture, illegal detention, and displacement. UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alson visited the country in 2007 and his scathing report confirms much of this.
This exhibition will present an overview of the Philippine situation. From the family members of those killed, disappeared, and those under threat; to images from inside a prison holding accused terrorists; to protest rallies; and finally to a Canadian connection to these horrors.
Canada is one of the world’s largest mining nations. Over half of the world’s mining companies (and 2/3rds of the world’s mining exploration companies) are traded on the TSX. The Philippines is incredibly rich in mineral resources, it’s ranked second in terms of geological prospectively, and second in gold production (per land unit).
Two Canadian mining sites will be shown. Placer Dome/Barrick Gold on Marinduque Island, where three different sites have become contaminated with mine waste resulting in the loss of livelihood and extremely high incidences of heavy metal poisoning in the population. And Toronto Ventures Incorporated on Mt. Canatuan, Mindanao, where militarization, loss of livelihood, forced displacement, and looming health disasters threaten an indigenous community firmly against the mine’s presence.
—
According to respected human rights watchdog ‘Karapatan,’ the GMA regime (from 1 Jan to 31 October 2007) is accused of:
Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions… 68 // 209 in 2006, [Total: 887 (since 21.1.01)]
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances… 26 // 78 in 2006, [Total: 185]
Torture… 29
Illegal Detention… 116
Forcible Evacuation or Displacement… 7542
Karapatan 2007 Human Rights Report: http://stopthekillings.org/stknpv2/files/karapatan_2007hr_report.pdf
UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston confirmed much of this in his 2007 report and clearly points the finger at the government. To download his final report please visit:
http://stopthekillings.org/stknpv2/?q=resources/60/alston%E2%80%99s-final-report-rp-extrajudicial-killings
—
Mining Links:
The Association for Responsible Mining: http://www.communitymining.org/
MiningWatch: www.miningwatch.ca
Oxfam-Australia: www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/mining
