Toronto, ON – September 20, 2010 – October 2010 will be marked as a historic moment for the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON) and its members as they celebrate 10 years of Filipino Canadian women’s struggle and resistance. For a decade, PWC has been at the forefront of advancing Filipino Canadian women’s liberation and full entitlement in a country that has been home to them for over half a century. Now in its 10th anniversary, PWC reiterates its call to continue the rich legacy of Filipino women’s resistance while threading the community towards a new direction – a just & genuine settlement and integration in Canada.
The history of Filipino women’s organizing in Canada has been that of strength and dynamism. Back in 1999, women from different parts of the country met in “Towards Filipino Women’s Equality: The Filipino-Canadian Women’s National Consultative Forum.” Together, they realized the urgency to organize and strengthen a broader Filipino Canadian women’s movement at a national level. “In connecting our personal struggles to larger systemic oppressions, we needed to think and work in ways that recognize our lives as very much shaped by our race, class and gender,” says Joy Sioson, the current chairperson of PWC-ON. Through the tremendous effort and dedication of the community, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario was officially established in October 2000.
Up to this day, PWC-ON remains to be the only Filipino Canadian women’s grassroots organization in Ontario, one that continues to advance their fight for equality and genuine development. “For the past ten years, PWC intensified its efforts in sharing and learning with other women our true history and our struggle as workers and as women of colour in Canada,” says Qara Clemente, a member. “As Filipino Canadians, we strive to grow and embed our new roots in Canada,” she asserts, “but this would not be possible without liberating the majority of the community, the women.”
This October, PWC-ON invites everyone to celebrate a decade filled of shared laughter, tears, music and militancy. The round of events will kick off at the opening of the “Maleta” On October 23rd, the community will gather once again at the United Steelworkers Hall for a one-day conference entitled, “Creating, Strengthening, and Nurturing the Filipino Canadian Women’s Struggle for Genuine Liberation and Empowerment.” Then, coinciding with the 5th year anniversary of SIKLAB-ON, a Filipino Canadian workers’ organization, women, youth and workers will be dancing the night away at a fundraising Dinner & Dance at Prestige Restaurant on November 6. For PWC-ON, October is not only a testament to the unfaltering resiliency exemplified over the past decade, but ultimately signifies the beginning of a new chapter in Filipino Canadian women’s organizing. “We are proud of our history of women’s resistance, and we are more than ready to continue on this legacy,” Sioson affirms, “we are creating a new movement, we are living a new culture.” -30- For more information:
Contact Qara Clemente
416-519-2553
pwc-on@magkaisacentre.org
www.magkaisacentre.org