Maleta [suitcase]
Maleta (suitcase): Project Launch When:Saturday, March 20, 2010 Where:University of Toronto, International Student Centre (33 St. George Street) Come and join us for the arrival of the Maleta (suitcase) in Toronto. The project launching will showcase some of the work of our Filipino community members discussing and unraveling the journal of migration of Filipinos in Canada. Featuring: A keynote from Cecilia Diocson, National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada Executive Director, and speakers Marissa Largo and Alleben Purugganan. […]
No genuine national childcare until the Live-in Caregiver Program is scrapped, Magkaisa Centre organizations assert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: No genuine national childcare until the Live-in Caregiver Program is scrapped, Magkaisa Centre organizations assert Toronto, ON – February 10, 2010 – Despite a recent proposal by the Liberal Party to create a national childcare program, progressive Filipino Canadian organizations under the Magkaisa Centre express that the the ongoing exploitation and violence perpetuated by the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) renders the Liberal’s proposal an empty promise that falls short of genuinely fulfilling the childcare needs of all Canadians. The Philippine Women Centre of Ontario, SIKLAB-ON (Advance and Uphold the Struggle of Filipino Workers) and the Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canda/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance – ON are wary of celebrating the announcement made by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, and are instead calling for a critical examination of the proposal. Any initiative to create a national childcare program is not complete until the LCP, which the groups describe as Canada’s de facto national childcare program, is scrapped. “What was not mentioned in Ignatieff’s recent announcement is the ongoing use of the LCP to meet Canada’s ever-pressing [...]
Filipino youth, women and workers celebrate a night of resistance and empowerment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Filipino youth, women and workers celebrate a night of resistance and empowerment Toronto, ON – February 7, 2010 – Filipino youth, women, workers and allies, numbering over 150 people, raised their fists in unity and empowerment at Toronto’s first ever “Roots, Rhymes and Resistance,” entitled “Turning Up the Resistance!” The event was organized by Magkaisa Centre’s three organizations, and was held last December 12th 2009 at the Arbor Room in the University of Toronto. It was night of cultural resistance expressed through poetry, hip hop, song and dance to “celebrate the active role we're taking in advancing the community's struggle in Canada,” says performer and event organizer Mike Yambao aka MC Lyrical Abstrakt. He explains that the participation of people from the different sectors of the community sharing the common aim of empowerment sets RRR apart from any other Filipino-focused events. From its humble beginnings at a café in Vancouver over a decade ago, RRR is a powerful means by which the community aims to take pride in their long and proud history of community [...]
Magkaisa Centre Packing Up Another Maleta
Magkaisa Centre Packing Up Another Maleta Toronto, ON – February 1, 2010 – During the November 2008 “Making the Filipino Community Count In Canada’s Future” conference, Toronto was honoured by the presence of several art works produced by the Kalayaan Centre in Vancouver and the Kapit Bisig Centre in Montreal. Most favourable were two pieces: a series of acrylic painted suitcases (mga maleta) titled the Maleta Family (produced as part of the Maleta art project) and Scrap: A Political Fashion Show. Through cartoon caricatures, The Maleta Family alluded to – visually – the harsh reality that Filipino families face coming to Canada, such as, but not limited to: the de-skilling of our community into service sector jobs and the deceiving nature of the Live-In Caregiver Program as an immigration program. Scrap: A Political Fashion Show presented the stories of Filipino caregivers through projection, audio voice-overs, and from the women themselves dressed in specifically “themed” gowns representing their challenges under a modern-day slavery program. In short, these works represent what the Maleta art project is all about: presenting the [...]
Making Leaps and Bounds Towards a Just and Genuine Settlement and Integration of Filipino-Canadians in 2010
Making Leaps and Bounds Towards a Just and Genuine Settlement and Integration of Filipino-Canadians in 2010 January 30, 2010 Magkaisa Centre Statement The progressive Filipino-Canadian community organizations of the Magkaisa Centre greet this New Year with courage and determination as we advance the struggle for the just and genuine settlement and integration of Filipino-Canadians. Through our efforts in educating, organizing and mobilizing the Filipino-Canadian community, including advocacy work, policy engagements, political campaigns and more, we remain steadfast in addressing the needs of our community as we continue to face ongoing forms of oppression and marginalization in Canada. Filipino workers, women and youth all across Canada are awakening to the challenges of community-building, and are prepared to confront all the barriers we face, whether in the form of racist and anti-woman policies such as the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) or in its direct effects on our daily realities as an economically marginalized peoples. In this new year of 2010, the Filipino-Canadian community still refuses to remain silent. We recognize that while the Filipino community has been present in Canada [...]
Living Up to the Call of Continuing Our Legacy of Resistance: Palakasin II Communique
Living Up to the Call of Continuing Our Legacy of Resistance Communique for Palakasin II: Palakasin ang Ugnayan, Tuloy ang Laban! Filipino Youth Continue the Legacy of Resistance December 17, 2009 Toronto, ON – On November 28th, 2009, members from Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance of Ontario (UKPC/FCYA–ON) gathered together for a one day conference titled Palakasin II: “Palakasin ang Ugnayan, Tuloy ang Laban! Filipino Youth Continue the Legacy of Resistance.” Over 50 Filipino youth, women, and workers forged their solidarity through panels and workshops that contextualized the community’s need for community-based action and resistance. The first panel focused on our history of migration, along with presentations on Canadian Multiculturalism and the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. The second panel shifted the focus on violence against women and the experience of young Filipinos as workers and children of live-in caregivers. Aside from being a celebration of UKPC/FCYA-ON’s two-year history of community organizing, a resounding call for the community’s just and genuine settlement and integration in Canada also formed the core of the day’s activities. Alleben [...]
Message of Solidarity to the Courageous People of Haiti
Message of solidarity to the courageous people of Haiti National Statement January 20, 2010 January 20, 2010 – The mass and democratic organizations of Filipino Canadian workers, women and youth of Kapit-Bisig Centre, Magkaisa Centre and Kalayaan Centre extend our warmest feelings of solidarity and support to the Haitian people and their families who have been affected by the recent earthquake that devastated the entire nation last January 12, 2010. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 100,000 Haitians, thousands injured and homeless, have left the entire nation grappling with the loss of their loved ones and in picking up the pieces in the process of rebuilding a nation. While we witness the tremendous damages and impacts unravel as a result of this calamity, we also witness the long-term impacts of the devastation brought upon to a nation that has been battered by years of U.S. imperialist domination. The ongoing implementation of the anti-people neo-liberal economic policies perpetuated by the United States continues to batter Haiti, leaving it to be “poorest country in the western hemisphere.” As [...]
Minister Jason Kenney is no Santa Claus to thousands of Filipino live-in caregivers
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) SIKLAB Canada (Advance and Uphold the Struggle of Filipino Workers) Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Canada (UKPC/FCYA) National Statement December 19, 2009 Progressive Filipino women, workers and youth representing the aggrieved Filipino community maintain that the changes made on the federal government’s live-in caregiver program (LCP) announced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Minister Jason Kenney are yet another tactic to justify the continuation and expansion of modern-day slavery program, such as the LCP, in Canada. The National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC), SIKLAB Canada (Filipino workers organization) and Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC/FCYA) criticize these changes, which are purely technical, and strongly contend that the changes was made to make the racist and anti-woman LCP more palatable to Canadians in order to cover-up the systemic weaknesses inherent in immigration policies and to defend the ongoing overhaul of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), such as the passing of Bill C50 and Bill C45. The changes which were announced [...]
Filipino-Canadian youth gather to celebrate the spirit of resistance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Filipino-Canadian youth gather to celebrate the spirit of resistance Toronto, ON – November 19, 2009 – The excitement builds up as Filipino-Canadian youth from all over Toronto are gathering for a full-day event to mark the 2nd anniversary of the rebuilding of Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC/FCYA) – Ontario. To be held at the University of Toronto on November 28th, 2009, Palakasin ang Ugnayan: Tuloy ang Laban! Filipino Youth Continue the Legacy of Resistance aims to celebrate the advances and gains UKPC/FCYA-ON has made over the past two years. At the same time, the event serves as a reiteration of their call for a stronger local and national organizations that advances the struggles of Filipino youth in Canada. On Andres Bonifacio Day in 2007, the first Palakasin was held, entitled Palakasin ang tunay na Uganayan! Strenghtening our Youth, Unite for Freedom! It was a province-wide youth consultation that laid the foundation to re-establish UKPC in Ontario. Following the event, a commitment to building a militant youth organization materialized through various [...]
Filipino community turning up the dial on resistance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Filipino community turning up the dial on resistance Toronto, ON – November 18, 2009 – Members of Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance – Ontario (UKPC/FCYA-ON) are celebrating the community’s history through a cultural event, with an undeniable theme of resistance. “Roots, Rhymes and Resistance (RRR),” originally showcased in Vancouver for over a decade, will now be introduced in Toronto under the name “Roots, Rhymes and Resistance: Turn Up the Resistance!” Toronto’s first ever RRR will not only be organized by youth and other members of the community, but will also feature talent from the Magkaisa Centre’s community-based organizations. Performers will include members of UKPC/FCYA-ON, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON) and SIKLAB-ON. Spoken word artist Dagamuffin and singer Marylou David will also showcase their talent for the night. The show will be held at the Arbor Room at the University of Toronto’s Hart House on December 12, 2009 from 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM. Far from your average tinikling and tulaan, RRR will celebrate the Filipino culture of resistance and [...]