Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance
Press Statement

Lanot Memorial Garden Will Not Solve the Issues of Systemic Racism

February 15, 2006

On February 14, 2006, the Vancouver City Council approved $300,000 to build a memorial garden dedicated to Mao Jomar Lanot, the 17 year-old Filipino student beaten to death outside of Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School by a group of teens in 2003. The memorial garden for Lanot will be built in the 500-block of East 23rd Avenue, bordering Charles Tupper Secondary School, where Lanot was killed.

Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC/FCYA), a grassroots community organization for youth of Filipino ancestry has  observed that little has been done by Canadian institutions such as the Vancouver School Board since Mao Jomar’s death.

UKPC/FCYA, which has been active on speaking out against incidents of racism involving Filipino youth for 10 years, said that they welcome this move by the City of Vancouver but challenges the City and other institutions such as the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Vancouver Police Department and the Vancouver School Board to further their efforts and work to combat systemic racism which is impacting thousands of young Filipinos in Vancouver.

UKPC/FCYA has documented many cases of systemic racism and racial profiling nationally. Less than a year after the beating death of Lanot, 17 year old Filipino Jeffrey Reodica of Toronto who was shot by the Toronto Police in May 2004.  Moreover, Filipino youth hold the second highest drop out rate amongst high school students next to Aboriginal youth.

Mao Jomar Lanot migrated to Canada after years of separation from his mother who worked as a domestic helper here in Canada under the CIC’s Live-in Caregiver Program. According to CIC, 95% of those entering Canada under the LCP are Filipino women. Often earning less than $2 an hour, these women are modern-slaves forced to work and live in their employer’s homes. Canada does not allow them to bring their children to Canada until they finish the program and Filipino children and parents experience years of family separation. When re-united in Canada, there is little community-based programs and support services for the Filipino parents and youth.

With next week’s sentencing hearing for one of the youth charged in Jomar’s death, with charges for the two other youth stillpending, the need to critically examine and if necessarry, change Canadian policies, is dire and urgent.

We will not let Jomar’s death be forgotten. As a community we will come together to continue to educate and organize ourselves against all struggles affecting our community. We will continue to struggle for our community’s future – for its genuine development and equality, not only in the Philippines, but also outside the country, including here in Canadia.
For more information, please contact: Charlene Sayo

Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada / Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance
451 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1G7
Tel: 604.215.1103
Email: ukpc_fcya@kalayaancentre.net