B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Public Service Announcement

Celebrating 25 Years of Solidarity Work

November 26, 2007

Members, friends and supporters are marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of the British Columbia Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP), one of the oldest solidarity groups working for the Philippines in Canada, on December 1st.
 
The BCCHRP was founded in 1982, when 20 Canadians from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) and the United Church of Canada (UCC) went to the Philippines on a month-long exposure programme. They traveled to Metro Manila, Central and Northern Luzon, and Mindanao and witnessed the lives and struggles of farmers, workers, political detainees and their families, the urban poor and tribal Filipinos under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.  “The Philippines is a beautiful country, with friendly people, but there is also poverty, oppression, and human rights abuses,” says Orval Chapman, one of the founding members of the BCCHRP. “We were moved by the suffering of the people and formed the B.C. Committee for Human Right in the Philippines.”

The BCCHRP is an organization of Canadians and Filipinos committed to building solidarity between the people of British Columbia and the people’s movement for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Philippines. Twenty-five years and four successive Presidents later, the Philippine economic and political crises unfortunately continue to worsen and human rights violations are on the rise. BCCHRP stubbornly keeps on with its work and its members continue to inspire with their persistence and hope. Indeed, this is a cause for celebration and reflection.

There will be a dinner and program at the Lakeview Multicultural United Church at 2776 Semlin Drive (at E12th Avenue) in Vancouver on December 1, 2007 at 6 p.m. This anniversary will carry the theme of “Continuing the journey with the Filipino people in their struggle for genuine justice and peace.” 

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For additional information, contact May Farrales at 604-215-1905 or at bcchrp@kalayaancentre.net.

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