Dear Friends,

Please find below an article on the Philippine Women Centre Young Women’s Committee “Kabataang Babae Sulong para sa Kinabukasan” (Young Filipino Women Struggle Forward for the Future)”.

For photos of the conference, please visit:
http://kalayaancentre.net/assets/images/photos/2008/14june08_youngfilwomen_conf.htm

Thank you,
Philippine Women Centre of B.C.

———————-

Article by: Rizalina Josefa Carr

*Young Pinays on Center Stage: Women Bonded Together*

While hundreds of people attended the Philippine Independence Day celebration at Slocan Park in Vancouver, over 30 young women attended the “Filipino Young Women’s Conference” held at Vancouver Community Centre at 250 W. Pender on June 14, 2008.

Ning Alcuitas-Imperial, a graduate of the University of Manitoba’s Law Program and Chairperson for the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada was the keynote speaker on the conference “Kabataang Babae Sulong para sa Kinabukasan” (Young Filipino Women Struggle Forward for the Future). One could not help being emotional as Alcuitas-Imperial rightly pointed out that domestic workers, caregivers, workers at McDonalds, Tim Horton’s, malls and the many service oriented business in Canada are being staffed by Filipinas. Use a Google search for “Filipino women” and what do you see? According to Alcuitas-Imperial; “Beautiful Filipino women available for love and marriage, mail order brides, dating
services, older men seeking young women, etc.” read more …

DEADLY TYPHOON “FRANK” DEVASTATES COMMUNITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Filipino community in Canada and Canadians grieve and sympathize with the victims of supertyphoon Fengshen (Frank) that swept the Philippines over the weekend. We urgently appeal for financial support to help the relief efforts.

According to official reports, nearly 1000 people are confirmed dead, including those dead or missing from a ferry that sank in central Philippines. Over 35, 500 families had to be evacuated from their homes due to the rapid flooding and landslide risks. The hardest hit areas are Iloilo, Romblon, Cotabato, Antique, and Capiz.

In these times of natural disasters, the majority of victims are the poverty-stricken population. The majority of the people are already faced with economic crisis, such as the food crisis, the typhoon adds further suffering to the Filipino people. Already pushed in the margins of government priorities, the needy and poor populations are further left in extreme vulnerability and danger in times of natural and man-made calamities.

The Philippines is ill-equipped to handle natural calamities because most of the government budget goes towards servicing the foreign debt and militarization, and not towards badly-needed social services. According to reports, only 0.1 percent of national budget is allotted to calamity funds.

In these trying times, it is ever-more urgent for us to continue to build direct people to people support. Please donate to help in the people’s relief efforts.

Donations can be made at any Vancouver City Savings Credit Union branch to the account: “Philippine Disaster Relief Fund,” Account Number: 63487, Branch 28. You can mail your donations to Philippine Women Centre of B.C. 451 Powell Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6A 1G7. Please signify that your donations are for “Typhoon Frank” relief efforts.

In solidarity,

B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Philippine Women Centre of B.C.
Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance
Filipino Nurses Support Group
SIKLAB (Overseas Filipino workers’ organization)
Sinag Bayan Cultural Arts Collective

Philippine health and medical mission community forum
June 28, 2008, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Rm.1230, Bahen Centre, University of Toronto
40 St. George Street ( closest intersection St. George and College Streets)

————————

Dear Friends,

Warmest greetings from the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario and the Philippines Canada Task Force on Human Rights!

On June 28, 2008, Dr. Lynn Farrales, a Filipino-Canadian physician based in Vancouver will be speaking at a community forum on the Philippine health and medical mission at the University of Toronto’s Bahen Centre, Rm. 1230 (40 St. George Street), 2:00-5:00 p.m.

The Philippine health and medical mission provides the opportunity for community organizers and Canadian health professionals to work together as Dr. Farrales plans a medical mission with other professionals who are interested in supporting community-based initiatives.  Working with community organizations, this mission stresses the need to develop medical initiatives in the Philippines at the grassroots level.

Dr. Farrales completed medical school at Queen’s University and Family Practice training at the University of British Columbia. She also holds a Master’s degree in Human and Nutritional Sciences from the University of British Columbia. Just recently, she has completed extra residency training in the field of International Health and has worked in the areas of refugee health, HIV/AIDS, and mental health

Last year, Dr. Farrales traveled to rural Kenya to work on an HIV/AIDS project. She has recently returned from the Philippines where she worked with community based organization Citizens Disaster Response Centre (CDRC).

I am looking forward to your presence at this event.  For more information or to confirm attendance, contact 416-519-2553.

In Solidarity,
Joy C. Sioson
Philippine Women Centre of Ontario

The families of two Filipino youth who were victims of violence say their families were victims of racial profiling by the RCMP and are demanding a public apology and inquiry about the incidents.

Cezar Dalde, the father of Charle Dalde, the 24-year old Filipino man killed in Richmond last April, says RCMP harassed his family immediately after his son was killed. Evelyn Vasquez the mother of a Filipino youth says her son was wrongfully implicated along with 25 other Filipino youth in incidents of racist harassment and violence at Vancouver  Technical Secondary School in 1999. The two will speak in a press conference on Monday, June 23, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at the Kalayaan  Centre, 451 Powell St. (at Jackson Ave.) in Vancouver. Media are cordially invited to the press conference.

The families will also speak along with community organizers at a public community forum, “Filipino Community Unite for Our Social Justice” on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 from 7-9:30 p.m. at Richmond City Hall, 6911 No. 3 Road in Richmond. The public forum is closed to the media.

The community forum is the second of a series to raise awareness about the issues facing by migrant and immigrant Filipino families in Canada and strategize actions for change.

The events are being organized by groups located at the Kalayaan Centre  including the Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance, SIKLAB (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers), Philippine Women Centre  of BC (a member of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada), BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Filipino Nurses Support Group and Sinagbayan Cultural Arts Collective.

-30-

For more information, please call: Niki or Dinah at ph: 604-215-1103 or e-mail: pwc@kalayaancentre.net

VANCOUVER, B.C. — While Filipinos across BC hold traditional celebrations this weekend to mark Philippine Independence Day against Spanish colonization, around 40 young Filipino women will mark the occasion in a different way by gathering for a historic one-day conference: “Kabataang Babae Sulong para sa Kinabukasan!” (Young Filipino women struggle forward for our future!). The conference aims to better understand the situation of young Filipino women within the community and Canadian society. It is the first of its kind.

The conference will be held tomorrow, Saturday, June 14, 2008 at Vancouver Community College, Room 112, 250 West Pender Street, in Vancouver. Media are cordially invited to cover the morning session from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

“Traditionally, Filipino communities gather this weekend to express culturally, what it means to be a Filipino, through festivals,
exchanging food, song, and dance,” says Niki Silva, conference organizer and member of the Philippine Women Centre of BC. “We have chosen to go beyond these traditional events, by gathering to share our personal experiences and define our collective voice for the betterment of our community,” says Silva.

In an updated Statistics Canada report, Filipino women comprise 57 percent of the overall Filipino community, 62 percent are between the ages of 25-44. Their average annual income is $22,500, approximately $8000 less than the average Canadian. According to the 2006 Statistics Canada census, Filipinos are the third largest visible minority in BC, numbering 88,100. There are approximately 500,000 Filipinos across Canada.

“I feel it is important to be proud of the role women have played throughout our history of resistance, and to keep that spirit alive by continuing to define our roles here as young, Filipino women in Canada,” says Silva. She cites the example of Gabriela Silang, a young Filipina widow who stood at the forefront of the Filipino revolution against Spanish colonization.

“By bringing together the young women of our community, identifying our issues and working together to find solutions, we too can carry on the legacy of women leading the way to true independence,” says Silva.

She says the Philippines has never been an independent nation due to U.S. colonization, immediately following the Filipino people’s victory against Spain in 1898 and neo-colonization which exists until today. She says June 12 however still marks the 110th anniversary of the Filipino people’s victory against Spanish colonization.

“Currently, Filipinos are still fighting the presence of U.S. economic and military interests in the Philippines,” says Silva. “Regardless, Filipinos around the world are celebrating their independence in various ways, bringing together a people whose rich and vibrant history of struggle and resistance is as alive today as it was over a century ago,”
she says.

The conference is being organized by the Philippine Women Centre of BC-Young Women’s Committee.

Kabataang Babae Sulong para sa Kinabukasan! (Young Filipino women struggle forward for our future!)

Saturday, June 14, 2008
Vancouver Community College, Room 112
250 West Pender Street, Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, BC
Organized by the Philippine Women’s Centre of BC-Young Women’s Committee For more information and media interviews, please contact Denise Valdecantos or Niki Silva at 604-215-1103, pwc@kalayaancentre.net

Toronto, Ontario- On June 6, 2008 a Thornhill family arrived home to find their Filipino nanny dead. According to media reports, the 39-year-old Filipina was found face down in the deep end of the backyard pool.

Members of SIKLAB- Ontario (a Filipino migrant workers’ group), the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario and Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada-Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC-FCYA) are in full sympathy and support in this trying period with the family of this woman.

“This unfortunate death is another addition to the growing tragedy in the export and commodification of Filipinos under the labour export policy (LEP) of the Philippine government. We hope that this Filipina nanny’s death will not just become another anonymous statistic of unexplained death,” said Yolyn Valenzuela, national vice-chairperson of SIKLAB- Canada. read more …

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The deaths of two Filipino youth within the last year and its impacts on the Filipino community across the Lower Mainland are just a few of the many reasons why young Filipino women are determined re-define their roles as women and as Filipinos in Canada.

“Kabataang Babae Sulong para sa Kinabukasan!,” (Young Filipino women struggle forward for our future!) organized by the Philippine Women’s Centre of BC-Young Women’s Committee (PWC-BC Young Women’s Committee) will gather 40 young women of Filipino ancestry for a historic one-day conference to better understand the situation of young Filipino women within the Filipino community and in Canadian society. It is the first of its kind. read more …

Kabataang Babae Sulong para sa Kinabukasan!
Young Filipino Women struggle forward for our future!
Balik Ugat: Kapit Bisig! Magkaisa Kababaihan sa Pagpapalay ng Bayan!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Vancouver Community College Downtown Campus- Room 112
250 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC

CONFERENCE BACKGROUND

Within the history and present Filipino migration patterns to Canada, young Filipino women have and continue to be major economic players for their labour keeps the Philippine economy afloat–the export of labour is the country’s number one industry as $8 billion USD is remitted by overseas migrant workers annually–and generates profits for the Canadian state through exhaustive taxation and the exploitation of their labour power. read more …