Damayan Migrant Education and Resource Center

Ganito kami noon, Paano kami ngayon...

2007-10-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

In 1989, Florchita “Chit” Bautista, along with like-minded Filipinos doing work among migrants, established AWARE, a volunteer endeavour to reach out to Filipino domestic workers who came to Canada under the Foreign Domestic Movement Program (now the Live-In Caregiver Program). AWARE undertook educational and supportive workshops to facilitate adjustment to life in Canada and to inform the participants (mainly women) of their rights. The graduates of these programs constituted themselves into a migrant workers’ organization that they then called GABAY (Guide).
Now, members of GABAY and AWARE are coming together for a reunion, to reflect on their history and past experiences and strive to renew their commitment to serve their kababayans and co-workers.

The event, Ganito kami noon, paano kami ngayon... also launched the book of the founder of Gabay - Aware, Florchita Bautsta "Leaping into the Unknown".

(click link) For more pictures go to the album

Light a Candle for Jocelyn

2007-10-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

Jocelyn Dulnuan and the Filipino Community Cannot Rest Until There is Justice

Jocelyn Dulnuan Support Committee

more pictures click here

October 13, 2007

Jocelyn Dulnuan, 27 years old, of Namulditan, Hingyon, Ifugao, the Philippines was found dead on Oct. 1, 2007 in the house located at 2450 Doulton Place, Mississauga where she worked as a live-in caregiver. Jocelyn had arrived in Canada last November through the Live-in Caregiver Program of the Canadian Government. Peel regional police are investigating her death and treating it as a murder case.

Twelve days have already passed since the discovery of her body. Press reports as of today are conflicting over whether the police have already finished their investigation. The police for its part have been very tight-lipped about the case. We hope this has only been so as not to jeopardise the investigation.

Jocelyn Dulnuan's murder raises important issues of public safety, equality and justice for the Filipino community. Given the recent problems regarding the treatment of Filipinos by certain police departments in certain jurisdictions in Canada, the fear exists in the minds of many in the Filipino community that Dulnuan's murder may not get the serious and prompt treatment it requires. We need to know that the police is taking this case seriously and not doing a slipshod job because Jocelyn is a Filipino, and a migrant worker.

Filipino migrant workers are a significant part of our community of 100 thousand plus in the greater Toronto area and contribute greatly directly to the Canadian economy through their work, the products they buy, and the taxes they pay without availing of Canadian public services. Indirectly as well, the work of Filipino migrant workers enables Canadians themselves to contribute greater to the economy. Filipinos, and especially Filipino migrant workers deserve equal rights, safety and justice.

The proper institution to ensure that justice is pursued and the muderer(s) of Jocelyn punished is the Philippine consulate. It is the role of the Philippine consulate to protect the rights of Filipinos in Toronto and surrounding regions. At the very minimum the Philippine consulate has the duty both to pull every diplomatic lever it can to ensure that justice is thoroughly pursued by the local Canadian authorities while keeping the Filipino community properly informed of its efforts. We note that Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Claro Cristobal said that Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has instructed Alejandro Mosquera "to provide full cooperation for bringing anyone responsible for the crime to justice...." Given the sorry history with other cases of Filipino migrants that have come to grief and the initial response of the local consulate and labour attaché to our approach for help, we can only hope that these instructions are not mere public relations exercises. If any harm comes to a Filipino abroad, will the consulate just leave that person behind and hush matters?

Jocelyn Dulnuan would be alive now if the Philippine government had been able to provide the employment back home sorely sought after by so many Filipinos rather than relying on sending people abroad for remittances. We hope that Jocelyn is not a sacrifice to this policy of exporting Filipino workers.

The Jocelyn Dulnuan Support Committee is composed the following Migrante-Ontario organizations: Damayan Migrant Resource and Education Centre, Philippine Advocacy Through Arts in Canada (PATAC), SIKLAB-Ontario, Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada-Toronto (UKPC-TO), and United Filipinos for Nationalism and Democracy (UFiND); the following organizations: Asosacion Negrense, AWARE/Gabay, Community Alliance for Social Justice (CASJ), Ifugao Association, Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), Philippine Network for Justice and Peace, and the Santaginian Association of Ontario; Fr. Ariel Dumaran of San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish and members of Jocelyn Dulnuan's extended family and friends.

FOR REFERENCE: Maria Sol Pajadura. Cell: 647-448-7030

Email: siklab_ontario@yahoo.ca.
pictures from the prayer rally go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/damayan.center/LightACandleForJocelyn

Pictures from our events

2007-08-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

From a rainy CASJ (Community Alliance for Social Justice) Picnic and PATAC (Philippine Advocacy Through Arts-Canada) table at the Mabuhay Festival in Toronto.

Click the PICNIC for the CASJ Picnic and TABLE for the Mabuhay Festival tabling.

Canada Day Picnic

2007-07-02T22:51:00.001-05:00

Folks from Siklab, UKPC, PNJP and UFiND took advantage of the nice Canada Day weather. They spent most of the day getting to know each other, playing Charades and singing.

Click to see pictures

Pictures from the Concert

2007-06-25T10:02:00.000-05:00

Tinig ng Kalayaan Fund-raising concert was held at the Parkdale Library Auditorium last Saturday, June 23rd. It was a successful and well attended concert. More than a hundred people listened, participated in the "History Trivia" and raffle. There were also lots of food donated by individuals and volunteers to help make the event a success. UGNAYAN ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada - Toronto (UKPC-Toronto) and the Care for Ching Committee (C4C) wished to thank everyone that came to the concert and those that tirelessly volunteered to make this happen.

Click link to see the pictures

Tinig ng Kalayaan

2007-06-17T07:24:00.001-05:00

Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada (UKPC) presents a concert to commemorate the Philippine Day and the Filipino people's continuous struggle for peace and independence. For more info go to UKPC Blog at http://ukpc-toronto.blogspot.com

2007 Mother's day celebration and UFiND-Toronto planning meeting

2007-05-16T11:31:00.000-05:00

May 13, 2007

Members of United Filipinos for Nationalism and Democracy-Toronto (UFiND), a Migrante organization just two months old, celebrated Mother's day at a local downtown community centre. Twelve members were able to attend while others expressed their regrets as they were forced to work by their bosses. A new plan was hammered out for the rest of the year. The central campaigns included the call to scrap of the LCP (Live in Caregiver Program) for one not onerous on migrant workers, a campaign against employment/immigration agencies exploiting those going through the LCP, and the Stop the Killings campaign, and the $10 minimum wage now campaign. Members also vowed to contact relatives and friends in the Philippines to urge them to vote for Gabriella Women's Party.

Pictures from the "Testimonies from the Philippines"

2007-05-07T10:49:00.000-05:00

The community forum on human rights in the Philippines was held last Saturday. Guest speakers were award-winning filmmakers Malcolm Guy and Marie Boti, Atty. Renato Pambid of the Workers Assistance Center, Philippines and Bern Jagunos from the United Church of Canada. Malcolm and Marie shared their experiences being with people's organizations and how it felt attending several funerals of killed activists. Malcolm and Marie are founding members of Centre for Philippine Concerns in Montreal that is celebrating its 25th years of building solidarity between Canadians and the Philippines. Atty. Pambid talked about the struggles of workers of the company that is a sub-contrator of Walmart. He is in Canada to attend the "Resposible Purchasing" conference that was held in Montreal. And lastly, Bern Jagunos shared the current efforts of the church sector in Canada in addressing the issue of political killings in the Philippines.

The event was well attended. Performers John Flores and Levy Abad Jr. Performed songs such as "Batingaw", "Light a Candle" and "Youre a Terrorist". The event was endorsed by United Filipinos for Nationalism and Democracy (UFiND), Siklab-Ontario, Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC), Community Alliance for Social Justice (CASJ), Philippine Press Club of Ontario (PPCO), Friends of Panay and the Ontario Public Interest Resarch Group - York University (OPIRG-York).

The Stop the Killing in the Philippines campaign is an on-going campaign of DAMAYAN Migrant Education and Resource Center. The victims of these killings are trade unionists, peasant farmers, teachers, priests and students advocating for the rights of their communities. Their names are Diosdado «Ka Fort » Fortunato, leader of the union at Nestle Philippines, gunned down in 2005, leaving a widow with six children; Bishop Alberto Ramento, one of the hightest officials of the Philippine Independent Church, a priest of the poor, stabbed as he slept in his church; Professor Jose Ma. Cui, gunned down in front of his students as he supervised an exam; Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado and Nilo Arado, abducted by the military 12 days ago and still missing; Gracila Buya, a nine-year old girl in Grade 2, found shot by a stream near her home.

Over 840 such killings have taken place in the Philippines since 2001, when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power. The military strategy guiding this climate of impunity is called Oplan Bantay Laya, which considers civilians legitimate military targets, claiming they are members of «communist fronts». It is the Philippine version of the Bush administration's
«War on Terror».

See the pictures of the event click on link. Or cut and paste: http://picasaweb.google.com/damayan.center/TestimoniesFromThePhilippines

Pictures from the Workshop

2007-04-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

An organizational workshop was held on Sunday. Its objective is to drawout issues related to the LCP and Building the organization. Check out the pictures of the workshop at our album by clicking the link.

or cut and paste: http://picasaweb.google.com/damayan.center/OrganizationBuildingWorkshop?pli=1

Testimonies from the Philippines

2007-04-24T22:11:00.000-05:00

PRESS RELEASE
April 24, 2007

Testimonies from the Philippines

The human rights situation in the Philippines continues to worsen. Since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001, KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights), the largest alliance of human rights organizations and advocates in the Philippines, has documented over 830 victims of extrajudicial killings. More than0 200 have survived assassination attempts. More than 200 have been forcibly disappeared, including the two activists Maria Luisa Posa-Dominado and Nilo Arado who were recently abducted even as another human rights worker who was shot in the neck is currently fighting for his life. Most of the victims are trade unionists, church people, journalists, lawyers, farmers, women, students and others actively opposing the Arroyo regime’s undemocratic and anti-people policies.

Not only are the number and sheer brutality of the pattern of these killings and human rights violations alarming, there is also the fact that the killings continue unabated and with impunity despite evidence of the Arroyo regime’s culpability for these atrocities.

May 5th Damayan Migrant Education and Resource Center hosts a forum on the current situation in the Philippines. Marie Boti and Malcolm Guy, documentary filmakers from Montreal, have just spent twelve months doing volunteer work with the people's organizations in the Philippines. They will speak about the wave of political killings targetting progressives and oppositions politicians in the country, particularly in the current election campaign. They will also speak about the international campaign to Stop the Killings, and the Permanent People's Tribunal (PPT) in the Hague Netherlands, March 21-25, which they just filmed. The PPT, with the jury of prominent persons from around the world, found the Philippine government and the US George Bush administration guilty of "crimes against humanity"

Bern Jagunos, Area Secretary for East Asia and the Philippines of the United Church of Canada, joins these two guests as she gives an update on the recent North American tour of ecumenical and human rights visitors. With them, she attended the International Conference on Human Rights in the Philippines in Washington, D.C. and the US Senate hearing on the Philippines.

The forum will be at the Multipurpose Room B, first floor of the Wellesley Community Center, 495 Sherbourne St. (cor Wellesly, 5 min south of Sherbourne Subway) at 2:00PM

For more information:
Eran Atendido – 416-846-5335

Stations of the cross 2007

2007-04-07T07:30:00.000-05:00

As Jesus dies on the cross, we reflect on the meaning of his life and death. His death showed us His selfless act of love for humanity. His death was not for his own sake but for us. His death was aimed at liberating humanity from the bonds of injustice, poverty and inequality. His death will be meaningless unless we see the value of sharing our own life with people who need us most - the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the discriminated, the millions of people caught in war, the victims of violence. The Stations of the Cross reminds us about loving our neighbors, near and far as we love ourselves. It is a call for getting involved and committed in bringing about God's reign of love, peace and justice.

As we continue in our daily lives, we are challenged to seek truth, justice and peace. We are called upon to be true witnesses and by being true witnesses we stand for the rights of the exploited and the oppressed, whoever they may be. We condemn the violence brought about by unjust economic and political systems that continue to disenfranchise and strip the less privilege of their rights to a better life. We condemn the senseless murder of people and other forms of human rights violations.

As we look forward to Jesus' Resurrection, we rekindle our faith in humanity. as we now symbolically break the bond that keep the poor, the oppressed in their miserable conditions, we renew our commitment to be involved in bringing about God's reign on earth. We unite in our commitment to create a world where there is love and peace based on justice and truth. Only we actively seek justice and peace can we truly celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. Only when we resist the evils of greed and apathy can we share in the redemption of Christ

My sisters and brothers, let us pray for all those who have been victims of exploitation and oppression, forgive us for not having stood with you. Lord, remember us as we remember those who suffer. Give us courage to answer your call for justice and peace.

click link to see pictures

People’s Station of the Cross

2007-03-23T22:25:00.000-05:00

People’s Station of the Cross

They killed the body but they cannot kill the spirit.

Join us for an interfaith commemoration of the Passion of the Christ
This Good Friday at 2 p.m., Friday, April 6, 2007
Starting point: In front of Holy Cross Catholic Church, 291 Cosburn Avenue (Corner of Cosburn Ave. and Donlands Ave.)

(Directions: Take bus #56 from Donlands Subway Station and get off at
Cosburn Ave. or Take bus #87 or #87A from Broadview Subway Station and get off at Donlands Ave.)

Stations of the Cross Route: 1. Start from Holy Cross Catholic Church. 2. Cross to the north side of Cosburn Ave. 3. Walk west toward the apartment buildings until Logan Ave. 4. Cross to the south side of Cosburn Ave. at the crosswalk. 5. Walk east back to Bethany Baptist Church on the corner of Cosburn Ave. and Pape Ave. (1041 Pape Ave.)6. End in front of Bethany Baptist Church

Organized by: UFiND-Toronto, UFiND-Mississauga, Damayan Migrant Education and Resource Centre and SIKLAB-Ontario.

Live-in Caregivers and the $10 Minimum wage campaign

2007-03-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

SUPPORT THE $10 MINIMUM WAGE CAMPAIGN NOW!

The raise the minimum wage campaign is a fast-growing campaign with the support from labour and community groups. This proves that Canadians from all backgrounds want a just minimum wage.

The Toronto & York Region Labour Council, representing 195,000 unionized workers in the Greater Toronto Area, is spearheading the campaign to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour. Their decision to do so comes as Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo had her $10 minimum-wage Bill 150 pass second reading. Third reading is set for March 19, and the provincial elections are coming on Oct 10, 2007.

For Filipino Migrants this is an important undertaking in our struggle for our rights and welfare. Filipinos like other migrant community are at the bottom of the wage scale. They work as caregivers, service providers and factory workers. Here in Canada, Filipino nurses and professionals doing 24 hour home support work as “caregivers or domestic workers” get as low as Cdn$1.50 per hour. In general, the largely Filipino domestic workers earn an average of $7.36 if they work a 44 hour work-week. Majority if not all of them work way more than that because of their live-in condition.

DAMAYAN Migrant Education and Resource Center supports and participate in the “Raise the Minimum Wage Campaign” because raising the wage will temporarily alleviate the low wage burden that migrant Filipinos are carrying. They not only support themselves and their families here but also their families back home. 20% of 80 million population of the Philippines are dependent on the remittances that migrant Filipinos send home. Supporting the campaign is the right and moral thing to do.

Join us in a film screening and discussion on the situation of the live-in caregivers and the $10 minimum wage campaign.

When: Saturday, March 31st at 2:00PM
Where: 3033 Palstan Rd. Suite 210, Mississauga

Bus Route 1 West from Islington Subway or Bus 19A South from Square One transfer
to bus Route 1 East Get off in front Canadian Tire On Dundas and Palstan (close to Dixie and Dundas)

or by car click here for map

For more info call: 416.846.5335, 416.858.3433

Info on the campaign click Labour Council Website

March 4th Human Rights Forum

2007-03-05T23:23:00.000-05:00

Members of Damayan Migrant Education and Resource Center answered the call of the Community Alliance for Social Justice (CASJ) for the event that they organized. Philippine human rights activists passed by Toronto on their way to Ottawa and Montreal to speak on the current events and human rights situation in the Philippines. Since 2001 there have been more than 835 victims of summary executions. The targets of these politically motivated killings are union leaders, activists, lawyers, church people, progressive parliamentarians and even human rights defenders are victims themselves. Dr. Chandu Claver, a medical surgeon shared his emotional and first hand experience. He was ambushed in his car by motorcyle riding gunmen that killed his wife.

The group will end their Canadian trip in Montreal and will attend the International Ecumenical Conference sponsored by different church groups in Washington DC. You can see pictures of the event at: http://picasaweb.google.com/damayan.center

Love in a Globalised World [Valentine Special]

2007-02-15T13:42:00.000-05:00

Love in a Globalised World

It is said that “absence makes the heart go fonder”. But how would it feel to have a loved one miss you and your children’s birthdays, Christmases, New Years -year after

year after year? 10 million must yearn for their loved ones in this way time after time. Or at least 10 million Filipino families to be more precise. The Philippines is a powerhouse of workers for the world’s job market, providing millions of workers for a host of jobs in over 22 countries - thousands of “domestics” for Hongkong, the Middle East, shipbuilders & ship workers, tradesmen and tradeswomen (welders, fitters, boilers, metalcraftsmen), nurses, aged care assistants for Australia, the U.S., Canada, Saudi Arabia- to give but a few examples.

This phenomenon brings in the $13billion US - estimated to rise to $14billion US for 2007 - which helps props up a highly militarised, highly corrupt government in the Philippines and an economy wherein at least 2.9 million families at the end of 2006 had nothing to eat and suffer daily hunger, according to a survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS - a non-gvernment polling group).

Left behind while one’s loved one - husband, wife – battles it out in the great, wide lands of this international job market to keep the family back home alive – one must go through periods of anxiety, sadness, grief, longing, hope....or one perhaps accepts this stoically year after year as the inevitable reality of being a Filipino in the Philippines.

Yet contemporary English pop literature has very little to say of this kind of love. This love wherein one waits for decade after decade for the other, while the children grow up and become adults and celebrations for birthdays, New Year, Chirstmases and family tragedies (illnesses, mishaps) and family joys (graduations, school trophies) - are missing either the mother or the father or both.

Contemporary pop lore’s love - in music on radio’s “top ten”, urban stories, tv’s “video hits”, Oscar-award winning and box office move hits - is about quick couplings, momentary trysts, hasty changeovers of lovers, I-love-you-cos-you’rebeautiful-and-sexy, the passing experiences of physical intimacy. Hardly about I love you cos you keep the family together year after year, or about decades of endurance. Hardly about lovers separated for 20, 30 years. Hardly about the struggle to keep families together and to keep love alive day after day, during decades of being away from each other.

Hardly about the loved one being raped or jailed, abused or hounded by their employer, driven out of lodgings and left homeless and destitute, physically assaulted, or disappeared - or dead - in a country far away as a foreign worker. Yet this is the real love story hardly recorded in modern literature and pop lore. Very different from academia’s deeplystudied love poems of John Donne or Elizabeth Barret Browning, or from the poems of Nick Joaquim or Walt Whitman. It’s the kind of story about love that must be more true than the so-called “love” in tv videos hits and films which portrays lovers fully-fed in beautiful clothes frequently hooking up after meeting in a nightclub then going straight to bed afterwards.

It’s the kind of love that struggles to triumph above poverty, over decades of separation, over decades of trying to keep families together. It’s the one that’s the real one. Not the fictionalised triviality of everyday pop, or daily media. The kind of love story which contemporary songwriters and poets - apart from their endless tracks about momentary trysts and fleeting physical intimacies should immortalise in song, in poems, on film. Because it’s about what love is truly about - this love story of 10 million families. - Fe Nina Reyes

Welcome to the Damayan Blog

2007-02-14T12:37:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Damayan blog. We will be starting to post news, events activities of Damayan. We hope that you will be able to contribute to this blog.