HermieGarcia.net

July 16, 2009

(The Philippine Reporter, July 16-31, 2009, http://philippinereporter.com)

Two friends passed away recently. Julius Fortuna on June 23, 2009 and Susan Fernandez on July 2. Both were friends I will miss dearly.

Julius was a journalist who wrote political columns for The Manila Times and a few other dailies in the Philippines.

He was a student of the University of the Philippines in the late 60s. We joined the same student activist organizations in our late teens and early twenties. He was a year younger than me but we practically cut our political teeth in the same environment. We joined the same anti-Vietnam war rallies and teach-ins, the same anti-Marcos and anti-U.S. imperialism demonstrations and pickets, the same workers’ strikes and campus strikes. We belonged to the same generation that launched the First Quarter Storm, the series of militant student-led demonstrations in the first quarter of 1970 that questioned the pro-imperialist and pro-landlord policies of the Philippine government led by Marcos. At the height of the FQS, he was the general secretary of the Movement for a Democratic Philippines (MDP), a broad coalition of student, youth, community and workers organizations that composed the main ranks of the mass actions.

But previous to the FQS, in 1969, the university and college campuses in Manila and other major cities of the country were hotbeds of student activism. In the 1969 student strikes, Julius, then enrolled at the Lyceum of the Philippines, was among the leaders of the national student movement that protested tuition fee hikes, censorship of campus publications and repression of student organizations. The widespread wave of student strikes was a dress rehearsal of the FQS and led the way to the winning of student council elections by activists. Even the traditionally moderate National Union of Students of the Philippines was “radicalized” and started to oppose campus repression and the policies of the Marcos regime.

Julius was at the forefront of the political storm in Manila and at times toured the country to organize student groups in campuses and youth groups in communities.

In 1971, when the Marcos regime suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and came up with a wanted list of 63 student, worker and peasant leaders, Julius’s name was in that list. He went underground and continued his organizing activities. He was among those who formed the broad anti-Marcos coalition that later on grew into the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties (MCCCL) headed by the late Senator Jose W. Diokno that opposed the writ suspension which was lifted a few months later.

When martial law was declared on September 21, 1972, Julius went further underground to continue his anti-fascist and anti-imperialist organizing.

He was arrested two years later in 1974 and detained until 1981. He was held for a few months for interrogation at the ISAFP 5th MIG headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, detained for about two years in the detention center of the 5th Constabulary Unit (CSU) in Camp Crame and moved to Camp Bagong Buhay in Bicutan, Rizal. After a hunger strike by 135 political detainees in 1976 that demanded the release of two nursing mothers and the improvement of food and detention conditions, Julius, suspected as one of the leaders of the hunger strike, was transferred with other detainees to the Stockade 4 in Camp Crame under more repressive conditions.

After a few months, his group was brought back to Bicutan. When martial law was lifted in 1981 when many detainees were released, Julius belonged to the group that was moved to the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa, Rizal.

I was released earlier than Julius who stayed a few more months in Muntinlupa with other political detainees who learned more about life in the most dreaded prison in the country.

Throughout his long almost seven years in prison, he was on the side of the detainees who opposed torture and other forms of repression.

After he was released in 1981, he slowly but steadily built a career in journalism. He later became the acknowledged dean of reporters in the diplomatic beat. With a few other journalists, he started and sustained a string of weekly “kapihan” or political breakfast forums in hotels.

Coming from the ranks of activists who rebelled against the political and social system in the 1960s and throughout martial law in the 70s, Julius was at times a subject of observations that he led a “compromised life” from the mid-80s on as a journalist in the mainstream media.

This claim may not be entirely untrue, considering his deeply left political background. But the man gave the best years of his youth to the cause, kept intact his integrity in political detention for almost seven years, deprived of freedom and a chance to live with his wife and two children all those years. He gave more than the others who lived their lives in compromise from beginning to end, those who started as activists but switched sides at the slightest sign of discomfort or harm in detention and those who would shamelessly serve the powerful and the wealthy for financial considerations.

As a person, Julius was as down-to-earth as you can imagine. He was caring to friends as he was to former activists many of whom turned to him for assistance. He was known for his contagious laughter and ability to disarm even the most unfriendly stranger. He was an endeared friend to people of various political persuasions.

Whenever I and my family would visit the Philippines from Canada, Julius was among the first who would see us. He was either at the airport when we arrived or with the first group of friends who would see us. Before I left the Manila media in 1984, I used to call him my “partner in crime” with other friends like Tony Baranda, Danny Mariano, the late Nonoy Marcelo, my best friend the late Nick Atienza, Lito de Dios, and others in the Manila media. Julius and I led a delegation of Filipino journalists to a trip to China in 1984. With the National Press Club, we later hosted a group of Chinese journalists in a tour of the Philippines.

Julius didn’t enrich himself at the expense of his political background despite the connections he built in the system. In his last days, he wanted to sell his car to raise money for his second angiogram. He and his family lived in the Pag-asa Bliss housing from the early 80s to 2009.

His wife Sabina, daughter Jilian, son Amilcar, his family and friends have all the reasons to be proud of him.

To me, he remained a friend and comrade from our campus days in the 60s, through the FQS, the 70s martial law underground and political detention, the 80s to 2004 when we last met.

* * *

Susan Fernandez belonged to another generation of activists. I met her when she visited the Bicutan detention centre in 1980 with other students and teachers who were then allowed to regularly meet political detainees by the Marcos regime as part of its face-lifting program of gradually lifting the repressive aspects of martial law. Susan, then a teacher at St. Scholastica College, sang during her first visit. Detainees were enraptured by her sweet voice and singing talent. The timber of her voice reminded us of Joan Baez, the world-renown young protest singer of the 60s who started with Bob Dylan. Susan’s signature song “Kalayaan” and her other Tagalog songs didn’t fail to mesmerize her audience.

Other than her singing prowess, Susan’s charm and friendly ways won her a large following among the detainees. She became a regular visitor whose presence eased the boredom of life in detention, especially those who stayed for many years. She brought hope to those who took to heart the message of her songs. She was referred to as “the darling of Bicutan detainees”. She even brought friends, her students, co-teachers and her two sisters to visit us.

When I was released in 1981, Susan became a close family friend. We would see her in circulation among ex-detainees, activists, cultural artists and media people. My wife and I were at her wedding. I became a godfather of his first son, as a token of our friendship that started in Bicutan.

She pursued her singing profession and became known virtually as the Activist Nightingale singing protest songs, songs of the struggle for change and democracy. Her following extended to the mainstream society and she later hosted the long-running “Concert at the Park.”

I last met Susan at a vegetarian restaurant in Quezon City in 2004. She was as bubbly as ever, then enjoying her single-blessedness. She matter-of-factly briefed us on her turbulent marriage. Her smiling eyes revealed her excitement with her new lease on life. She talked about how she had asked the advice of her sons about her choice of date. There was no sign at all of her forthcoming illness.

When we heard about her cancer, my wife corresponded with her and sent our well wishes. Then we heard she had recovered. Then the news of the remission and then her death on July 2.

Susan, your sons, your family, your friends, your legion of following, will all be proud of you. Your contributions to the movement for change, with your lovely voice, your music and your constant and relentless support are so valued it may take time for another to pick up where you left off. You are one of a kind.

* * *

Julius and Susan, we will miss you dearly. I missed seeing you in your last years. That is one of the few regrets in my life — not spending more time with wonderful friends like you. Your contributions to humanity will forever be appreciated.

May 1, 2009
(The Philippine Reporter, May 1-15, 2009, http://philippinereporter.com)

NOW that the campaign for changes in the Live-in Caregiver Program has reached a higher level, the caregivers, their advocates, the community and their allies need to assess what are the correct strategies to adopt in order to win the substantial gains they want.

First, they need to solidify their ranks to strongly support the major call for permanent resident (PR) status for caregivers upon landing in Canada.

I say this because judging from the one-hour roundtable consultation with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last Sunday, April 26, three major speakers from the side of the advocates separately dwelt on three areas of concern: 1) the major recommendation for immediate landed status; 2) the settlement challenges of caregivers, with emphasis on a project proposal; 3) recommendations that are considered “doables” or “winnables”.

This is a fragmented approach in presenting recommendations on a government program that affects the lives of tens of thousands of caregivers. This is practically a three-pronged approach, intentional or not, that actually weakens the main recommendation of immediate permanent residence status.

But to be fair to those heard by the Minister, of the 17 or so who attended from the Filipino community, about nine emphasized or supported strongly the immediate PR recommendation.

One emphasized the “doables” and another focused on settlement problems and drew attention to a project proposal separate from changes in the Live-in Caregiver Program.

The rest, about six, merely expressed gratitude to the Minister for lending his ear to the community. Only one caregiver was given the chance to speak and she batted for the main PR recommendation.
The bone of contention in the talks, undoubtedly, is the immediate permanent status. And Minister Kenney unmistakably showed he understood this when he said at the outset that in offering recommendations, the individuals representing various groups in the one-hour consultation should be aware that there could be “unintended consequences” and that there should be “balance” by considering the interests of other affected sectors like the employers.

Kenney made it clear that in his view, the LCP is a good program but that there are aspects that need to be fixed. He was not for eliminating it because it is helping Canadian families and helping caregivers attain permanent resident status faster than if they were to go through the point system for skilled professionals.

He set the tone of the talks and gave strong hints where the boundaries are. In fact, when he heard the items on the “doables” he thanked the speaker profusely and said that before when he had talks with the Filipino community, the latter had no specific proposals to offer. Now, there are these specific items and these will help him and his staff do their work.

These are the seven items in the position of the Grassroots Hub. Not that they would not help caregivers if these are implemented.

They would, for sure. Some of them are: moratorium on deportations, making the work permit work- specific rather than employer-specific, making the three-year window adjustable, removing the second medical, making availavle a federal health plan, EI, etc.

Still, emphasizing these has the effect of de-emphasizing the demand to do away with temporary resident status, which, as described succinctly by Pura Velasco of the Caregiver Support Services, is the heart of the problem. She argued that even if the provincial government enforced the implementation of the Employment and Standards Act in the caregivers’ workplace which is the employers’ homes, the caregivers would still be vulnerable to abuse because of their temporary status.

Proof of this is the now very common story of caregivers that they are threatened with deportation by employers and recruitment agencies or with reporting them to authorities for deportation whenever they resist unreasonable demands at work or for failing to pay on time the exorbitant agency fees.

Even if temporary foreign workers are assured on paper that they have rights and benefits, being not on equal footing with landed immigrants and citizens basically puts them in a very disadvantageous and precarious position.

In the position paper “Respect and Dignity for Caregivers” authored by the Coalition for the Protection of Caregivers’ Rights, presented to Kenney last year by CASJ and during the recent consultation, the emphasis is on the immediate permanent status.

Read the stories of caregivers Maribel Beato and Catherine Manuel on pages 12 and 13 and you will have a taste of how it is to be exploited by agencies and employers. These experiences are repeated hundreds or maybe thousands of times in Canada. MPP Mike Colle calls it Canada’s dirty secret.

Which brings me to my second point: the caregiver campaign leaders and advocates should disabuse their minds of the notion that if they are nice and not try to rock the boat, the politicians will listen to them.

This is an illusion, to say the least. Just like any campaign or movement for changing the status quo, the caregiver campaign is up against great odds. There exists the employers’ lobby group which, for all we know, may have developed relationships with political parties and politicians of all stripes. For sure, it has a clout that the caregiver campaign groups don’t have.

Check the Canadian Caregivers Association, run by employers of caregivers, which believes that agencies’ fees charged to caregivers should be capped rather than abolished because employers could not afford paying these fees.

The caregiver campaign cannot match the employers lobby group’s resources and connections with politicians. It cannot make political contributions. But although it cannot play this game, its strength is in mobilizing people, organizations, communities and public opinion to show the justness of its cause and exert pressure. Look at the Toronto Star expose which became possible due to the courage of the caregivers who came into the open with their stories of abuse and exploitation. They readily won public opinion and that’s when politicians took notice. First the federal and Ontario politicians played the blame game until it became untenable to not produce solutions to the caregiver problems.

Add to that the persistent organizing and public forum activities of the caregiver support groups and other organizations. Juana Tejada’s case became a rallying symbol. Cancer stricken caregivers surfaced: Celia Mansibang, Madonna Galinato, Precy Limpiado. More caregivers were emboldened to come out to tell their horror stories.

Then the Bill 160, MPP Mike Colle’s private member’s bill, which mainly wanted to ban agency fees on caregivers and set up a registry of these agencies. Then Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca raised the bar and announced he would introduce a bill at Queens Park to stop the abuse and exploitation of caregivers in Ontario. He said it’s a federal program and needs fixing at the federal level.

Enter Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who gladly lent his ear on April 26 and collected position papers for study. No specific commitments but he listened obligingly enough even for only one hour. Which brings the movement of immigration issues of the LCP in a standstill.

Advocates and caregivers should bear in mind that the LCP is an integral part of the immigration policy of Canada. The LCP is touted as an easier means of entry for immigrant aspirants yet numerous nanny stories have exposed its fundamental flaws due mainly to the temporary status and horrible labor conditions.

For these flaws to be removed, the campaign should align itself with other forces that work for fundamental changes in Canada’s immigration policies.

But internally within the Filipino community, a strong mass movement must be built that should include both the traditional groups and the traditionally militant formations that were hardly present in the Kenney consultation.

The LCP battle must be waged by the larger part of this community. It is a great opportunity to empower this community.

Yet before we can achieve this we have to open our eyes to the realpolitik of the caregiver campaign. The politicians need votes, resources and need to look good to stay in power. The community, if it builds a strong movement, cannot be ignored by politicians who thrive in crisis. Some even help build a nation and shape history if they truly serve their people.

April 2, 2009
(The Philippine Reporter, April 1-15, 2009, http://philippinereporter.com)

The recent Toronto Star series of articles about unscrupulous recruiting agencies preying on Filipino caregivers has triggered a public outcry that sent politicians and public officials singing a chorus on protecting these vulnerable foreign workers and vowing to go after these greedy recruiters.

A private member’s bill has been filed in the Ontario Parliament that intends to curb this practice by setting up a registry of agencies, banning the charging of fees on caregivers and penalizing those in violation of this bill.

Hearing the stories of the caregivers on how they were milked thousands of dollars for often non-existent jobs has provoked public anger. Those responsible deserve to be charged with fraud and brought to justice. Victimizing foreign workers who have already spent a fortune for government fees and who are willing to be separated from their families just so they could support their siblings, parents and spouses, is like sucking the blood of these poor people. There’s no doubt about it, these predators need to be exposed and made to answer for their crimes.

But I am a bit uncomfortable with how this is turning out to be. These unscrupulous recruiters need to be punished for sure but to me they are like vultures feeding on the miseries of the caregivers. They bring the caregivers here for a scandalous fee, which is absolutely wrong. But what we forget is the already unjust and outrageous terms and conditions under which caregivers and all foreign temporary workers find themselves in are what allow the unscrupulous recuiters to extract their huge fees.

These caregivers and other temporary workers come from poor and lower middle class families in poor countries like the Philippines. They couldn’t find decent jobs there because of both the unwillingness and inability of the government leadership to provide decent employment. As the country reels from crisis after crisis amid everyday reports of scandals and mind-boggling corruption in high places, people lose hope and in desperation go overseas where life looks better.

The government of the sending country is interested mainly or solely in the billions of dollars these overseas workers remit home, in the case of the Philipppines, about U.S.$18 billion a year. These desperate people are pushed to work overseas as cheap labor without the necessary protection. In Canada, for instance, caregivers under the Live-in Caregiver Program are like indentured slaves tied to their employers who know that they are desperate to escape from poverty in their home country and many wouldn’t mind being exploited working 12 hours or more without overtime pay doing chores not specified in their contracts. Besides, the carrot at the end of the 36 months, after they have worked live-in for 24 months - eligibility to apply for permanent residence status - is too attractive to resist.
That is not available in most other countries.

The stories of abusive working conditions, physical, verbal and sexual abuse, cheating on salaries and tax deductions are too common to be ignored. That’s why, it’s revolting when some consular staff used to say that these are nothing compared to what OFWs experience in the Middle East. That may be true but it doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.

So you have desperate poor people who would grab the first chance of working abroad and would accept any terms of employment rather than have their family go hungry.

The receiving country, Canada, knows these are desperate people so it imposes working conditions it wouldn’t normally impose on its citizens and immigrants who have rights and privileges that couldn’t be taken away easily. These caregivers are treated like second-class workers and in practice indentured slaves who are “willing” anyway to bear their miserable conditions since their life here is much better than where they came from. Besides, again, there is that light at the end of the dark tunnel, permanent residency and being able to sponsor their family, which is becoming illusory now, judging by the numerous cases of deportation or “removal”.

Now comes the public outcry to crucify the unscrupulous recruiters who are like vultures feeding on the miseries of the desperate caregivers. Those who caused these miseries in the first place escape the blame and join the chorus to go after the heads of the vultures.

To me, it’s like the classic comparison to rounding up some drug pushers on the streets while letting the drug lords and their protectors in law enforcement do business.

So what is the solution to this seemingly complex problem? Since the root of the problem is the unjust impositions on the caregivers, then remove these chains that tie them to modern slavery. Let them come to Canada with permanent resident status so there is no carrot that is dangled to them as a prize for accepting slavery. Remove the live-in requirement so they are not treated like they are owned by their employers who can make them work on demand 24 hours a day. Let their workplace, their employers’ home, be subject to labor standards and their work conditions and wages be like those of Canadian workers. Not only treat them like ordinary Canadian workers are treated. Treat them like human beings with dignity who deserve respect. After all, they make life comfortable to countless families who have kids, elderly and ill persons in Canada.

The Philippine government should stop sending them as desperate cheap labor bound by onerous work conditions but as workers with rights and benefits accorded to regular workers in modern society and who while still Filipino citizens should be fully protected by their government wherever they are in the world. If and when this happens, no recruiting business will be able to extract blood from caregivers with impunity.

March 13, 2009

On page one of this issue are photos of four people whose lives have become meaningful to others beyond their own personal circle of friends and family. Each had either chosen to take initiative to make a difference for others or by force of circumstance, suffer and in the process expose man’s inhumanity to man.

Francis Magalona pioneered as a rap artist in his country. His legacy, however, was more his message than his art. Although his art was his medium to highlight his ideals to his legion of fans and followers, his passion and pride for his national identity distinguished him from other artists of his generation.

Thus his signature “Mga Kababayan,” “Tayo’y mga Pinoy” and “Man from Manila”. But more telling was his seething criticism of corruption, greed and callousness in high places. No performing artist at his level of popularity was willing to unleash such rage against the powers that be, if ever they felt his rage.

In the process, his fans grew far and wide in the country and even in north America where culturally disoriented Filipino youth felt his pulse and warmed up to his performances. For decades, he was the Rap King of the Philippines so that when he died last week, the whole entertainment industry and its legion of fans, especially the youth, mourned their great loss.

Juana Tejada, a live-in caregiver stricken with cancer in Canada, had to leave and stay away from her husband, siblings and parents in the Philippines so she could lift them from poverty. She came from a country where the lower middle class and the poor working class have no hope for decent livelihood unless they go abroad.

She was away for nine years without ever having the chance to visit home. She was denied twice of a chance to get permanent residency in Canada due to her illness because Immigration authorities said she would be a burden to the health system. When advocacy organizations and fellow caregivers, with the support of the community, rallied to her support and pressed the government for a reversal of its position, she was granted her wish.

In her statements before audiences and the media, she consistently took the cudgels for the other caregivers whom she knew were in the same situation. She asked them to be brave and come out because the community and other groups were there to support them. And with the help of her lawyers and supporters, the campaign for the Juana Tejada Law was launched for the removal of the second medical test for caregivers when applying for permanent residency. Her death symbolizes the extent of suffering her people are subjected to in this age of labor migration.

Rebelyn Pitao, a 20-year old teacher in Davao City, met a violent death after being abducted, tortured and probably raped by armed men who didn’t bother to conceal their crimes. Rebelyn’s only “crime” apparently was being a daughter of an alleged Commander of the New People’s Army, Leoncio Pitao.

That her uncle, Danilo Pitao, was similarly abducted and murdered in June last year in Tagum City, indicates a pattern of “punishment” being inflicted on the family of suspected armed rebels. Upon learning of her death, her mother blamed the military.

Church groups, lawyers groups, legislators, women, labor, youth and other groups from her country and overseas are rising in protest to condemn the unspeakable crime against humanity.

Rebelyn would not have comprehended why she had to be subjected to mindless cruelty by her tormentors but torture and summary execution have become common in her country where almost 1,000 extra-judicial killings have been reported in recent years.

Rebelyn’s life is gone but her name will always remind everyone that the armed guardians of power will stop at nothing and can be ruthlessly cruel in preserving their masters’ rule.

Eulogio “Tay Gipo” Sasi, Jr., a native of President Roxas, North Cotabato, discovered a new pest-resistant rice variety and was honored by the Norwegian government for this achievement.
The Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food Lars Peder Brekk cited him “for upholding diversity through indigenous knowledge on crop conservation,” said a news item.

Eulogio died days before the event where he would have received the citation. The story further quoted a Mindanao leader on community empowerment, “He reminded all of us that the seeds being deposited in the Global Seed Vault and all the genebanks are products of generations of farmers’ knowledge and innovations across the world that are entrusted to this generation and for the future generation.” It’s ironic that Tay Gipo’s work is recognized by a government of another country and not his own.

Four Filipinos passed away in the past weeks and what they’ve done or what happened to them have touched many other lives to an extent they would not have known. Someone said the significance of one’s life is measured not in the power one wields or in the possessions one acquires but in how it has impacted other people’s lives.

March 2, 2009
(The Philippine Reporter, March 1-15, 2009, http://philippinereporter.com)

IT WAS LONG in coming. I’m not talking about the 20th anniversary of The Philippine Reporter, which is this month of March 2009. I’m talking about the awakening of the Filipino youth in Toronto as indicated by what transpired in the State of the Filipino Union (SOFU) forum last Thursday, Feb. 26, at William Doo Auditorium, University of Toronto.

The event was organized to serve as a dialogue between the youth and some of their elder community leaders to probe the important issues and concerns the youth have found disturbing. Issues like the fragmented state of the community, the gap between the newcomer youth (FOBs) and the “bacons” (Canada -born youth), the lack of a cultural identity among the youth and their alienation from the mainstream Canadian youth.

For sure, most of these issues have been raised and discussed among a few youth and student groups in Toronto since a few years back. But the SOFU event extended the sense of concern to youth of diverse political, cultural, student and religious groups and persuasions.

The panelists consisted of 17 youth and students and 16 elder community leaders and personalities, including Consul General Alejandro Mosquera. Each one was given two and a half minutes to articulate his or her issues of concern and experiences regarding the Filipino community, racism, cultural identity, ethnic youth alienation from the mainstream society, and similar topics.

Myk Miranda, one of the organizers, set the tone with a fiery speech presenting the predicament of the Filipino youth who feel neither Filipino nor Canadian. His obviously angry tone and his profound longing for an explanation to the Toronto Filipino youth’s strong sense of cultural alienation could be a jarring wake up call to the older generation present in the forum. At one point he said his elders imitate white people and the youth, in a form of reaction, imitate black people. He said it’s not easy to be a Filipino in Canada.

But he expressed hope that from that day on, with the dialogue that’s being started between the youth and their parents’ generation, all these would start to change.

The youth panelists, most of whom come from cultural groups and professions, a few from migrant support groups and student associations, spoke with candor along the same themes. A few said they were once ashamed to be Filipino but later became proud of it when they understood more about their culture and heritage.

For the elders who were present, especially those who were hearing this for the first time, it was an experience totally different from the community events they’re used to, where speakers mouth motherhood statements about being Filipino, unity in the community, charity and love for everything Filipino, and integration to Canada, their adopted country, and helping the poor in their beloved home country.

As a caveat, many Filipino associations and groups have genuinely and generously helped the poor and victims of disasters in the Philippines and many are doing it on their own personal initiative. But these new voices from our youth bring a new insight into the reality of immigrants’ lives in a foreign land.

It is not only about immigrants having good jobs and prospering in the new country, and many or even the majority do not even experience this. It is not only about sending kids to good schools, and these so-called good schools do not even treat our youth equally with Canada born white youth.

Now it is more about whether our youth feel accepted in society given the color of their skin, their cultural background, their accent, the food that they eat and their initial shyness because English is not their first language. It is about our youth understanding their history and feeling good about their cultural identity so that they can feel proud about it while relating with the youth of other backgrounds.
It is a tremendous responsibility for the parents and the elders in our community to understand the sense of cultural disorientation among our youth. It could be difficult for them to profoundly feel what the youth are saying since the elder generation grew up in the Philippines and there’s no mistaking their identity. In fact, maybe their cultural arteries (or attitudes) have hardened so much, many of them would not attempt to understand or tolerate other cultures. But since the youth have spoken, and in a passionate and organized manner at that, they cannot say now or in the future that they have not been forewarned.

On other hand, maybe there is also a need for our elder generation to start some kind of a cultural and historical education to be able to correctly orient our youth. If you look at most of the major events in our community, you will see how the leaders see our culture and our history. I couldn’t forget a Filipino parade where one wore a Gen. MacArthur costume beaming the victory sign reminiscent of the “liberation” of the Philippines by the Americans. And the independence day festival where a huge mural portraying the Christianization of the Philippines dominated the stage. Need we say more?

Here is the column I wrote for the Dec. 16-31, 2008 of The Philippine Reporter:

Bobi Valenzuela, friend and mentor

December 17, 2008

It’s a sad day for me and for our batch ‘64 classmates who knew Bobi Valenzuela and were good friends with him even as he belonged to the batch ‘62 of FEU Boys High.

He was my mentor in my first foray into student journalism in ‘62 (and journalism for that matter) when I was sophomore and Bobi was in senior class. He was managing editor of the High School Advocate. After taking the “exams” to be included in the staff, I got my first assignment from Bobi — the story about the awards for the high school essay writing contests.

I didn’t know how to interview people or how to research then. I came up with a story that the essay contest winners would receive medals in the award ceremonies. I don’t know where I got that. Maybe I heard people talking about medals in the faculty room or in the lobby. But I wrote the story and it was published. It turned out I was wrong. Only certificates would be given to the winners.

Bobi called me for a private talk to give me my first lesson ever in journalism — be sure about your facts and double check your info.

But he was my mentor in many other fields. At the UP Extension (now called UP Manila) Bobi and I used to have discussions on the stairs of the building where students used to hang out. We discussed literature, poetry, philosophy and the arts. Bobi, the student, had a strong interest then in the visual arts, particularly oil paintings. We didn’t know then that he was going to be the curator of Hiraya Art Gallery, just a block away on the same Padre Faura St., for decades (70s to 90s). He would later on hob-nob with budding and accomplished avant garde Filipino artists who now dominate the field of Philippine oil paintings.

Bobi and Mandy Manaloto, put up the cafe/folkhouse/bar called “Little Prince,” in 1970 which other than becoming the hang out of student leaders in the University Belt, also became the refuge of student demonstrators being chased by the Metrocom and the Manila Police.

Bobi, before Little Prince, lived in Europe and immersed in the arts, I suppose, because shortly after that he was hired to run Hiraya Art Gallery.

Bobi was most of all a friend. Despite the fact that we lost contact with each other throughout the dark years of martial law, he would be among the first people I would see after my release from political detention. And he was as warm as ever and too happy to see me again.

The last time I saw him was in 1984 when I visited Manila. He was still with Hiraya and we enjoyed reminiscing the old days while having pizza at Shakeys across Hilton Hotel on Mabini and Padre Faura. In 2004, I talked to the Hiraya proprietess and she told me Bobi had a heart attack or something and he was in the hospital. That was a day before I was about to leave Manila for Toronto and I failed to see him in the hospital.

I had hoped to see Bobi again in Manila but didn’t have the chance to. Today, Friday, Dec. 12, 1:15 a.m. (Manila time), he passed away. Rene Ruivivar forwarded Mandy’s email about Bobi’s death. It really is a sad day for me as Bobi’s friend and protege in many ways. May his soul rest in peace forever.

* * *

Starting on page 10 of this issue is a story by Marlou Tiro who interviewed 10 Filipinos and Filipino Canadians about their “Pasko sa Canada”.

You will notice, aside from the usual concern with shopping and the economic crisis, some interviewees noted the difference between Christmas in Canada and in the Philippines “more fun and real”)

Said one: “In the Philippines, you tend to have that special warm feeling. You can visit anybody to greet them… Here in Canada, you need to be invited. You cannot just walk in to anybody’s house and have a meal…”

Said another: “In the Philippines… even with no money.. masaya kasi kapiling mo and pamilya mo (‘happy because you’re with your family’.) Here in Canada, malungkot ang Pasko kasi wala sa piling ko ang mga anak ko. Meron ka ngang pera pero nag-iisa ka naman. (‘Christmas is sad because I’m not with my children. You have money, yes, but you are alone.’)

These comments reflect the social circumstances under which many Filipinos live in Canada. According to Statistics Canada studies, around 20 per cent of Filipino immigrants arrived in Canada through the Live-In Caregive Program and another 45 per cent, under the family reunification program.

This means that at any one time roughly 65 per cent of Filipinos in Canada are separated from their immediate families.

As a result, their integration into Canadian life and society could be much harder. Factor in the emotional difficulties of their children and spouses who are left in the Philippines, and you have escalating social costs in both the sending and receiving countries caused by Canadian immigration policies.

Will some political and community leaders in Canada work to change this policy of separating families? If that is changed, it could give hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in Canada a really happy and meaningful Christmas every year.

AT THE TIME of this writing, it looks like Canada will have another Conservative minority government under the steely watch of Stephen Harper. Which means more of the same. The same right-wing economic and political policies skewed to favor big corporations and banks over the poor and working classes including the vast majority of immigrant population and foreign temporary workers.

I attended a National Ethnic Press Council roundtable a week before the Oct. 14 elections where Liberal leader Stephane Dion was the speaker. I asked two questions: 1. Would you sign the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Migrant Workers? His answer: Yes, if there are no technicalities involved. 2. What would you do to help foreign temporary workers? His reply: I will fast track their becoming Canadians.

If Dion were to be the next Prime Minister, we could hold him to his words. But that may not be happening soon. We’re stuck with Harper who was next to impossible to meet during the campaign because he was just not accessible except to top editors of the dailies or to CBC’s Peter Mansbridge.

Besides, it’s apparent that the main plank of the Conservative program on labor is to pack the country with foreign temporary workers (translation: cheap labor) without labor rights and benefits and send them back to their home countries when they’re no longer needed.

But let’s see what happens next after the dust has settled in this election. For sure, the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois will be bickering intensely against one another while the Tories will have more power to implement their Bush-inspired agenda. It was a sad spectacle to watch NDP’s Jack Layton and Liberal’s Dion during the campaign attacking each other with passion as if either was the main target of the opposition. What they achieved was worse (for them) than the pre-election power equation in Parliament: more seats for the Conservatives.

This looks like a reverse of what’s happening in the U.S. where Democratic candidate Barack Obama is much favored by the polls than the Republican John McCain. I can’t wait to see, though, how a Harper-Obama chemistry would look like. A supposedly liberal-leaning U.S. superpower leader meeting with a Canadian version of ex-prez Bush. Would Obama really work for pulling out U.S. troops from Iraq while Harper would tend to send more Canadian troops to Afghanistan?

For sure, a second, stronger minority government for Harper would give him more reason to rule like a majority. That’s what he said.

* * *

On page five of this issue (Oct. 16-31, 2008, The Philippine Reporter) there is an open letter of appeal to GTA outlets of Filipino newspapers to help in preventing the theft of bundles of newspapers. The suspect is a publisher of another paper.

We in the local community media know who this person is. It’s been reported that he (or his delivery person) was seen by a storeowner pick up a bundle of another newspaper and brought it to he only knows where, most likely the garbage.

In one instance, a store owner specifically asked this guy not to pick up a bundle of newspapers. When the storeowner turned her back to him, he nevertheless carted away with the bundle.

Obviously, his intention was to reduce his competitors’ circulation so it would appear his paper had a bigger circulation.

I am reminded of the days when the Marcos regime bought bundles of the newspapers We Forum, Malaya, and other anti-dictatorship publications in Manila in the early 80s when the so-called mosquito press started to irritate Marcos.

But that was suppression of dissent and press freedom. The struggle then was in the political realm. What we have here locally is motivated purely by profit. And it is nothing less than low life.
According to another Filipino editor, while he was in a restaurant with colleagues, he witnessed how within minutes of delivery, a bundle of newspapers disappeared and on its spot appeared a bundle of this guy’s paper.

What do we do to stop this nefarious practice of a person occupying a prestigious position in our community. Do we need to expose him in print? Do we need to call the police? Maybe if he apologized to us and commit to mend his ways, there will be no need for this. (The Philipppine Reporter, Oct. 16-31, 2008)

TORONTO — The recent concert produced by Studio Six, “Celebratel Music with Josie de Leon,” was a major production where the performers were all local talents. This is a remarkable effort by our local producers to harness the local musicians, singers, dancers and choreographers to produce a major event comparable to those where the stars are imported from the Philippines or the U.S.

Much like locally-grown produce whose freshness and price benefit local consumers, our local talents shine on center stage when given a chance, not as front-acts nor one-or two-song time killers, but as stars in their own right.

There have been other attempts like this before but I haven’t seen one so elaborate and so filled with varied artists. First, there’s Josie whose effortless stage presence and ease at musical performance fill the stage and stir anticipation in the audience. I’ve watched her sing modern Tagalog love songs that required both energy and lilting tunes but the recent concert revealed she could spar with tenor Leander Mendoza and hit the high notes with aplomb doing a Phantom of the Opera number. And her repertoire included classic Broadway, pop songs, Natalie Cole (“Unforgetable”), Imelda Papin (“Kung Liligaya Ka”), Hot Dog (“Pers Lab”) and numbers with Canadian Idol Mikey Bustos.

Mendoza was a treat with his mastery of the piano and his gift of voice that easily filled the auditorium. Bustos was pure energy on stage with his dances and songs. They are only two of our local stars who made the show worth seeing.

There’s Karen Tan, whose powerful rendition of Kuh Ledesma’s “Dito Ba?” almost mersmerized the audience. I wanted to have more of her songs but her newborn baby rightly deserved time with her more than her stage appearances.

I was reminded of Vonnie Beltran, Chyrell Samson and Rodney Ronquillo whose star quality performances in our Ginsaugon concert in 2006 wowed the audience. Why were they not asked to showcase their talents here? Lilac Caña’s and Emilio Zarris’s appearances could have completed the local cast of stars.

But of course, there was Marvin de Guzman whose rendition of a Gary Valenciano number was done with much feeling. And there was Julius Tinsay whose Spanish numbers entertained the audience no doubt.

Mon Torralba of the Hot Dog fame was the musical director of the show. His handling of the lead guitar kept the musical numbers in order. His band was wonderful. It gave the show a professional sound that filled the air. It was like the glue the kept the show together.

Classical violinist Alex Cheung’s Phantom of the Opera truly held us breathless. And the dancers? With Josie singing and the band playing, the dancers drew the crowd up on their feet singing and dancing towards the end of the show.

The Celebrate magazine published for the show was glossy, had some interesting pieces on the artists and had more ads than it needed.

It could have been a perfect show had the Chinese Cultural Centre auditorium in Scarborough been filled to capacity that night.

Which brings us to a side issue. Why aren’t the usual suspects in the community, some of the high profile personalities not around? I’m sure Josie and her group of artists were not amiss in supporting their events, performing for free many times. Where were the massive crowds that thronged to the events of PIDC, Gawad Kalinga and the regional associations that had our local talents volunteering their time?

We owe these artists the support they deserve. I have always called them diamonds in our backyard. Our existence in a cold country like Canada would not have been richer without them.

I didn’t intend to write a column for this issue. In the last few days, however, I came across two items circulating on the Internet that I thought would be a compelling study in stark contrast. One is about the life of an overseas Filipino worker, or OFW, and the other the life of a Senator.

One is a column written by Conrado de Quiros, award-winning newspaper columnist whose impassioned writings have cultivated for him a large following of readers.  He wrote about the insane conditions under which OFWs work and the government plan to subject prospective OFWs to psychological tests before deploying them to overseas work.

The other item is anonymously written but equally impassioned description of the lives of Senators whose privileges and entitlements are mind-boggling.

Here is an excerpt from De Quiros’s column:

“The question is whether the person you are sending out is loony-tunes or the place he is going to is bound to make him so. Or put another way, the question is whether the person you are sending out is a risk to the community you are sending him out to or the conditions of work you are sending him out to are a risk to the person you are sending out. In many cases, the second is truer than the first. It’s the deplorable working conditions, the verbal, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, the torture, the nonpayment of wages that make OFWs snap and go berserk. That is probably more the rule than the exception. No exam is going to change that.”

xxx

“There is something sublimely absurd about making sure that only sane people are sent out to do insane work. There is something violently contradictory about guaranteeing that people are able to keep their family together by exposing them to conditions that guarantee they will tear their family asunder. There is something maddeningly insane about assuring that people are sufficiently sane to carry out the insane task of keeping a country afloat by sending its people to work abroad.

“I don’t know of any country today that is so dependent on overseas work. That has for its lifeblood overseas work. That cannot survive for one day without overseas work. Absurdity piles up on absurdity. I don’t know of any country today that is so desperate for overseas work it is willing to send its citizens to places God or Allah forgot. I don’t know of any country today that has turned whole universities into nursing schools, or turned entire departments into adjuncts of the nursing one. I don’t know of any country today that doesn’t even mind selling itself, quite apart from its people, to the highest bidder, piece by piece, parcel by parcel, lot by lot, just to survive—or to make its officials happy.”

Here is the item on the privileges of Senators, written in Pilipino or Tagalog. I refuse to translate this to English. I’m sure I would not give justice to the content and all its emotion should I do so.

So here, enjoy:

“ANG SARAP MAGING SENADOR!

“Miriam Defensor Santiago was featured in Correspondents last week.

“Maganda rin naman ang naidudulot ng pagiging prangka ni Senador Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Ayon kay Santiago , marami ang tumatak-bong Senador dahil sa laki ng budget na ibinibigay sa kanila kada buwan.
Lumalabas na P35,000 suweldo nila kada buwan ay pakitang-tao lang sa milyun-milyong budget ng bawat senador. Kada buwan ay may Fixed Monthly Budget ang bawat Senador ng humigit-kumulang P2 Milyon.
Sa opisina pa lang nila ay humigit-kumulang P500,000 ang budget nila sa Maintenance and Operating Expenses (Rental, Utilities, Supplies at Domestic Travels) at P500,000 para sa Staff at Personal expenses. Kaya para makatipid ang ibang Senador, kaunti lang ang staff na kinukuha nila. Nagtataka ka pa kung bakit mayroong mga Ghost Employee?

“Bukod diyan, may P760,000 allowance pa sila kada buwan para naman sa Foreign Travel. At ang masakit pa nito, hindi na kailngan i-liquidate ang mga resibo ng mga gastusin ‘yan kundi Certification lang ang Requirement.

“Heto pa, lahat sila ay Chairman ng mg Komite sa Senado. Ang Committee Chairman ay tumatanggap din ng budget na sinlaki ng tinatanggap ng mga Senador na humigit-kumulang P1 Milyon din! Hindi sila mawawalan ng Komite dahil 24 lang ang ating mga Senador at 37 naman ang Committee sa Senado.

“There’s food for everybody ‘ika nga! Lumalabas na doble ang kanilang benepesiyo at kita kapag sila ay nabiyayaan ng Committee Chairmanship.

“Sa P200 milyon na Budget para sa Pork Barrel ng mga Senador bawat taon, awtomatikong may 10% na S.O.P. o kita ng Senador na P20 milyon. Ito ang porsiyento na ibinibigay ng mga kontratista sa mga Senador na nagbibigay sa kanila ng mga Infrastructure at Livelihood Project.

“Bago matapos ang termino ng isang Senador, kumita na siya ng P100 milyon sa Pork Barrel pa lang. Yung ibang Senador mas gahaman, hindi lang 10% kundi 20 - 30% ang komisyon hinihingi sa mga kontratista.
Pansinin niyo na lang ang pagbabago ng buhay ng ilan sa ating mga Senador simula nang manungkulan sa puwesto. Kung dati ay simple lang ang kanilang pamumuhay ngayon ay nakatira na sila sa mga eksklusibong subdivision, maraming bahay sa Pilipinas at abroad at mahigit lima ang sasakyan.
Ngayon nagtataka ka pa ba kung bakit gumagastos ng daan-daang milyong piso ang mga Senador sa kampanya para sa isang posisyon na P35,000 lang ang suweldo kada buwan? Bawing-bawi pala ang gastos kapag naupo na!

ANG SARAP MAGING SENADOR! ! !
PLEASE FORWARD TO AS MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS AND LET THE WHOLE COUNTRY KNOW THAT ELECTION IS MORE OF PUTTING AMBITIOUS PEOPLE IN POSITION WHO ARE GREEDY FOR POWER, WEALTH & PRESTIGE THAN OF PUBLIC SERVICE… ANG MASAKIT PA PERA NG BAYAN PA RIN GAGAMITIN SA ELEKSYON MALUKLOK LANG ANG MGA BUWAYA SA PWESTO!!!”

Two quick updates:

1. A NEW Philippine Reporter website has been uploaded. Check it out at http://philippinereporter.com and enjoy the new design. We have also installed videos that are footages from the July 19, 2008 Mabuhay festival at Metro Convention Centre and the Juana Tejada press conference on July 18. We are using a software template that is similar to those used by CNN and other mainstream media sites. So you’ll sure to benefit from the leading edge features.

We at the Reporter are very excited by this new development. Now we can update the site with new stories and photos quickly and easily. No more tedious work with HTML stuff. No more waiting for the print edition to be finished. No more waiting for those trained with uploading to be free of their other work. I myself can upload stories, photos, make corrections, etc.

And the most exciting thing is when we cover stories, we can videotape the interviews and the events and upload the video footages the same day!!! I imagine this can be an exhilarating experience for our readers. It’s like, after attending a Filipino event or hearing about it, you check out the Reporter website and you find out what you just saw or heard about can be watched on video on the same day or a few days after.

So check it out now at http://philippinereporter.com and post your comments at the end of the stories and the videos. Bookmark the site because the url is different from the old site’s. Check out the Tinikling video and the other Fiesta Filipina videos. The music, the dances will mesmerize you.

2. At the top of the homepage you will notice a banner ad announcing a brief Free Review of the top 3 weight loss products. Check this out too. But don’t be scared, there is no product offer at the review page, only information. But of course, if you’re a bit interested in more information, you may read the linked pages which themselves contain a ton of great and useful info. They are well-researched and educational on the topic.

Since I am a health and wellness buff myself (I don’t eat meat, fastfood and greasy stuff, I drink Pimag oxygenated water, I take calcium, Coq10, Saw Palmetto supplements, etc.) I learned a lot just reading those pages. I even practiced some of their recommendations. And you know what? I lost 14 pounds in three weeks just using a couple of them. No kidding. Go check out those pages. They are highly-recommended by yours truly.

For a short cut, here’s the url: http://WellnessHealthWise.com