Miarayon, Mindanao.

Filipinos don’t celebrate Halloween, they instead have a day dedicated to the dead on 1 November, the Araw ng mga Patay [Day of the Dead]. It’s a holiday that is the perfect metaphor for Philippine spirituality: an imported Catholic holiday that hints at an animist past.

Having grown up in Canada I only just recently learned about this tradition, and I experienced my first Araw ng mga Patay only last year. I went to go visit my grandfathers graves, they had both died during the 90s and been brought back to the Phils.

The holiday is an odd one seen through the lens of a Filipino raised in Canada. Families head out to the cemetery to clean the tombs of relatives, bring food, flowers, light candles, and pray. But more or less it just seems like a day where everyone decides to have a family picnic—a picnic that just so happens to be in an insanely crowded cemetery.

It’s an odd sight to be honest. Drunk men playing cards on grave markers next to a family singing karaoke on a portable machine next to parents praying the rosary for a recently deceased child.

Strangely enough, it’s a generally mirthful holiday. There are fast food tents set up in the cemetery just for that day: McDonalds, Jollibee, Greenwich Pizza, Ando’s Chicken, and more—all in the middle of a cemetery.

To my foreign influenced eyes, this holiday seems light and fun; a nice way to remember the past, but in the Phils—despite how casual the atmosphere is—there is a real fear that to not pay respect at the grave of a family member would have severe repercussions from the spirit world.

It’s moments like these that really help remind me of our people’s animist past, and the very real connection to the spirit world that doesn’t exist here in Canada

Tala-andig pre-sacrifice ritual. Miarayon, Mindanao.

I am particularly fascinated by our living family mythology. As a Filipino, even a Filipino in Canada, all our family histories are ripe with this folklore. I am proud to even have a little of it attached to me.

I’d like to share some of these stories with you, old stories that sometimes seem a world away, and make me nostalgic for a place I can’t remember, for spirits that I cannot recall…

My great-grandfather, my paternal lola’s father, was apparently a Spaniard (don’t hold it against me). My Mommy Es (as we call our grandma) tells me that he was an older man in his 50s when he married my great-grandmother who was 18. His name was Gabriel and he was a soldier with Spain when he was younger.

My grandmother didn’t know him very well, he died before she became a teen and he was stern man who only really interacted with his kids to discipline them. One thing she did remember about him was his magic hat.

This hat was one of the family anting-antings [magic talisman]. They were often amulets worn around the neck (most commonly they gave the wearer invincibility against a specific weapon), but they could be anything—in this case, a hat.

Mommy Es first told me about the magic hat in my teens when I was a massive comic book geek and it caught my imagination enough that I have never forgotten the story, and have never forgotten the sense of loss I felt for not having it—but I’m getting ahead of myself.

So he had a magic hat. This hat was said to have an amazing power: he could use it to transport himself anywhere on earth by simply putting on the hat and thinking about the place. It had an unusual caveat: it would only work if the wearer used it in a place where he was out of sight from watching eyes.

I was an atheist as a teen, and I didn’t really believe in its powers, but it intrigued me. Did one have to be completely out of sight or just have no one watching? How far was its range? Did you have to image the place so well that you couldn’t go anywhere that you hadn’t already been? And of course: why didn’t he use it to be a superhero?

The hat was lost during the war with Japan, after my great-grandfather had died. When my Lola’s family was forced to run to flee into the mountains it was left behind. I have no idea how such an important piece of magic could be left behind, I mean you’d think this hat would have been pretty damned useful during a war.

I, of course, also wondered how my Lola could believe in such an outlandish story—and she really believes it was real. She would tell me about how he walk into a room and just disappear or just appear out of no where when she thought she was alone. It’s all just a little creepy if you ask me—knowing that he was a Spaniard in a Philippines just recently free of Spain—to think that he would just appear and disappear randomly through my grandma’s childhood memories.

A statue of a child Jesus behind a young man playing a video game.

In the mountains my grandmother had a more dangerous run in with another creature of Filipino mythology.

Throughout my life I have always known my Lola to be afraid of rivers and creeks, it originates from the War and the time she was attacked by a river spirit. She tells the story of how she was in her early teens and went out to the river to fetch water. Usually one of the older family members did it but she felt she was old enough. Her family later found her by the river near dead.

They attribute the incident to a run-in with a river spirit that she forgot to ask permission from.

The theme of river spirits continued with me, but in an opposite direction. I’ve always loved small forest rivers and creeks. I can sit by them for hours.

Miarayon, Mindanao.

My maternal Lola, we called her ‘Nanay’ [which means “mother”] loves to tell the story of how when I was a toddler I was always running away from home. At first they would get worried (I have no idea how a baby less than two could run away from home, but that’s the story), but they would always find me in the same place. I would run to the creek in the wooded area near our home and play with my friends the duende.

Duende were mischievous spirits that inhabited the land. While the name is Spanish, the spirits are Filipino, stemming from our animist tradition. Duende were mischievous and often played pranks on people. They could also be very dangerous if offended, and they were easily offended (as my Mommy Es’ story shows). But if you were good to them, they were very protective of you.

Nanay would say how she would often find me there and she would see strange things: like how I would apparently be playing with spirits she couldn’t see, she would see me splash water at an invisible friend–and water would splash back.

She marveled at that friendship as duende were usually creatures to be avoided. In stories even those they befriended usually found themselves in serious trouble. I’ve always loved that connection, and when I went back to the Phils to discover that the creek was gone and the area cemented over and covered in homes I felt a real sadness and I truly hoped that my mythological friends were ok.

To this day when I walk through forests, or come to a creek I would bow my head and greet the spirits. And to this day I’ve always felt safe in wild areas—I’ve had quite a few close calls, but I’ve always come out ok.

Now I’m not saying I believe these stories to be literal truth, but there is wonderful metaphorical truth to be found in mythology—it’s the truth that cannot be spoken of in literal terms, the truth that is within all religions, the truth that’s corrupted by those that see only words but can’t grasp their meaning.

One Filipino wrote on an online criticism of the Araw ng mga Patay holiday “I will never understand the Filipino fascination with the dead, much less their superstitious beliefs concerning the dead among us. I prefer to deal with the land of the living. After all, it’s the living people that need our help as we can do nothing for the dead. “

Cubao, Manila.

I disagree, many of our problems in the Phils and as Filipinos (especially those of us raised outside the homeland) comes from this disconnect between the present and the past, tradition and modernity. In our headlong rush to become equal to the West [whatever that may mean], we are quickly discarding our mythologies instead of allowing them to evolve. This stupidity is an attempt to strip us of our relationship to the land, each other, and the past.

But these stories live in us whether we want them to or not because our parents, our grandparents, and our families have lived with these stories and they have influenced how they act and how they have raised us.

Tradition is not a static creature. It lives and evolves within the people they inhabit. We cannot remove ourselves from it any more than we can try to remove our blood from our bodies. We can definitely try, and I know too many that do, but the sad result helps neither the living nor the dead.

* * * * *

***all images: ©2005-07 alex felipe / All Rights Reserved.

Please contact the photographer with use inquiries***

* * * * *

]]> http://alexfelipe.com/2008/11/03/the-dead-a-magic-hat-river-spirits/feed/ 3 alexfelipe Miarayon, Mindanao. Tala-andig pre-sacrifice ritual. [Miarayon, Mindanao] A statue of a child Jesus behind a young man playing a video game. [Manila] Miarayon, Mindanao. Cubao, Manila. http://alexfelipe.com/2008/09/05/filipino-orgs-at-torontos-labour-day-parade/ http://alexfelipe.com/2008/09/05/filipino-orgs-at-torontos-labour-day-parade/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:08:51 +0000 alexfelipe http://alexfelipe.wordpress.com/?p=516 ]]>

Migrante Ontario:

Migrante-Ontario is an alliance of organizations working for the rights and welfare of migrants in Ontario through various initiatives such as organizing, educating, training and advocacy. We work closely with other migrant groups in Montreal, Winnipeg and British Columbia. Migrante-Ontario is part of a global network of migrant and global based progressive organizations. We are a member of Migrante International – a global alliance of Filipinos abroad with presence in Asia, America, Europe and the Middle East.

The Independent Workers Association:

The Independent Workers Association (IWA) – Home Worker Section is an organization created in partnership between the United Steelworkers (USW) and Migrante-Ontario.

The Association will develop a campaign to lobby the Canadian Government to review immigration laws specific to workers under the Temporary workers Program and the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). The IWA will lobby provincial and federal government on behalf of home care worker.

Filipino Migrant Workers’ Movement:

A group of Ontario Filipino caregivers, sales, factory and clerical workers formed the Filipino Migrant Workers Movement (FMWM) on January 18, 2008. Defending and fighting for migrant workers’ rights and welfare is the fundamental collective principle behind FMWM’s formation. A member of Migrante-Ontario, FMWM vows to uphold Migrante’s responsive and pro-active program of action aimed at uplifting the conditions of Filipino migrant workers and their families.

No One Is Illegal (While not a ‘Filipino’ organisation, they often partner with Filipino orgs and generally fight for similar goals).  They call for:

• An end to the use of Security Certificates and secret trials

• An end to all deportations and detentions
• The implementation of a full and inclusive regularization program for all non-status people
• Access without fear to essential services for all undocumented people
• The recognition of indigenous sovereignty
• An end to the exploitation of temporary workers
• An end to all imperialist wars and occupations

Aware:  This is an organisation that supports in the reunification of families.  It was started by film-maker Florchita Bautista who made the documentary ‘When Strangers Reunite.”

A few weeks back I asked Filipino youth to tell me what they liked and hated about their people.  During Kultura last Saturday, I did this again. 

This is just a small sample of the images from that day.  I’ll be showing them all at KPC in the upcoming weeks [I'll make a facebook event of it when I have the date--join the KPC group for the update].

For this particular version I made one change from the original.  In the original I asked youth to tell me one bad and one good trait about Filipinos.  In this one I had them write just one down: either something they liked, or something that embarrassed them about their culture.

* * * * *

The original photo posting–> Filipino: A Love/Hate Thing

To see more photos from Kultura–> Photos From Kultura

Join the Kapisanan Philippine Centre Facebook Group to get updates on upcoming events: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2337642503

Yeah, yeah!  KPC’s 3rd annual Kultura Festival was last Saturday and it was ridiculous!  In this set of pics I’ll show some of the afternoon events in the park across the street from the centre in trendy Kensington Market in downtown Toronto.  There was music, dance, spoken word, visual art and installations, Filipino street food–and on site hair stylin and massage!

Damn son, this year’s event was sick.  Seriously I was amazed by the quality of everything (and not just because I’m with KPC!).  There is mad talent in the Filipino community.

Below is a small sample of the event:

Playwrite, and multi-disciplinary artist, Catherine Hernandez gets a new do from Jay Culala.

Hosts Darrel Gamotin and Rose Cortez.

Maylee Todd

Sick Sound Syndrome

Sick Sound Syndrome

Filipino Streetfood by Blum Catering

KPC's "Clutch" participants

'Clutch' participants.

Hooded Fang

Fighting Filipinos Live Graffiti By Justin Eduave

The Punzalan's SR and JR.

Here’s a list of the afternoon sced and some links to their sites:

To check out more photos CLICK HERE to open the slideshow.

* * *

If you’re Filipino artist and from Toronto you have to come down and check us out at the Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture!  We’re (I’m the outreach guy) a motley bunch of creative types who offer workshops, partnerships, gallery and exhibition space, a music studio, mentorships and internships.

Are you a youth looking to get into the arts?

Are you an artist looking to hook up with other professionals?

Are you looking for artists to help you with a project?

Are you looking for cultural programs and workshops?

Are you looking for space to do your thing?

Check out the KPC.

* * *

Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture
167 Augusta Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M5T 2L4
map | Map to the KPC
phone | 416.979.0600
email | info@kapisanancentre.com
facebook | kpc facebook group

Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture (KPC) is a multi-purpose non-profit arts and cultural center. KPC offers the community a facility in Kensington Market, housing a performance/rehearsal/event space, community gallery, resource room, a fully equipped music recording studio, as well as video production and editing equipment all available for rental.

In the last three years, Kapisanan Philippine Centre transitioned from a traditional Filipino community centre into a youth-centered facility with a focus on arts and culture. Our mandate in our first acquired facility in downtown Toronto (Kensington Market), is to provide a space for young Filipino people to explore their identity and roots, and be able share it with their peers, elders, and the broader community, while striving to encourage leadership and social engagement through the lens of arts and culture. We do this by offering artistic, cultural, and mentorship programs, educational arts-based activities, and cultural events. We seek to emphasize original work and experimentation through the integration of various disciplines such as: performance, visual and literary arts, film and video, and music. Considering Filipinos make up the 4th largest visible minority group in the GTA, making up 3% of Toronto’s population, there has never been a centre that offers programming specifically for Filipino youth—until now. At the “K” we strive to provide young Filipino people from all over the GTA with an open and supportive environment where they can come together to learn about themselves, build alliances with each other, build partnerships with other cultural and arts-based initiatives in the city, cultivate leadership skills, and community interaction and participation.

Providing a backdrop for KPC’s programming are community partners Carlos Bulosan Theatre, Canada’s only professional Filipino theatre company, Minerva Records, an independent record label that was conceived through the love of music, and The Digital Sweatshop, Inc., a Toronto based film and television production company founded by Filipino Canadians. All partners share KPC’s commitment to to cultivating Filipino Canadian culture.

]]> http://alexfelipe.com/2008/08/27/photos-from-kultura/feed/ 2 alexfelipe Hosts Darrel Gamotin and Rose Cortez. Maylee Todd Sick Sound Syndrome Sick Sound Syndrome Filipino Streetfood by Blum Catering KPCs Clutch participants Clutch participants. Hooded Fang The Punzalans SR and JR. http://alexfelipe.com/2008/08/25/juana-tejada-a-celebration-and-a-campaign-launch/ http://alexfelipe.com/2008/08/25/juana-tejada-a-celebration-and-a-campaign-launch/#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:20:03 +0000 alexfelipe http://alexfelipe.wordpress.com/?p=395 ]]>

Olivia with Juana and her husband Noli.

Yesterday Migrante-Ontario, the Independent Worker’s Association (IWA), and associated groups celebrated Juana Tejada’s successful fight to gain permanent residence status. Juana is the live-in caregiver (LCP) that was denied status twice after she was discovered to have terminal cancer and deemed a burden to the Canadian healthcare system.

She thanked Stephen Harper and the Minister’s of Immigration and Multiculturalism for their help [she is amazingly gracious].

The event was both a celebration of the communities successful battle and a launch of the campaign to pass a ‘Juana Tejada Amendment’ to the existing law which states that LCPers (and other temporary workers) have to pass a second health test (the first being before they are allowed to come to this country) before being allowed to apply for permanent residency.

It seems more than unfair that despite fulfilling one’s end of the bargain towards Canada, the country still reserves the right to reject this class of migrant the right to apply for status. Having developed her cancer here in Canada for them to have taken away her rights, including to health care, seems very cruel.

Juana still has cancer, and she isnt the only caregiver that’s gravely ill. Migrante-ON spoke of how there are at least 15 more cases like her.

Her courage in coming forward and fighting is an inspiration. Congratulations to her and Migrante, the IWA, and the community. She reminded us in her speech that we are stronger together together than apart. I hope all progressive people take her words to heart.

MPs Peggy Nash and Olivia Chow who were supporters from the beginning were also present. Ms. Chow made a promise to make this amendment an issue in the predicted fall election.

This is of course only one of the problems to be found within the live-in caregiver program, but let’s hope that this can be the start of dialogue.

* * * * *

For more of my photos from this and other events around Juana Tejada please CLICK HERE.

* * * * *

Below is the press release sent out by Migrante-ON:

WHAT: Celebration of Juana Tejada's right to permanent residency in Canada,
launch of campaign to change law
WHERE: Trinity St. Paul United Church, 427 Bloor St. West, Toronto
WHEN: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday August 24, 2008
WHO: Juana Tejada, her friends and supporters, MP Olivia Chow, MP Peggy
Nash, sponsored by the Independent Workers Association - Home Worker
Section

TORONTO, Aug. 21 /CNW/ - Media are invited to join in a victory celebration
for ailing homeworker 

Juana Tejada, who now has permanent resident status in Canada following
a campaign to allow the terminally-ill woman to remain in this country.  Now
that Tejada has won her right to stay in Canada, the coalition known as the
Independent Workers

Association - Home Workers Section is launching a campaign to change the
Immigration Act and get rid of the requirement for a second medical for live-in
caregivers once they have completed all other requirements under the
federal Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP).

The "Juana Tejada Law" would mean that no more otherwise-worthy
candidates for permanent residency would be rejected on the basis of
illnesses contracted during their three years of working in Canada under
the program.

Currently, the LCP screens workers' health prior to being accepted into
the program, but demands another medical once they have successfully
completed all other requirements for permanent resident status. Tejada's
cancer was detected during her second medical and she was twice
rejected for permanent status. The Independent Workers Association -
Home Workers Section, a joint initiative of the United Steelworkers
(USW) union and Migrante Ontario, took up Tejada's cause along with her
lawyer, Rafael Fabregas.  The Home Workers Section was formed to
offer representation to LCP caregivers, as well as those who are
independent home workers and permanent residents. The majority of these
home workers are from the Philippines.  The USW is committed to finding
ways to defend the interests of marginalized workers who do not have
traditional bargaining relationships with employers.

Migrante-Ontario is a chapter of Migrante International, a global alliance of more
than 100 overseas Filipino organizations in 120 countries. Migrante's mission is
to uphold and defend the rights and welfare of Filipino migrants and their families.
Canada's most diverse union, the USW represents more than 280,000 men and
women working in every sector of Canada's economy.

 

A while back I went to a Filipino event at a large Toronto venue. It was an outdoor event and unfortunately it was raining, though luckily the venue had large open air tents to keep the people dry—but for some reason I smelled wet dog.

I was reminded of my youth when I was ashamed of being Filipino.

I was ashamed of the so-called culture that I saw: The worship of a European Jesus irritated me. The accented attempts to sing Western songs made me run—in case friends happen to see me there. So-called ‘traditional’ clothes shamed me as I saw only variations on a European theme. Worship of all things American sickened me.

Was this what it meant to be Filipino? It seemed to me only an imitation of a Spanish or American original. So I became ‘Canadian,’ at least then I didn’t have to imitate, I could be one of the creators.

But that could only last for so long.

I, like most youth, was searching for identity. Sure most just picked one and was done with it, but for some reason I really wanted to discover who and what I was. And being honest in this search, I eventually came to realize that I wasn’t ‘Canadian.’

I remember during my years in Asia I was often told by White travellers, after they finished complaining about some local cultural more that I tried to comprehend, that I should stop defending them. They smiled and said that to them I seemed more Western than Asian. I think they meant it as a complement.

Every time I heard that, and I heard it often, something inside me stirred with annoyance and, to be honest, anger. At the time I was still in the process of waking up to my identity and I didn’t quite understand why I felt that way. Today I see that this was because in their lumping me in with them, they wanted me to deny who I was, and this denial was an insult of the greatest kind.

It may say on my official documents that I am Canadian, but the mirror told me otherwise. When speaking with others I came to see that to be ‘Canadian’ was to accept ‘Canadian’ (i.e. White) values, history, and culture as one’s own—no matter one’s origin. That seemed to me to be disrespectful of those who came before me. And it reminded me of what I so hated about what I saw in mainstream Filipino culture.

And that brought me back to what it meant to be Filipino.

I looked at other cultures and I saw their pride in their history, in their traditions, in their language, and in their culture. What I saw in mine was a people proud of owning American goods, speaking with an ‘American’ accent, singing ‘American’ songs, and (if they’re lucky) having an ‘American’ spouse. I’ve heard other Asians mocking us for this, and it humiliated me because I agreed with them.

And that brings me back to that Filipino event, during that rainy day, next to Lake Ontario, and the smell of wet dog.

I looked around there and I saw men and women in so-called ‘traditional’ Filipino clothing.

I saw young Filipina ‘beauty’ pageant winners who seemed to have been chosen for their pale skin and closest approximation to a European ideal.

MCs proudly introduced a ‘traditional’ band that played ‘traditional’ Filipino songs, with ‘traditional’ instruments that were really Spanish.

On the main stage I heard American power ballads and watched a late middle aged woman, who in her introduction was supposed to introduce us to Filipino rock music, shake her hips in the ‘Elvis’ style and sing American 50s cover songs.  Later a White singer headlined the Filipino event.

I saw brown people fawning over police officer guests (a group of Filipino officers and their white commander). It was the white officer that spoke to tell the audience that they needed more such events to prevent their youth from becoming criminals.

And I heard an individual from a remittance company claim that he was an ‘advocate’ for overseas Filipino workers because he allowed Filipinos to send money to disaster areas without charge (as if to be an advocate didn’t mean advocating for something).

But most of all that rainy evening, I saw a room of wet dogs playing up to their Canadian hosts. And despite the festive atmosphere (I mean who doesn’t love to watch cute dogs do cute tricks?) I kept hoping that the pets would remember their teeth and bite the hand of their master.

I see now that the shame of my youth was borne of an innate feeling that my culture was a defeated one. Defeated by the Spanish, then defeated again by the Americans—who then dug that dagger in deeper and causing more hurt than any normal war loss, by making my people love them.

My shame left me when I realized that this culture of defeat was only in the mainstream Filipino culture, the one put in place by the Americans, and supported by their lapdogs.

Underneath it all, and in the vast majority of the population of the islands, was a greater culture. There was a culture of defiance and pride. One that fought and won against the Spanish, fought—and continued (and continues) to fight despite the odds and great suffering—against the Americans, and one that beat back the Japanese.

Filipinos are not a defeated people. Defeat only occurs when one surrenders, my people are still fighting.

But when I go to these mainstream events, I am reminded of my shame. I am reminded that the ruling powers, and those that wish to ingratiate themselves to them, still embarrass me.

These people believe they have left behind in the shackles of slavery, but gladly carry leashes in their mouths.

Mainstream Filipinos take pride in their mimicry of Whites. They pride themselves in being able to sing their songs like them, tell stories that sound like theirs, wear clothes styled like theirs, and to be able to think like them. They do this to amuse them, and hopefully gain their favour. By making Master smile they hope to be given a treat for a reward.

This all was the source of my shame. Today it is a source of my anger.

poster designed by Christine Mangosing

Hey Toronto Peeps! Come out this Saturday (23 Aug) for Kultura, and see how Filipino youth put on a festival! This is not your Tita and Tito’s Fiesta, this is ours.

I’ll be exhibiting here, and I have an photo installation that will be ongoing throughout the afternoon. Plus check out what local professional Filipino artists are putting together.

spoken word/music performances in the park, arts & crafts vendors, Pinoy street food what?! fishballs, banana-Q anyone!? play readings by Filipino playwrights & actors, shorts films by Filipino filmmakers. Represent!

All happening at Bellevue Square Park on Augusta & Dennison, and at KPC 167 Augusta Avenue

Juana Tejada, the Filipina caregiver with terminal cancer that fought against her deportation and won, is an inspiration to caregivers and the Filipino community at large. Come celebrate her victory with her next Sunday (24 Aug), and join in the new campaign to ensure what happens to her doesn’t happen to anyone else.

Visit the Facebook events page: http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=21854964613&success#/event.php?eid=21854964613

[***UPDATE 25aug: My post about the event can be seen by CLICKING HERE.]

Below is the info sent to me by Migrante-Ontario:

After JuanaTejada got her right to permanent residency, the challenge to have better conditions for caregiver continues.

Join us in celebrating the victory of Juana Tejada and launching of a campaign.

WHERE: Trinity St. Paul United Church – 427 Bloor St. West (5 minutes west of Spadina Subway line)
WHEN: Sunday, August 24 at 1:00PM to 4:00PM

For more info call: 1-866-621-9655 or 647-205-5908

Please circulate widely.

————————–

————————–
Migrante-Ontario member organizations:
Filipino Migrant Workers Movement; AWARE; Philippine Advocacy Through Arts and Culture (PATAC); Damayan Migrant Education and ResourceCenter; Migrante Youth; Migrant Workers and Family Resource Center -Hamilton; Pilipinong Migrante sa Canada (PMSC) – Ottawa

Just a little gentle prodding and Canadians are tripping over with racist glee. All someone had to do is use the right politically correct code words for racism in the 21^st century.

Canadians are too polite to tell the gooks to go home, that just wouldn’t seem right.

It does, however, seem to be ok to tell them to “integrate” with “our culture” or else “Canada should reject that person as a potential Canadian citizen.”

A recent Toronto Star article titled “Sure we have rights, but what about duties?” by Angelo Persichilli has resulted in a wave of joyous Letters to the Editor [9 Aug] basically insisting that immigrants (Angelo calls us “ethnics”) stop being so not like them and freaking them out.

“Your customs belong in the country you left behind,” writes another person who clearly states he is upset that Canada had to apologise to the Japanese (for the WWII internment camps, theft of their property, etc.) and to the Chinese for the head tax.

A third person writes that her “concern is the small minority of new immigrants who are here out of their own free will, but who demand the full benefit of the Canadian Charter of Rights and the full protection of Canadian laws without being willing to assimilate into this society or even show the courtesy of respecting and following its norms and traditions. Some even show an attitude of defiance to the social traditions of this country.”

I read this while on a camping trip with a group of live-in caregivers, a group of individuals that sacrificed everything they knew, and left their families and community behind, to live and work behind the locked doors of a Canadian family’s house.

Sure all this leads to abuse, but that’s something they are willing to bear in the hope of providing for their families and potentially be able to bring them out of poverty. Now if only they can let go of what pride is left them—maybe that will be enough for these folk? Oh Canada…

“We must ask whether it is acceptable for Canada to lower the standard of human rights for immigrant workers simply because they are being provided with an opportunity that is potentially beneficial to them.” (Shayna Buhler, Human Rights Tribune, Vol. 12, 2006)

Curiously, I had also just written my previous blog entry on how Canadians just seem to want us migrants and minorities to just “be happy and grateful” for having the honour of leaving everything behind to live in a country where some people clearly don’t want us (at least not the way we are.)

Angelo’s basic argument is that Canada needs a Charter of Canadian Duties to balance the Charter of Rights. Citizens need to understand their responsibilities towards the country and not just look towards the Charter to protect their cultural differences.

The readers seem to love him. Even online the comments are distinctly pro, and the cons are widely dismissed. Here are some choice white-robed thoughts:

“I am finding more Canadians verbalizing [that]… We are tired of being forced into changing our ways by newly arrived persons who want to live life as in their old country while getting all the benefits of being a Canadian, again while not putting in any constructive effort… soon there will be a bigger internal confrontation…” [Tanner14]

“People choose to live in Canada because it is one of the best places on the planet to live, yet they can’t wait to show pride and love for the place they chose to leave…” [Sjacobs]

“It’s about time we demanded something from our “citizens”… These people have no loyalty to anyone but themselves but wander the first world looking for the country with the best benefits and social programs.” [WhitbyGirl]

Ok.

Wow.

If only we had something to protect us from this sort of hate, some sort of codified list of rights, then maybe all this could be stopped. We can even put it in the Constitution and can call it a Chart—oh wait.

Shit.

Jocelyn Dulnuan was a caregiver murdered in her employer's home in Mississauga in 2007.

It was wet, really wet, but I’m glad I was there to spend some time with some of my kababayans [countymen] at a campsite near Guelph, Ontario.

There were about fifty people there, caregivers on their one weekly day off, and members of Migrante-Ontario (and it’s member groups). It says alot about the Filipino people how high spirits were despite the weather and the difficult lives in which they live.

Filipina’s make up over 95% of the live-in caregivers in Canada, despite their struggles, most Canadians (including Canadian born Filipinos), know little about them.

I am always impressed by the strength of these ladies (and some men), to leave their parents, partners, children, friends, and communities to go alone to a foriegn land to live under an employers roof–out of sight of any employee security protection that any other worker would expect in this country.

They often don’t see their families again for years, sometimes decades, creating strangers of parent and child, husband and wife. The resulting difficulties are multi layered in the Filipino-Canadian community (one example: Fils have the second highest high school drop out rates for the Asian community).

It rained for almost all of Saturday, clearing up for the evening. The people kept coming and going for the weekend, as not everyone could stay the night as not all could secure the time off. In fact some of the key Migrante organisers (who are caregivers themselves) missed it.

Luckily it cleared up for the evening so that we could gather around the fire to tell stories and share songs. It’s often at events like this that I am saddened I cannot easily slip into song or play an instrument…

I heard them tell of their problems with employers and with government agents–to whose mercy they are dependant.  Much of the final say goes to individual whim, for there are often no clear guidelines–that’s why one agent could decide that Juana Tejada’s terminal cancer was a ‘burden’ to the health care system rather than grounds for compassion.  Both were in his power to grant.

I heard them tell of how they were almost discouraged from organising when a Filipino Canadian told them that they had no power to start up a group to petition the government as they were “only caregivers.” Our community’s crab mentality is crushingly depressing to me.

But mostly I heard them laughing–and this Filipino trait always makes me proud.

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The Live-in caregiver (LCP) Program is governed by five main conditions:

(1) They are only authorised to work as caregivers;

(2) They are not authorised to work for any other employer and/or in any other location than what is stated in their contract;

(3) They are subject to the manditory live-in requirement;

(4) They have temporary status;

(5) Unless authorised, they are cannot attend any educational institution or take any academic, professional, or vocational training courses.

Caregivers must complete 24 months of employment within a 36 months before they may apply for permanent residence. So basically they must live inside their employer’s roof (where they also pay rent) for two years, twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. I’m sure we can all see how this can easily lead to abusive situations.

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Migrante-Ontario has recently partnered with the United Steelworkers Union to create the Independent Workers Association an organisation to provide legal and dental services, accident and critical illness insurance, and more (see link). This is the organisation that arranged for the successful campaign to keep Juana in Canada.