National Alliance of Philippine Women Centre in Canada
Mother's Day Statement 2009

Celebrate the courage of Filipino mothers in Canada by continuing our resistance towards our genuine development, equality and liberation!

May 10 , 2009

 
As women of Philippine ancestry living and working in Canada, we celebrate this year’s Mother’s Day by first honouring the great sacrifices and courage of Filipino mothers in Canada.  Despite the many challenges that we face, we contribute to the economic, political, social and cultural life of Canada.  Unfortunately, most of these contributions are kept invisible within the larger sphere of Canadian society.

The Filipino live-in caregiver who has helped raise Canadian children while her own are left behind in the Philippines; the Filipino cleaner who smiles and picks up our trays at the food court to help support the needs of her family; the Filipino nurse who takes care of us in the hospitals and care facilities across the country while struggling with the impacts of government cutbacks to healthcare; the Filipino “mail-order bride” who came to Canada for a better life but who too often finds only hardship and abuse.  These are just glimpses of the many women of Philippine ancestry who are living and working all around us.

On this Mother’s Day, let us remember to truly honour these women by not just wishing them a happy Mother’s Day – but by practicing the true spirit of solidarity by listening to their stories, analyzing what their experiences mean about the state of Canadian society, and – most importantly – by taking part in the struggle for social change and transformation in Canada and in the world for genuine development, equality and liberation for women.  We can also honour these women by ensuring that our struggle recognizes the centrality and urgency of women’s needs and perspectives.

Today, Filipino women in Canada continue to face significant barriers to their genuine development and full settlement and integration into Canadian society.  Filipino women remain highly occupationally segregated into childcare, cleaning and other service work.  This work is often low-paid and accompanied by poor working conditions, flexibility and a lack of access to benefits and other forms of job security.  Filipino women are also highly vulnerable to various forms of violence and abuse, due to their status as migrants, immigrants and women of colour.  Like all working-class and marginalized women in Canada, Filipino women generally suffer from the facts that Canada has no universal and accessible childcare program and Canada’s healthcare system and other social programs are reeling from the impacts of government cutbacks.  Young Filipino women face barriers created by systemic racism and high tuition fees in advancing their education and employment.

The precarious economic and social condition of Filipino women in Canada will only be exacerbated by the current and deepening financial and economic crisis of the global capitalist system.  Layoffs, termination and other anti-worker attacks will hit women amongst the hardest of all groups in Canada, as they struggle with maintaining the economic survival of the entire family unit, while continuing to be largely responsible for the domestic sphere of Canadian families.  There is also the danger that instead of seeing that the roots of this financial and economic crisis lie within the system itself, there will be a rise of anti-immigrant and anti-woman sentiment.

One of the main examples of the marginalization of Filipino women is Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).  Through this program and its predecessor programs, Canada has brought in close to 100,000 Filipino women to work as live-in caregivers for those who can afford it.  They take care of the elderly, children and people with disabilities.  They work long hours and with poor working conditions.  They often end up being forced to work for little pay and are vulnerable to all forms of abuse.  They leave behind their families in order to ensure their family’s survival.  They struggle under the four unjust pillars of the LCP (temporary immigration status, mandatory live-in requirement; completion of 24 months of work within 3 years of entry into Canada; and the employer-specific work permit) and suffer violations of their dignity and human rights in order to obtain what Canada promised to them – permanent residency and the chance to bring their families to Canada.

As Filipino women in Canada, we assert that the time is now to end the LCP!

We can no longer accept the abuse, exploitation and oppression that we endure under the LCP.  We call on all those in Canada to look at the fundamental questions about Canadian society that are embedded in the continued implementation of the LCP – such as, what should be the nature of women’s work in a society that values and promotes women’s full development, equality and liberation?  How can Canada demonstrate its genuine commitment to the welfare and interests of the next generations?  How can all women in Canada achieve their liberation and equality when there are Filipino women and other marginalized women of colour, migrants and immigrants being kept in these situations of exploitation and oppression?

We challenge all those in Canada to expose that the racist and anti-woman LCP as a form of modern-day slavery that is no longer acceptable in a progressive and just society.  We want immigration, labour and other social programs in Canada that respect and promote our inherent dignity as women and as workers.

As Filipino women, we have a long history and tradition of struggle that we carry forward from the factories, farms, schools and communities in the Philippines to the homes, hospitals, workplaces and communities in Canada.  We salute Filipino mothers around the world – in the Philippines, in Canada and in over 180 other countries where Filipinos have migrated to – as they continue this tradition and practice of collective struggle.  Not only do they toil and work for the survival of their families – they actively participate in the community’s struggle.  They empower themselves and by doing so, help to empower the future generations.

We thank and celebrate the contributions of the many women who are active in the member organizations of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC).  In major cities across Canada, these women continue to live out the practice and theory of women’s collective activism, resistance and struggle.  Their organizations are flourishing and expanding precisely due to the support of the community, despite the lack of government funding and support.  In fact, the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC of BC) is celebrating 20 years of struggle this year for the empowerment and education of Filipino women in Canada.  Yet, there are ongoing challenges in this work that cannot be ignored, such as the need to develop and sustain our organization’s physical centres.  That is why the NAPWC member organizations continue to assess, study, analyse and plan collective actions and programs to sustain and advance their work.

Let us learn from their example that we, as Filipino women, are no longer being merely socially constructed by our experience and we no longer accept the roles that the capitalist system gives to us – but we are being actively transformed by our experience, our struggle, and our practice of joining together in solidarity with others who share our common struggle.  Not only are we mothers and workers, we are women living out the struggle through our community work, our creativity and our commitment.  We are carrying on and advancing our resistance towards the ultimate liberation of ourselves and our future generations!

Honour the courage, resistance and legacy of the struggle of Filipino mothers and women!

Onward with the struggle of Filipino women in Canada for our genuine equality, development and liberation!

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