A documentary about the stories and struggles of Filipino women who were used as ‘sex slaves’ in the World War II Japanese occupation of the Philippines.  Learn more about the survivng women’s struggle for justice.

Thursday, March 11, 2010
Media Resource Centre
SFU, Bennett library RM 3101
12:30 pm

Organized by the B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines & Philippine Women Centre of B.C. with support from TSSU-SFU.  Contact bcchrp@kalayaancentre.net for more information.

(Montreal, Quebec) Due to circumstances beyond the organization’s control, the “End the Exploitation! March for Liberation!” political fashion hosted by the Philippine Women Centre of Quebec (PWCQ) will be postponed to April 3rd, 2010 at 5 PM.  The event will also change venues; where it will be hosted at Studio LEVIER on 4525 rue St-Jacques.

“I’d like to apologize for this postponement”, says Joanne Vasquez, Chairperson of the PWCQ, “I know several people were looking forward to having the event this week.  However, we’ve booked a wonderful space that is more intimate.  Those participating in the show are still enthusiastic and motivated to get our message out.  With the dresses and program already prepared, I think it will be worth the wait”.

Individuals who have already paid to attend the event will be issued a new ticket for the revised date.  For more information please contact Krystle or Joy at (514) 678-3901.

Event details
Date:         Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Time:         5 pm (Doors open)
Cost:         $10 donation
Venue:      Studio LEVIER – 4525 rue St-Jacques (Metro: Saint Henri)
Contact:     Krystle or Joy (514) 678-3901
Website:    www.kapitbisigcentre.org

(Montreal, Quebec)  Militant feminism will be re-ignited in Pinoyville, Cote-des-Neiges, as Filipino women will raise issues of their community’s marginalization, oppression, and dehumanization through the fashion show, “End the Exploitation, March for Liberation!” to be presented on March 6th, 2010 to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Statistics indicate that 70% of the Filipino community in Canada are women, the majority of whom come under the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP), a temporary foreign worker program that recruits third world women as domestic workers. Since the implementation of the LCP in 1992 and its predecessor program the Foreign Domestic Movement (FDM), Canada has maintained and continues to uphold the stringent requirements of mandatory live-in requirement for 24 months within 3 years, temporary status and employer-specific contracts – the very fundamental pillars that set the context for the exploitative and oppressive conditions that these women are in. Although many see this program as a way for Filipinos to enter Canada, the realities of the impacts of this program far outweigh the benefits of citizenship. Offering the prize of citizenship has been a classic tactic for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, as they dangle a “carrot on a stick” in order to attract and retain temporary workers to fulfill the dirtiest, most difficult and dangerous jobs that no other Canadians would take.

Under the LCP, although Filipino women get paid minimum wage, they provide 24 hour home support, thereby reducing their wage to less than $2/hour as they are at their employer’s beck and call any time of day.   LCP workers are the number one source of temporary workers in Canada offering cheap labour to upper-middle class homes. By being relegated to house work and their credentials not being recognized in Canada, these women are being de-skilled. Despite being some of the most educated immigrants in Canada, they are still among the lowest paid. read more …

On Saturday, March 27, 2010, the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC) will open a historic and unique multi-media exhibition at the Museum of Vancouver.  Entitled, “Shattering our (in)visibility,” the exhibit explores the perceived silence and social exclusion of Filipinos in Canada — one of Vancouver’s largest visible minority communities.

Works included in the exhibition will explore various themes of migration, labour, family separation and reunification, childcare, empowerment and community-building.

Shattering our (in)visibility: An exhibit of multi-media work and a public dialogue by and about the Filipino-Canadian community in Vancouver

Presented by the Philippine Women Centre of BC in collaboration with the Museum of Vancouver

Saturday, March 27, 2010
Public dialogue at 4:30 pm.
Exhibit opening at 6:00 p.m.
Museum of Vancouver
1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver read more …

The Philippine Women Centre is proud to share this invite as Christina Panis, our Vice-Chairperson is one of the guest speakers:

The VDLC Women’s Committee invites you to…

Celebrate Women
IWD 2010

Thursday, March 4, 6 pm
Fraserview Hall, 8240 Fraser Street

Tickets $35 / $20 low-waged
Everyone is Welcome!

* Contact Keziah at the VDLC office. Please see poster for more details.

2010_IWD_Poster

Toronto, ON — Despite a recent proposal by the Liberal Party to create a national childcare program, progressive
Filipino Canadian organizations under the Magkaisa Centre express that the the ongoing exploitation and violence perpetuated by the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) renders the Liberal’s proposal an empty promise that falls short of genuinely fulfilling the childcare needs of all Canadians.

The Philippine Women Centre of Ontario, SIKLAB–ON (Advance and Uphold the Struggle of Filipino Workers) and the Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canda/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–ON are wary of celebrating the announcement made by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, and are instead calling for a critical examination of the proposal. Any initiative to create a national childcare program is not complete until the LCP, which the groups describe as Canada’s de facto national childcare program, is scrapped. read more …

Toronto, ON — Filipino youth, women, workers and allies, numbering over 150 people, raised their fists in unity and empowerment at Toronto’s first ever “Roots, Rhymes and Resistance,” entitled “Turning Up the Resistance!”

The event was organized by Magkaisa Centre’s three organizations, and was held last December 12th 2009 at the Arbor Room in the University of Toronto. It was night of cultural resistance expressed through poetry, hip hop, song and dance to “celebrate the active role we’re taking in advancing the community’s struggle in Canada,” says performer and event organizer Mike Yambao aka MC Lyrical Abstrakt. He explains that the participation of people from the different sectors of the community sharing the common aim of empowerment sets RRR apart from any other Filipino-focused events. From its humble beginnings at a café in Vancouver over a decade ago, RRR is a powerful means by which the community aims to take pride in their long and proud history of community organizing. read more …

Toronto, ON –  During the November 2008/ “Making the Filipino Community Count In Canada’s Future”/ conference, Toronto was honoured by the presence of several art works produced by the Kalayaan Centre in Vancouver and the Kapit Bisig Centre in Montreal. Most favourable were two pieces: a series of acrylic painted suitcases (mga maleta) titled the /Maleta Family/ (produced as part of the /Maleta/ art project) and /Scrap: A Political Fashion Show/. Through cartoon caricatures, The /Maleta Family/ alluded to — visually — the harsh reality that Filipino families face coming to Canada, such as, but not limited to: the de-skilling of our community into service sector jobs and the deceiving nature of the Live-In Caregiver Program as an immigration program. /Scrap: A Political Fashion Show/ presented the stories of Filipino caregivers through projection, audio voice-overs, and from the women themselves dressed in specifically “themed” gowns representing their challenges under a modern-day slavery program. In short, these works represent what the /Maleta /art project is all about: presenting the issues of Filipino–Canadians through the multi-disciplined medium of Art and through a community-based effort.

For the Magkaisa Centre, 2010 marks the beginning of the Maleta project in Toronto and also the 10th year anniversary of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario. Maleta is not a separate program; rather, it is part of this celebration of 10 years of Filipino women’s organizing in Ontario. Unlike the initial Maleta project by the Kalayaan Centre in Vancouver, Magkaisa’s /Maleta/ will be a long term project with monthly meetings — not just a series of workshops. Moreover, the /Maleta/ project will be interwoven in all the projects of this celebratory 1oth year anniversary — including the ongoing Anti-Racism Education Research Project, International Women’s Day in March and the National Roots, Rhymes and Resistance in May. The project will include guests from Kapit Bisig Centre, Kalayaan Centre and collaborations with the Macaw Hawk Youth Council. read more …

Magkaisa Centre Statement

The progressive Filipino-Canadian community organizations of the Magkaisa Centre greet this New Year with courage and determination as we advance the struggle for the just and genuine settlement and integration of Filipino-Canadians. Through our efforts in educating, organizing and mobilizing the Filipino-Canadian community, including advocacy work, policy engagements, political campaigns and more, we remain steadfast in addressing the needs of our community as we continue to face ongoing forms of oppression and marginalization in Canada.

Filipino workers, women and youth all across Canada are awakening to the challenges of community-building, and are prepared to confront all the barriers we face, whether in the form of racist and anti-woman policies such as the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) or in its direct effects on our daily realities as an economically marginalized peoples. In this new year of 2010, the Filipino-Canadian community still refuses to remain silent. read more …