I want this book! The Life and Art of Botong Francisco

My first recollection of Botong Francisco’s paintings is seeing a faded and worn print of the well-known Katipunan painting fixed to my late grandmother’s wall in 1996. It hung there unceremoniously, dusty, and crumpling from the humidity with the rest of her old magazines and albums. My Dad asked to take it home with us to Winnipeg along with a faded calendar of Botong’s work. In the days that followed, I remember my Dad holding that image and flipping through the pages of that calendar reminiscing about his childhood and the celebrity Angono received as home to this master, this national artist.

If you don’t know Angono, it is renowned as the country’s official “Artists’ Paradise.” In my numerous sojourns “home,” I would argue that each child is raised there with the same reverence for art as football might be for the average American. I recall music and art surrounding me and I dare say there isn’t one Angono child who is not raised without either. Public spaces are filled with the sounds of Lucio San Pedro especially during All Saints Day and giant murals of Botong’s work exists in each barangay. This was my dad’s Philippines. This is why I want this book.

For 135 bucks, I can buy this book on Amazon although I admit it is pricey (that’s not including shipping!). However, it is the first ever retrospective to honour the work of our very own hometown hero.

Botong’s paintings is interpreted here in an Angono barangay. Pictured here is Botong’s interpretation of Filipino marriage during pre-Hispanic times .

Mangingisda (Fishers) is another favorite of mine. Can you see the struggle and pride in a day’s work here? It makes me think of my grandparents.

Botong Francisco is considered one of the “most important Filipino artists” by publisher, Vibal Foundation. I must also argue that he is the first to be celebrated as a Filipinianist, as an artist of pure Philippine inspiration. for depicting scenes in Philippine history and conceptualizing its past in ways traditional history had yet to remember, Botong is rightfully a hero. The popularity of his life’s work coincides with the country’s growing nationalism after gaining independence from the US and again decades later after People Power.

Botong’s Katiputan is a permanent fixture near the EDSA shrine.

This book includes paintings, sketches, costume designs, photographs, documents, and film stills outlining his lifelong career and obsession as an artist. It is finally the comprehensive tribute he deserves to be remembered for his life and contributions not only to Angono, but to the Filipino identity as a whole.

A suave image of a youthful Botong from Malacanang Palace

Cigars, Poker, and 12,000 Manila Jews



President Quezon and US High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt light up (Source jweekly.com)

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. It’s the last day of the long weekend. It’s also a day of somber commemoration. Each year, I hear comments from the media about the struggle to keep this day relevant to Canadians. Our world war veterans are now aging. Each year there are fewer veterans alive to share in their experiences. Violence also appears to be an integral part of our pop culture in the shows we watch and the sports we follow. Moreover, Canada has become increasingly culturally diverse that the wars of some do not necessarily reflect the past of others.

I wanted to write something that could connect Filipino-Canadians to this local holiday. I pondered to discuss the stories of oppression from Japanese Imperial forces, the bravery of local guerilla groups, or the presence of American soldiers in the Philippines. Instead, I came across an unexpected story from a humble Jewish refugee, Frank Ephraim. In this blog, I want to bring to light the less known story of Manila’s Jews during the Second World War.

Manila has been home to a small number of Jews since the late 15th century. It was then that Spanish Jews (marranos) escaped the Spanish Inquisition. By the 1800s, the community grew to include a number of French Jewish merchants. Later, it became home to Russian Jewish refugees fleeing the Great War (1914-1918). By the 1930s, there were approximately 500 Jews in Manila.

It was Manila’s early Jewish community (and most notably its influential business leaders) that brought the plight of European Jewish refugees to the attention of Philippine President Manuel Quezon. Quezon’s poker buddies happened to be among those influential business leaders. American Jews and wealthy cigar manufacturers Alex Freider and his brother encouraged their friend to open the Philippines’ borders to Europe’s Jews. News of kristallnacht and the frequent pogroms in Germany had urged them to take action.

Together with US High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt, Quezon worked to expedite visas to Jews fleeing Europe in the 1940s. Approximately 12,000 Jews from Europe arrived in Manila. Today, a monument stands in Tel Aviv, Israel to symbolize this wartime friendship between Filipinos and Jews.

The relationship between these two peoples is recorded from the perspective of one Manila Jew. Frank Ephraim fled Germany with his parents in 1939. He arrived in Manila as a young boy and his narratives can  be found in his book, Escape to Manila: From Nazi Tyranny to Japanese Terror. He notes how refugees knew little about this far away place called Manila and the thought of refuge there (unlike Canada, the UK, or the US) was uncertain. He notes the land and its people, the tropical heat as well as the poverty. He shares:

Our first impression of the Filipinos, a people of Malay descent with a rich heritage of many cultures, was their friendliness but also their poverty which was hard to comprehend in a land rich in resources. We found them to be hospitable yet caught up in an unyielding economic and political structure that favored a select group of landed families. All this was, however, beyond our immediate grasp on arrival (p.10). 

The Jewish refugees were paid when they found work – ‘a refugee salary’ which, while higher than the wretched wages paid to the average Filipino worker, was far less than what the established foreign, mostly white, employers were receiving. Yet the newcomers spoke little English and had not yet adapted to the local culture, so they were thankful for whatever they received (p.6).

These passages struck me. Although I appreciate this narrative was written by an elderly man reflecting upon his youth, I also gather a sense of empathy between the newcomers and locals. There was perhaps an intuitive need to place himself socially to where he belonged. Maybe he unwillingly sensed that he was above the average Filipino, but was altogether below the rich and wealthy foreigners. I don’t find an overwhelming sense of gratitude in these passages, but a continued sense of caution towards the inescapable presence of discrimination – Filipino or Jew. Fascinating.

I hope that this little tidbit in history can serve to remind us of how interconnected we are. Today is Remembrance Day and sadly we have yet to reach a time to know only peace and equality.

Sources:

Dan Pine. 4/4/13 “Poker pals in Philippines took gamble, saved 1,200 Jews” Resource jweekly.com (cited 11/11/13)

FilipiKnow. 2013. “Pinoy ‘Schindler’s List’: How President Quezon saved 1,200 Holocaust Jews.” filipiknow.net (cited 11/11/13) 

Frank Ephraim. Escape to Manila: From Nazi Tyranny to Japanese Terror. US: University of Illinois Press. 2003.

Philippine Embassy in Israel. 2010. “History of Jews in the Philippines”  philippine-embassy.org (cited 11/11/13)

Tacloban: The latest victim of climate change?

Philippine delegate Yeb Sano at the 2013 UN Climate Change Conference

(Source: Rob Harbinson/YouTube)

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) reached the Philippines on Friday, November 8. This super typhoon has affected over 9 million people rendering hundreds of thousands either homeless or dead. Winnipeg local news have broadcasted efforts from the community to raise funds for relief efforts. But, is it enough? Can we donate to help rebuild Tacloban as it once was with the confidence in knowing that super storms like this won’t strike again? I want to encourage us to think beyond emergency relief and consider our role in shaping climate change.


Typhoons are nothing new to the Philippines. Over 20 such storms have already hit the islands this year. The strength of Typhoon Haiyan however has never been seen. Proponents of climate change argue that warmer oceans means stronger storms. Haiyan happened to harness this energy to build 300 miles wide (about the entire north-south distance of the continental United States) to hit Tacloban and surrounding Visayan islands at its peak intensity. We can see from the media that there isn’t much left. Here, our hearts bleed at the images.

On November 11, Naderev “Yeb” Sano, stood before 190 delegates in Warsaw at the UN Climate Change Conference to make an emboldened plea on behalf of his “countrymen.” A resident of Tacloban, he shared in the horror of losing communication with his family while at the conference. He also shared how his brother survived and is now helping in efforts to bury the numerous dead. Fighting back tears, he stated:

In solidarity with my countrymen who are struggling to find food back home … I will now commence a voluntary fasting for the climate… This means I will voluntarily refrain from eating food during this (conference) until a meaningful outcome is in sight.

His statement touched me. It brought me to feel his pain and guilt. There are thousands of us here in Winnipeg preparing our homes for the upcoming harsh winter. We have running water, heat, and food. Many among us have cars (some are likely to be SUVs) and countless electronic gadgets. We watch the news and shake our heads. We want to help so we dig into our wallets. But, we don’t question why. Why did Haiayan become a super typhoon? Is this the new normal?

Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development announced that the federal government is prepared to  match funds raised as well as donate $5 million towards Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts. In Manitoba, Premier Greg Selinger has also pledged $100 thousand towards the same cause. As a community we are grateful. However, as a member of the same planet, we should think to do more. Let’s ask our governments what climate change means to them. Let’s ask ourselves what our own carbon footprint looks like.

I am hardly an expert on climate change. I only fear that there are more Taclobans out there if we don’t shift our thinking.

Sources:

BBC News. 11/11/13 “Typhoon prompts ‘fast’ by Philippines climate delegate,” News Asia (cited 11/11/13).

BBC News. 11/11/13 “Why was Typhoon Haiyan so fierce?” News Asia (cited 11/11/13).

Government of Canada. 11/10/13 “Canada launches matching fund to help those impacted by Typhoon Haiyan,” Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada (cited 11/11/13).

Province of Manitoba. 11/9/13 “Province pledges $100,000 in response to Typhoon Haiyan” (cited 11/11/13).

Washington Post. 11/11/13 “Tearful plea from Philippines delegate as typhoon overshadows opening of UN climate talks,” In the News (cited 11/11/13).

The Mexican connection

Fig. 1 Francisco Clapera. De Barsino y Mulata, China (From Barsino and Mulatto, China) c. 1790

From 1564 to 1565, Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legaspi travelled from New Spain to the Philippines. According to historian Edward R. Slack Jr., this voyage opened up the Pacific Ocean to new maritime commerce between the Americas and Asia. The Manila-Acapulco trade that ensued likely brought my Mexican ancestor to Marikina. Don Santiago Sauza was born in Jalisco, Mexico in 1777. He married Dona Ysabel Berenguer de Marquina y Sumulong, my Irish-Filipino-Chinese great, great, great (great?) grandmother and ruled as a member of the Spanish colonial government in the early 1800s.

I wanted to learn more about my Mexican ancestry.  However, a simple Internet search revealed that a love for boxing is about all contemporary Filipinos and Mexicans have in common. Perhaps “Filipino” and “Mexican” were the wrong terms to use. Maybe, if I can get the keywords right I can learn what Don Santiago might have already thought about mixed-race Filipinos like his wife, Dona Ysabel.

To start, the Philippines was never directly ruled by Spain in Europe, but through a separate office in New Spain or today’s Mexico. The Vice Roy of Spain ruled the Philippines; in other words, the Philippine colony was ruled by another Spanish colony. There are few academic sources that explore the movement of native Filipinos to New Spain. However, the galleon trade ensured that the flow of native Filipino sailors, slaves, and merchants settled into today’s Mexico City and its surrounding areas. There were certainly Filipino descendants in New Spain during Don Santiago’s childhood and early adult life.

In Slack’s article, “The Chinos in New Spain: A Corrective Lens for a Distorted Image,” he argues that Filipinos who arrived in New Spain were referred to as chino (male) or china (female) by the vice royalty to distinguish their “Asian-ness.” He depicts their life in New Spain as a necessity to the vice royalty, but a problem to the local people. On the bright side, chinos of any status were allowed to set up small businesses as well as become members of the colonial army. They were able to lead independent, self-sustaining careers that they would not have otherwise enjoyed in the Philippines. On the not-so-bright-side however, they were also targets of xenophobic outrage by the local merchant classes. Chinos were seen as unwanted competition in a concentrated market and often depicted as a race of people out to “sully” the whiteness of the Spanish.

The above image from Mexico’s Casta paintings depicts the chino as a dark-skinned mix of African and Indian ancestry. They were considered an “impure” caste according to Slack. What I found interesting is the formulaic terms the Spanish created to make sense of the racial mixing that took place in New Spain. These formulas make no scientific sense. They only seem to emphasize the need for Spanish purity.

Example of Casta racial formulas (p.58-59):

Negro (Black) + India = Lobo

Lobo + India = Chino

Chino + India = Albarazado

India (native) + Spaniard = Mestizo

Mestiza + Spaniard = Castizo

Castiza + Spaniard = Spaniard

So, what did my ancestor Don Santiago think of the Filipinos or chinos he met in Marikina? From Slack’s article it would appear that he understood their necessity to the Manila-Acapulco trade. He would have likely understood that they too were a mix of other “inferior” races. If the latter equation above speaks to thoughts on racial inter-marriage, Don Santiago might have also believed that his Mestiza wife was worthy of his union.

Source
Edward R. Slack, Jr. “The Chinos in New Spain: A Corrective Lens for a Distorted Image,” Journal of World History 20.1 (2009): 35-67.

Love and the Affair

Mujer de la clase rica (Woman of the upper class) Philippines, circa 1875 Photographer: Francisco van Camp                    Ref: SK06745-04

I am not going to lie. It is incredibly challenging to conduct genealogical research in Winnipeg on my Irish-Spanish-Mexican-Chinese-Filipino ancestry. It would be a dream for me to arrive at the archives in any one of these countries in Europe and Asia to dig through church records and legal documents that may still be available. Sadly, until that dream comes true, I must rely on online secondary sources. So, as I post what I learn about my family history, I must caution that everything I share here is entirely open to interpretation. With that said, I’m going to take a particularly risqué approach to this week’s blog post.

I want to know what could have possibly brought my ancestors, Don Felix Berenguer de Marquina (the Irish-Spaniard) and Doña Demitria Lindo Sumulong (the Chinese mestiza) together in the late 1780s. Did the concept of love exist then?

The cynical tone I take towards their union is not necessarily a commentary on love in general, but the circumstances of the time that may have initially brought them together. The information I have gathered for these last few blog posts are based on my distant cousin’s family history website, The Official Sauza-Berenguer de MarquinaWebsite. The site describes Don Felix as follows:

Señor Felix Berenger de Marquina y Fitzgerald (1736, Alicante, Spain – 10 October 1826, Alicante, Spain) was married to Maria Ansoategui y Barron in 1758, but he had relationship to Doña Demetria Sumulong y Lindo (1772-01 February 1814, Cagsawa, Albay, Philippines) also known as Metyang. Señor Felix and Demetria had one daughter. She was Doña Ysabel Berenguer de Marquina y Sumulong (19 November 1790, Cagsawa, Albay, Philippines – 30 Januar 1900, Banwa, Batan, Aklan, Philippines) also known as Abe. She was baptized on 25 December 1790 at a Franciscan church in Cagsawa, Albay, Philippines. Though she was illegitimate by birth, her mother Metyang who was 18 years old by that time never took the plan to abort her instead she was born in the vast greenfields of Cagsawa, Albay, Philippines. Abe had a unique and interesting ancestries both paternal and maternal. She was the 23 great granddaughter of Nest Ferch Rhys, the Princess of Deuhebarth and of Gerald de Windsor. Señor Felix was the Viceroy of New Spain 1800 – 1803.

I read this paragraph as though it was written cautiously. Words like “illegitimate by birth” and “abort” are explosive terms among conservative Catholics – whether they live in the Philippines today or centuries ago. There is no mention of a courtship, but a “relationship” between our ancestors. There is nothing said about his infidelity to his Spanish wife or if he fathered other children with other women. Perhaps these are modern concepts that I am placing to a different time, but I can’t help but wonder. What impressions did the Philippines have on Don Felix? What brought him to eventually meet Doña Demetria?

Wikipilipinas: hip ‘n freePhilippine Encyclopedia (2011) says that Don Felix lived in Binondo, Manila as the Philippine Governor-General from 1788 to 1793. Binondo was an influential Chinese settlement in the Philippines. As Governor-General, he was appointed by the Viceroy of New Spain to represent the Spanish King on the colony. He held executive colonial powers as well as incredible political influence in this position. Within his exclusive circle, he was acquainted with Manila’s most affluent which included Chinese mestizo families who dominated the local economy.

According to historian, E. Wickberg, the Chinese mestizo played a strong role in Spain’s colonization of the Philippines. He states:

Soon after the Spaniards arrived, the Chinese moved into an important economic position. Chinese merchants carried on a rich trade between Manila and the China coast and distributed the imports from China into the area of Central Luzon, to the immediate north of Manila. Chinese established themselves at or near Spanish settlement, serving them in various ways: as provisioners of food, as retail traders, as artisans. Because the Chinese quickly monopolized such activities, the Spanish came to believe their services indispensable. (Wickberg, p.67)

Don Felix arrived in Binondo to an already established Catholic, Chinese mestizo community. He likely noted that the Chinese mestizoappeared more Spanish than they did ethnically Chinese. For example, they dressed and worshiped essentially the same Hispanic way. So, when Don Felix came to meet Doña Demitria, he was not acquainted by her Chinese family name of Li, but her Spanish Catholic family name of Lindo meaning “beauty.” 

Doña Demitria’s maternal lineage can be traced to southern Fujian in China. Her mother, Maria Andrea Lindo, was raised in Binondo, where she likely worked in the family’s successful clothing and food business. Her mother later married her father, Fortunato Sumulong, an ethnic Filipino farmer. Living in Binondo as a Chinese mestiza family meant that they were afforded certain privileges. They enjoyed access to land, discounts to colonial tribute, as well as limited self-governing privileges. The Chinese mestizo held degrees of wealth and influence.

My research would seem to imply that Doña Demitria was not a victim of colonization. At a time when Spanish authorities (both religious and secular) raped and abused local indigenous women to exert their colonial power, Chinese mestizos maintained certain freedoms and privileges under the same colonizer. The colonized body of the indigenous Filipino was not the same as the Chinese mestizo. Whereas the former made up the vast peasantry, the latter represented networks of wealth. I believe Spanish authorities had political balances to achieve and networks to maintain to legitimize their role. I imagine it would be beneficial to maintain the existing status quo with favorable relations among influential Chinese mestizos.

The Chinese mestizaduring the Spanish colonial period (1521-1898) would have been expected to play her gendered role in society. According to historian Mina Roces, women in the Philippines were considered the man’s help. She was relegated to the home and had little opportunity to venture outside publicly unless it was to attend church (Roces, p.164). As a member of the elite, Doña Demitria’s outings were likely supervised and limited. I would guess then that the Governor-General’s intentions towards her were not made in secret (whatever those intentions were).

Could love have found its way into their “relationship”? I hesitate to say. What I do know is that the balance of power between my two ancestors is not easily defined. The dynamic between older man and younger woman as well as colonizer and colonized can mean different things given the circumstances. He was a ruler outnumbered by an established and wealthy ethnic community. He was likely without contact with his wife (let alone of Spanish women in general). Chinese mestizos could have served to solidify political networks or social voids for him. Really, your guess is as good as mine.

Before I conclude, I want to share one of colonial Philippines iconic images. In around 1875, Dutch photographer Francisco van Camp photographed a Filipina Chinese mestiza. The portrait entitled, Mujer de la clase rica (Woman of the upper class) captures her thick flowing hair, exotic physical features, and elegant dress. She epitomizes both nobility and simplicity simultaneously. She is beautiful (if not stunning). The portrait suggests that her social class and telling mixed features have afforded her the unique luxury of beauty. Maybe Doña Demetria resembled her likeness only a century ago?  Who would Don Felix be, as the most powerful authority on the colony, to let her walk away?

Sources:

E. Wickberg. (1964) “The Chinese Mestizo in Philippine History,” The Journal of Southeast Asian History 5.1: 62-100.

Mina Roces. (2002) “Women in Philippine Politics and Society” in Hazel M. McFerson, ed. Mixed Blessing: the impact of the American colonial experience on politics and society in the Philippines. Westport: Greenwood Press. pp. 159-175.

Prince Victor Salamat. The Sauza-Berenguer de Marquina Official Website.  http://familiasauza.webs.com (cited 22 September 2013).

Wikipedia. “Felix Berenguer de Marquina” Wikipilipinas http://en.wikipinas.org (cited 6 October 2013).

Pacific Rim and the Love of Basketball

Filipino Girls Playing Basketball (Early 1900s) University of Michigan Philippine Photographs Digital Archive http://quod.lib.umich.edu/s/sclphilimg/x-1855/phld038

I’ve been meaning to blog about sports for a while. It seems a more fitting time than any to do it now. The olympic games are well under way and I think coming across this photo (see left) of early Filipina basketball is a welcome sign.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that I too played basketball back in the day. I, like most Filipina girls in the North and West Ends, played the game in high school. However, unlike most Filipina girls, I was considered among my peers the ‘taller’ Filipina at five-foot-seven. I cannot say I ever became a basketball fanatic (given my supposed fate), but I’ve always remained curious about its connection to my heritage.

Basketball was invented by a Canadian (James Naismith) at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusettes in the 1890s. It would be within this same decade, US troops (and later administrators) would enter the Philippines to affirm its presence as colonist on the islands. Somehow, during this process, a love of basketball was implanted across the country. A culture investigated by scholar Rafe Bartholomew in Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin’ in Flip-Flops and the Philippines’ Unlikely Love Affair with Basketball (2010).


Bartholomew, a self-confessed ‘basketball freak’ and former Fullbright scholar, travelled to Manila in 2005 to document basketball in the Philippines. The book reads like a diary with the author’s detailed accounts of ‘Air Tsinelas’ (p.15), the sweltering heat, and the hustle and bustle of Manila life. Thumbing through the first few pages, I wondered whether I’d be reading merely through a tourist’s observations of supposed Filipino excentricities – there’s a humourous note on the Filipino pronounciation of p’s, b’s, and v’s which converts his name from ‘Rafe’ to ‘Rape’ (p.114). Yet, looking past this, one can appreciate his journalistic account less of the history of basketball in the Philippines, but of the Philippines’ interaction with America through the various parallels he outlines. He repeatedly recounts an admiration for his six-foot-something build:

“My young fans were tiny, not only because Filipinos tend to be short, but because years of poor nutrition had stunted their growth. When I asked their age, kids who looked six said they were ten. (p.23)”

He also contrasts the elite Manila basketball world of the PBL (Philippine Basketball League)  and the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) with the incomprable NBA. In an effort to emulate basketball’s ideal through foreign recruitment, Bartholomew has this to say:

“There was no reasonable boundary to the responsibilities heaped on PBA imports; anything short of Michael Jordan was not quite good enough. Of course, the PBA had neither the money nor the prestige to lure a player like His Airness, or even most NBA twelfth men, to Manila, so they settled for lesser talents and poorer pedigrees (p.90).”

Pacific Rim is a fun read for basketballistas or Filipinianists. It is a commentary on a sport much loved like hockey is to Canada.  Although I would have liked to learn more of the origins of Philippine basketball in the book, Bartholomew provides an interesting perspective – one that I`m not sure he realizes. He is more than an American in Manila, but also a figurative giant in the history he embodies through his unfamiliar physical stature, his US exoticness, and his `street cred` as an American basketballista. The Filipino love of basketball is the legacy of a colonial past where whiteness and the west is revered. He won`t come out and say it, but I can see why a pick-up game with him in the barrio would seem so special to his `little fans`.

I wonder how a Filipina-Canadian basketballista would be received?

See Rafe Bartholomew. Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin’ in Flip-Flops and the Philippines’ Unlikely Love Affair with Basketball. London: Penguin Books Ltd. 2010.

Diaspora Giving

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‘Aerial views of aftermath of Philippines Typhoon’ The Telegraph (17 Dec 2011)

In 2011, Typhoon Nesat (Pedring) and Washi (Sendong) hit the Philippines. The devastating aftermath wrought by flooding, landslides, displacement, and disease (Leptospirosis specifically) gained international media attention. Hundreds were left dead and thousands more homeless throughout parts of Luzon  and Mindanao. Here in Winnipeg, reporters scrambled to make a local connection.

What are Filipino-Canadians doing to respond to these calamities happening at ‘home’?

According to the latest 2006 census, there are 36,825 Filipino-Canadians living in Winnipeg. Informal estimates for 2012 believe this figure to be higher, as high as 50,000. Donations drives were inevitably established with leaders from the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba (PCCM) taking charge. Winnipeg families too sought to connect with friends and relatives living in the stricken areas. Funds and support traveled via endless channels of relief networks (Philippine Red Cross, GMA / ABS-CBN foundations), adhoc organizations (Filipino-Canadian Disaster Relief Fund), church groups (National Council of Churches in the Philippines) and remittance centres (like Western Union). 


So, why do Filipino-Canadians give? Fred De Villa, Chair of the Filipino-Canadian Disaster Relief Fund, told Global News, “There is no way that we can not send money there.” (Global, 18 Dec 2011)

In the oral histories we collected, several discussions surrounded the need to support ‘family’ and ultimately ‘community’. Early migrants from the 60s and 70s, shared an important desire to reunite with loved ones through immigration policies in the 80s and 90s that made this possible. They also expressed a desire to ensure a sound quality of life for their relatives left behind (through investments in education, property and small-scale entrepreneurship in the Philippines) and for their young children (through a life in Canada). The Filipino-Canadian family therefore represented a transnational one. With connections firmly affixed in both countries and strengthened all the more through today’s social media, ‘diaspora giving’ has become ‘diaspora development’.

In 2007, Victoria P. Garchitorena, President of The Ayala Foundation, wrote an article entitled ‘Diaspora Philanthropy: The Philippine Experience‘  noting the ways Filipino transnational generosity fills development gaps in the Philippines. She notes that much research in this field is still needed, but identifies 7 interesting reasons why (in her casestudy) Filipino-Americans offer this support:

• a desire to give back to the country of their birth motivated by a sense of gratitude for the life they lived while in the Philippines; 
• compassion for the poor and underprivileged, especially in their hometowns; 
• a desire to “pay back” especially among those who were themselves poor or underprivileged before they left for abroad; 
• a wish to maintain their ties with the motherland; 
• a desire to prove that they have succeeded in their adopted country and are now in a position to be generous and share their blessings; 
• an expression of their faith which encourages sharing and giving with the less privileged
• to help victims of a natural disaster (Garchitorena, pp.5-6)

Her article should not be confused with numerous research that investigates Filipino labour migration as an economic development strategy. International organizations have again and again touted the Philippines efforts to collect remittances from its overseas workers and diaspora communities to balance its dollar deficit. (That discussion I will leave for a later post). The picture of a developing Philippines and its daily distresses coupled with the urgency of areas in emergency is an exhausting reality for Filipinos in the diaspora. The 7 points noted above merely outline such sentiments felt from afar on certain issues and disasters.

What type of Filipino-Canadian practices ‘diaspora giving’ ? Is he/she the recent immigrant with strong connections to the Philippines? Is he/she the Filipino-Canadian who has never returned? Or, is he/she the Filipino-Canadian who has yet to visit the land of his/her heritage? Perhaps as well, what other relief efforts do Filipino-Canadians participate in? And, what about the average Canadian? Is a disaster in the Philippines perceived as urgent as those found in Haiti, Japan, or at home? Does it matter? 

With the media and the internet connecting the world ever more closely, I expect that everyone will have the opportunity to witness other natural disasters in the future. I urge each witness to not forget the seriousness of the loss of life, family, hope, and home. Maybe then, this will be the only reason we need to understand diaspora giving.

Reference:
Aerial views of aftermath of Philippines Typhoon’ The Telegraph (17 Dec 2011)
Global News. ‘winnipeg’s Filipino community raising money for flood victims in Philippines’. (18 December 2011) 
Kevin Mellyn. Worker Remittances as a Development Tool: Opportunity for the Philippines. Asian Development Bank. (13 June 2003) (Cited 7 January 2012) 
Victoria P. Garchitorena. Diaspora Philanthropy: The Philippine Experience. (May 2007) (Cited 7 January 2012) 

NOSTALGIA PILI-PEG

People Power, Martial Law and Winnipeg

In 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law thereby enforcing an end to fundamental freedoms and rights enjoyed by Filipinos at home. For Filipinos in the diaspora, including those in Winnipeg, Marcos’ decree was a cause for worry as much as it was a call for action. The Filipino living outside the Philippines was, although out of reach physically, very much involved intellectually in the movement that would culminate as People Power in 1986. The tie between the Filipino and the Philippines; the Filipino-Canadian and Canada; and eventually Canada and the Philippines under Marcos were conceptualized by one and the same person through his/her multiple migrant identities. Events were organized, messages fowarded, and funds likely raised as a show of support miles away. Kalayaan Philippine News and Views, a community paper published by Ted Alcuitas, agitated rising anti-Marcos sentiment in Winnipeg. The paper later welcomed church official and key People Power proponent, Cardinal Jaime Sin to Winnipeg in a 1988 visit to the city under the Winnipeg Filipino Project. The push for Philippine Democracy from the diaspora appears to have been acknowledged by Cardinal Sin’s visit to Winnipeg. I will reserve the discussions shared in our Oral History interviews on this topic for the actual Manitoba Museum exhibit so do stay tuned!

I can go on forever about Martial Law and its implications to Filipinos living outside of the Philippines as an intro to what multitudes more can be said about People Power and Philippine politics, but I leave that for you to learn and discover. Instead, listen to Mr. Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino, the foremost opponent to Marcos and later celebrated martyr of Philippine democracy, speak as a vocal exile in the diaspora in this American interview on the 700 Club.

Source: (top) Winnipeg Free Press (25 February 1986); (middle) Kalayaan Vol.5, No.1 (January 1988); (bottom)tscacbnasia You Tube channel (uploaded 23 Dec 2008)

NOSTALGIA PILI-PEG

From 500 to over 30,000: Migrating to and Staying in Winnipeg

I am sure there are many well-known assumptions Winnipegers might have about Filipino migration to Winnipeg. There are, of course, the obvious ones like Filipinos migrate to Canada to leave a ‘Third-World’ country, seek a ‘better life’ and secure the future of their children. As true as these assumptions may be about many Filipino-Canadians today, one would have to wonder if such reasoning was always the case. After all, the community was first established by a number of young, often single, well-to-do group of educated, worldly professionals.

Take the attached 1968 Winnipeg Free Press article for example. In Carmen-Litta Magnus’ article “Filipinos Adjust to Winnipeg Life” (Winnipeg Free Press, 7 December 1968). She describes a growing community of 500 Filipinos represented largely (she claims 90 percent) by professionals. At the time, 170 Filipina women had just arrived in the city as Canada Manpower recruits to work in the then bustling garment industry. The photo of the man happens to be of Dr. Basilio N. Bautista, then president of the Kayumanggi Philippine Association, and a post-doctoral student training in plastic surgery at Winnipeg General Hospital and Children’s Hospital. He explains that the community has grown because “[m]any come because of the academic advantages and others for adventure. We are an adventurous people.” An interesting viewpoint that is quite the opposite of what most assume today.

Now with over 30,000 strong and growing, the Filipino-Canadian community in Winnipeg can credit the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program, Federal Family Reunification Program, Temporary Foreign Worker Program, births and an institutionalized labour export system in the Philippines to its growth. But, when you dig deep and see that the community has grown because people also stayed, settled and planted roots in the city (despite the harsh winters and everything else that bemoans Winnipeg), one may realize that there is an element of individual agency working as well. The community’s foundation in Winnipeg stands on the decisions of an adventurous number of Filipino voyageurs. Economic divide or not, the deeper reasons why the first few Filipinos chose to call Winnipeg home deserve to be explored.