Rosalinda Cerrudo-Javier
President and CEO
Filipino Centre, Toronto
Some members of FSAT (Filipino Students Association of Toronto) and SOFU (State of the Filipino Union) invited me to attend their 5th Annual Filipino Awareness Week ‘s panel presentation at William Doo auditorium, U of T campus last February 26.
The theme for that evening’s panel presentation was “Building a Bridge, Defining and Encouraging the Community”. It was an evening besieged with young adults coming to terms as Filipino-Canadians immersed in both cultures (Filipino and Canadian). The identity crisis/question rings in their ears louder than in their parents’.
The evening presented two panels: the more established Filipinos of the GTA and the younger generation, most of whom were members of FSAT and/or SOFU. Some of the older participants spoke passionately about their experiences as immigrants and as established members of the community.
Jody Huang, an eloquent speaker who came to Canada approximately five years ago and presently a community relations officer of the Toronto Catholic School Board, superbly articulated her views especially on racism. She contended racism exists in everyone’s mind, however, she maintained that DIALOGUE is one of the more effective ways to combat this age old problem.
Rey Tolentino, a well known and respected personality in the Filipino-Canadian community and currently the executive vice president of the Filipino Centre, Toronto, recognized the initial hardships of an immigrant. A handful of older people in the audience empathized with him and they must have been among those who came to Canada not knowing a single soul. He and his wife instilled in their children love and respect for Filipino values while proudly embracing Canadian culture.
Luz del Rosario, an elected trustee for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board, encouraged the young people to include politics in their future plans. She believes the Filipino-Canadian community of the GTA desperately needs an MP or MPP . . . at the very least.
Teresa Torralba, related how some not too pleasant experiences as a new immigrant child, transplanted from the sunny Philippines to frigid cold Hamilton, Ontario helped her grow up as an adult in Canada. Some members of the younger panel were able to relate to her experiences.
Some members of the older panel bragged about their organization’s achievements and their personal encounters with Canadian winter, discrimination and job displacement.
The young panelists were passionate, expressive, articulately direct, knowledgeable and some, a little obtuse. Their views range from admiration, respect, frustration, arrogance, hurt and at times exuded a tinge of fear, shame and anger. Here are some of what they felt and said:
“I came to Canada as a teen-ager and found it hard to assimilate. I felt I was a
second class citizen,”
“I grew up totally ashamed of the Filipino culture.”
“ I’m a half Filipino and I wondered if the Filipino-Canadian community
will ever be united.”
“We are aware of the diverse opinions within our own Filipino-Canadian
community, FSAT and SOFU included.. Will we ever have a united front?”
“I’m comfortable enough to say, I’m a Filipino and can easily identify with any
group of Filipinos in the community.”
“ I sought for that very elusive sense of ‘belongingness’ within my own
community and, found it with a church group.”
“ I grew up with all kinds of nationalities and color, Jews, Indians, Italians,
Blacks, unfortunately, not Filipinos.”
“Our parents imitated the white Canadians and we imitated the Black people.”
“ I grew up outside of Toronto with approximately three hundred Filipino
families and about a hundred Filipino organizations and growing.”
“Participation in the different arts and cultural programs within the Filipino
community helps me understand where my parents are coming from.”
“Efforts like today help the Filipino-Canadian community in particular and the
mainstream society in general to slowly recognize groups like FSAT and
SOFU and the valuable contributions these groups can give to society..”
“We seem to project and admit we have a problem by asking the
Question ‘Are you proud to be a Filipino?’”
My personal views on the matter:
1. The evening’s two unspoken messages were clear and concise: “Where multiculturalism is a by-word, the Filipino-Canadian community loses a lot by being intolerant, critical, unsupportive of each other and fragmented”. The other closely related message is, “If our elders are united and a force to be reckoned with in the mainstream community, politically, socially and financially, will we young people still be confronted by our seeming lack of identity in this multicultural society?”
Hearing the views and/or feelings of these younger Filipino-Canadians, was a
wake-up call for some of the older and concerned Filipino–Canadians present in
this particular event. Myself included!
2. Growing up in Canada was not easy for some of these youngsters, even those who were born here. It seemed that isolation was a constant companion, while assimilation was the hardest thing to achieve in order to belong.
Some families were able to cope and put a handle on the situation and show very positive results in the attitude(s) of their (grown) children. Again, dialogue was an important ingredient.
Meanwhile, a few suffer from the damage(s) already entrenched. Hence, some of
the very few negative comments of the evening.
3. I think these young people from FSAT and SOFU are willing to continue on with the dialogue they started.
4. An added hot topic was the issue of Pilipino language or the Tagalog dialect. The question asked was, “I understand but can not speak Tagalog/Pilipino. Does that make me less Filipino?”
This reminds me of the famous quote from the Philippines’ national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, “Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika ay masahol pa sa malansang isda”.
These young people are Filipino-Canadians, who by natural instincts, as well as expectations (should) love and respect both Canada and the Philippines and owe allegiance to both countries. Should they be fluent in Pilipino, French and English?
Professor Ganzon of the History Department of the University of the Philippines
in the early 1960’s, said, “Not too many ‘animals’ out there can master so many
languages”.
5. In spite of some unpleasant experiences, racial discrimination, intolerance and
indifference, some of these young people thrive and are successful in their chosen vocation or profession.
6. This panel presentation was in the front page column of the Toronto Star, however,
I felt justice was not there.
A couple of days after the FSAT and SOFU panel presentation, I received an email and phone calls from prominent members of the Filipino-Canadian community who were unable to attend the presentation but were highly interested on the issue(s) discussed. One of them wondered if a follow-up by the older members of the Filipino-Canadian community is possible. These youngsters certainly started something.
We’ll see!