All hands on deck: It’s High time… Panahon Na!
All hands on deck: It’s High time… Panahon Na!
Seated from left: Manny Ching, Louroz Mercader, Michelle Serrano, Joey Abrenilla, Paulina Corpuz and Linda Insigne. Standing from left: Joe Damasco, Ariel Ramos, Mila Garcia, Randy Bucao, PPCO President Rose Tijam, Willie Reodica, Julius Tiangson, Ace Alvarez, Romy Zetazate, Manny Yanga, Gary Tanuan, Noel Perada and Jonathan Canchela. (PHOTO: HG)
By Tony A. San Juan, OCT
As part of its public service, last Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, the Philippine Press Club of Ontario (PPCPO) led by prexy Rose Tijam, sponsored a Press Forum for all Filipino Canadian candidates running for elective positions in the upcoming municipal elections on Oct. 27, 2014.
Among those who joined and attended the Meet-the-Press event were: Toronto Ward 10 Councillor candidate Randy Bucao and six Toronto CDSB Trustee candidates :Joey Abrenilla( Ward 5), Ace Alvarez( Ward 12), Manuel Mendoza Ching(Ward 9), Paulina Corpuz( Ward 12), Garry Tanuan( Ward 8),and Emmanuel Yanga (Ward 7).
Also in attendance were Mississauga Ward 7 Councillor candidate Louros Mercader, York CDSB Wards 4/5 Trustee candidate Erlinda Insigne, Whitmore/ Stouffville, mayoral candidate Willie Reodica, Mississauga Centre Conservative MP nomination candidate Julius Tiangson and Scarborough Southwest Liberal MP nomination candidate Michele Serrano.
All the present candidates, able, courageous and well-qualified, were given the opportunity to present briefly their campaign platforms and answering questions posed to them. Truly an act of solidarity, the Press Forum was indeed a welcome opportunity for the candidates to be heard and address those in attendance.
Their candidacies, all 16, positively reflect the composite sentiments and aspirations of the Filipino Canadian community being one of the largest-and-growing immigrant groups in Canada, to get involved and be an active political player in their adopted country’s parliamentary democracy.
As many Filipino leaders and residents collectively echo, it’s time… not only time, but really high time… napapanahon na talaga (it’s really time…), for a concerted action and wholesale change to move forward and claim political maturity. That is why it is very significant, if not sensitively emotional, that our fellow kababayans take this election, city councils and school boards, more seriously with minds in patriotic mode when we go to the polls on Oct. 27th.
Amid the usual malaise of having a “fragmented character”, that is, the ongoing “corrosive description” within our community, it is easy to overlook what is at stake in voting for a FilCan candidate who comes under much greater scrutiny… kahit may kaunting kapintasan. Our FilCan candidates, in whatever political stripes they are, have a vital role to play in keeping up the fight for political awareness and productive community engagement. By doing so, they can be role models for a generation of young Filipinos who either immigrated to Canada or were born and raised here but who will appreciate and see generational leadership and governance participation as major political and social concerns too.
The big question now for the community though is whether many eligible Filipino citizen-residents will get out and vote for our kababayan candidates to achieve respect and recognition as well as to prove and show to the world that we are certainly part and parcel of the Canadian mosaic.
We don’t have much of the luxury of stepping back but we hope to have the wherewithal to reset our community’s moral compass and perform the democratic exercise of a patriotic and partisan action, if you may. So aggressively pay attention who will control your tax dollars, promote our economic and social interests and oversee the education of our children. Do not just write or check off the most familiar name or the first one on the ballot but choose our kandidatong kababayan.
Numerically, as Filipinos, we have the numbers. Critically, though, it is your vote as serious and determined electors that will make or break our FilCan candidates to be placed in the winning column. More importantly for our FilCan candidates is our hope and wish for strong support that will provide them a solid base on which to start announcing a notice that “we are here to stay in order to promote, protect and preserve our interests”. Should we fail , sure we will keep on trying but we should avoid the pitfall of going to the dustbin of political moribund… a big challenge, indeed. Kaya magkaisa at itaguyod po natin sila. Good luck and God bless all!
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