Aquino, Harper cheered inside hall while protesters raise rights abuse, poverty and TFW issues

Aquino, Harper cheered inside hall while protesters raise rights abuse, poverty and TFW issues

PHOTO: HG

State leaders earn standing ovations as kababayans and supporters protest outside venue

By Veronica C. Silva

TORONTO — Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined Philippine President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III in trying to win over the Filipino-Canadian community during the latter’s state visit to Toronto Friday, May 8.

Harper invited Aquino for a three-day state visit that covered three major cities where there’s a large Filipino population, namely, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Reports earlier said that the state visit was a strategy of the Conservatives to try to win over the Filipino community in Canada – estimated to number from half a million to 700,000 – in time for federal elections scheduled in fall. In recent years, the Philippines has been one of the top source countries for immigrants to Canada, next to China and India.

In Toronto, the state leaders spoke to a crowd of some thousands of members of the Filipino-Canadian community at Roy Thomson Hall.

PHOTO: Hermie Garcia

The Canadian Encyclopedia says Roy Thomson Hall can seat 2,630, but there were still some seats empty at the Friday event. (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/roy-thomson-hall-emc/)

The community gathering sounded like an election campaign, with each leader taking turns speaking of each other’s accomplishments while highlighting bilateral ties and trumpeting the Pinoy’s good qualities.

Speeches

“The President’s visit gives our government, gives Canadians, the chance to recognize and celebrate the success and contributions of Canada’s Filipino community,” said Harper.

As an example of this Filipino success, Harper proudly recognized the Filipino-Canadian designer of the logo of the 150^th anniversary of Confederation in 2017– Ariana Mari Cuvin of Toronto.

Photo: Hermie Garcia

Harper went on to enumerate Filipino qualities that have become world famous – work ethic, loyalty, deep faith — before saying: “Filipino-Canadians have now become an integral part of every single aspect of Canadian society.”

Then, there’s the reminder of Canada’s multi-million dollar aid to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan struck in late 2013.

“During those dark days, Canada was there for our friends in the Philippines. Canada was in fact the third largest humanitarian donor in the world to the relief efforts, a drive led by Filipino-Canadians that our government was proud to match dollar for dollar right across this country,” said Harper.

In early 2014, Canada announced that individual Canadians contributed over $85 million in eligible donations.

Canada also sent relief teams to the Philippines to help out in disaster relief and has committed more assistance in the reconstruction of areas affected by the typhoon.

For his speech focused on his administration’s accomplishments, Aquino spoke in Tagalog as the speech was interlaced with jokes.

Unfortunately for the Filipino Torontonians, Aquino hardly offered the crowd something new. His speeches in Toronto and in Chicago, Illinois, a few days prior to his Canada visit, were almost the same except for some specific projects (http://www.gov.ph/2015/05/07/speech-president-aquino-filipino-community-chicago-us/).

Photo: Courtesy of Jesson Reyes

For example, in boasting of his administration’s infrastructure projects, Aquino told the Toronto crowd the same joke about the new Lulutang Bridge in Isabela.

“Ang tawag kaya, ang buong pangalan kaya nito ay Lulutang at Lulubog Bridge? (Do they call this bridge Lulutang (floating) and Lulubog (sinking) Bridge?),” said Aquino to the audience in Toronto. And like in the Chicago visit, this part of the speech elicited the same laughing response.

Also like in Chicago, Aquino boasted about his administration’s jobs programs and economic gains, adding that the numbers he presented were actual statistics.

But there were other projects Aquino mentioned to the Toronto crowd like achievements in the coconut industry and in the Philippines’ weather forecasting capabilities.

Conservative campaign team

While Aquino’s speech was the highlight of the Toronto community gathering, Harper brought in his campaign team to cheer for him.

National Defence and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney (MP, Calgary Southeast) who was formerly Citizenship and Immigration Minister, wore a Barong Tagalog and gamely posed for photographs with some Filipinos in the lobby after the event.

JASON KENNEY (Photo: Hermie Garcia)

Kenney has been credited for winning the so-called ethnic votes for the Tories in the 2011 elections.

Not to be outdone, federal Finance Minister and Torontonian Joe Oliver told the crowd: “Jason Kenney maybe wearing a barong, but I’ve reached the third level in the Knights of Rizal,” something which drew applause from the crowd.

But it was Harper who got the loudest applause for revealing: “I’m also going to note — with some pride — that on my wife’s side, I now also personally have some Filipino relatives.” He didn’t elaborate though.

Even with all these cheers and standing ovations, some Filipino-Canadians and Canadians were unimpressed.

From Ottawa to Toronto to Vancouver, protest actions met Aquino wherever he went.

Aquino was in Ottawa from May 7-8, in Toronto on May 8 and Vancouver on May 9.

Finance Minister and Torontonian Joe Oliver (Photo: Hermie Garcia)

In Toronto, protesters gathered earlier than the scheduled opening of doors at the community gathering at 3 p.m. At around the same time, some Filipino guests invited to the by-invitation-only event also started to line up to enter the venue.

Groups of Filipino-Canadians were joined by their Canadian supporters – numbering about 200 by their estimate –- to protest some policies of both leaders.

Protest action

 Among the issues that the protesters brought to the fore were Aquino’s alleged human rights violations; the Mamasapano deadly encounter; Mary Jane Veloso’s death row case in Indonesia and the plight of other Filipinos overseas in death row; and the policies affecting Filipino temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada, including the caregivers.

“Migrant rights, human rights under attack, what do you do? Stand up! Fight back!” chanted the protesters.

Dan Harris, NDP Member of Parliament, Scarborough Southwest, joined protesters outside the venue as he reiterated the NDP’s opposition to the Conservatives’ immigration policies and the C-51 anti-terrorism bill.

Photo: Courtesy of Jesson Reyes

“Good enough to work, good enough to stay!” Harris joined in the chant.

“Just this week, both the Liberals and the Conservatives voted in favour of C-51, the anti-terrorism legislation that allows them to infringe on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that’s a disgrace!” said Harris, as the crowd answered with “Shame!”

Migrante Canada, one of the groups protesting, said they are reaching out also to kababayans who attended the community gathering.

Jesson Reyes, Migrante Canada’s regional coordinator for Ontario, said it’s but innate in the Pinoys in Canada to be concerned about fellow kababayans.

“We urge you to look deeper in the root causes of our community’s issues. It is poverty, lack of decent jobs and landlessness in the countryside in the Philippines that continue to hold us back as a nation,” he said.

He also noted that the two state leaders talked about nothing new in their speeches.

Migrante Canada also took aim at the objective behind the state visit.

“It is without a doubt that certainly one of the few agendas of PNoy’s visit to Canada is for the Conservatives to secure the votes of Filipino-Canadian voters in the upcoming federal elections,” said Reyes. “By listening to the tone of the Prime Minister, he ensured people yesterday that his government’s “promises” will be kept for so long as he is seated in Ottawa.”

In a press conference in Ottawa earlier in the day, Harper defended the controversial TFW program, which affects thousands of Filipinos.

“This government is not going to have a policy — for as long as I’m prime minister – where we will have a permanent underclass temporary people who are here forever with no rights of citizenship and no rights of mobility,” said Harper in Ottawa.

And Aquino responded: “I think that policy should be held proud, not criticized.”

Photo: Courtesy of Jesson Reyes

Reacting to this, Reyes said: “It shows that PNoy and his government do not have a clear understanding of the plight of TFWs in Canada and the abuses many of our kababayans face by not having a permanent status.”

Migrante Canada joins other migrant groups in calling for landed status for foreign workers. They also deplore the Philippines’s labour export policy which is driving many of the Filipinos to seek employment elsewhere.

Despite protests, both state leaders outlined the gains earned from the state visit.

Canada announced more aid and assistance to the Philippines, which has been identified as a country of focus for Canada’s international development efforts.

Initiatives were announced in the areas of free trade, occupational health and safety, development assistance, police and security, and counter terrorism in the Asia-Pacific region (http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/05/08/pm-announces-new-initiatives-will-deepen-relations-between-canada-and-philippines).

(Produced in partnership with New Canadian Media)