The History of Filipino Community in Manitoba

Introduction
The Filipino presence in Manitoba is very much a part of the province’s recent history, having been here for only more than 40 years compared to the European immigrants who came at the turn of the century. From the first arrival of a few immigrants in 1959, through the successive influx of families and sponsored relatives, skilled workers, recruits and other immigrant categories, to the present effort of the Canada-Manitoba nominee program to attract more immigrants, the number of Filipinos has jumped to more than 40,000 strong. As one of the fastest growing ethnocultural groups in the province, community members have enriched all aspects of life in both the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba, as well as the host country, Canada.

The information provided here is by no means exhaustive. Time constraints to do a more serious research work of extensive interviewing and sifting through documents and publications scattered all across the city, dictated that we resort to a compilation of information gathered through asking, interviewing a few community members as well as from our personal knowledge, having been involved with the community for over a number of years since the late 60s and early 70s. Far from being a comprehensive document, this piece of information should be considered, at its best, as an initial attempt to provide a limp sketch of the history and profile of the Filipino community which could serve as a seed to attempt a more ambitious project of developing a resource material about our community.

I. Waves of Migration of Filipinos in Manitoba
1959: First four Filipino immigrant nurses arrive in Winnipeg. Fe Ryder and Melba Rous are still here; the other two returned to the US
1959: Arrival of mostly professional immigrants (doctors, nurses from US; teachers from Philippines)
1968: First wave of Filipino garment workers, mostly recruited from the Philippines
1969: Second wave of recruited Filipino garment workers; and those that applied from The Netherlands
1 979 - early and mid 80' s: Smaller waves of recruited garment workers from the Philippines
1968- present: Filipino immigrants from all walks of life.
* Sponsorships under the Federal Family Reunification program and Assisted Relative category (later discontinued)
* Skilled workers and business immigrants
80’s - present: Domestic workers under the Foreign Domestic Workers Movement program; later changed to the Live-in Caregiver program.
80’s -present: Catholic priests recruited by the Archbishop; ministers of various Christian faiths establishing churches mid 1990s - present: Filipino skilled immigrants from the Middle East
1999 - present: LPNs and RN s recruited from the Philippines under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program
1999 - June 2004: More skilled Filipino immigrants (IT specialists, engineers, architects, etc).
The Philippines is one of the top ten country source of immigrants under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program with a total of 2140
immigrant arrivees from 1999 when the program started to June 2004..

II. Ties with the Homeland
1979 December: Twinning of the City of Winnipeg and Manila under the mayorship of Bill Norie (Winnipeg) and Ramon Bagatsing (Manila)
1980: Opening of the Philippine Consulate in Winnipeg due to a recommendation from the 1977 First Provincial Conference of Filipinos in Manitoba; Consul General Anolin is the First Consul General. The Consulate closed in 1985.
1985-present: Dr. Roland Guzman appointed and continues to serve as Honorary Consul General of the Philippines
1991 - 1995: Pagdiriwang annual fundraising events in support of YM- YWCA Manila projects and other CIDA funded projects of PDAP Canada -PDAP Philippines
1997 January: Visit of Team Canada headed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien in The Philippines
1997 November: Visit of Philippine President Fidel Ramos in Winnipeg
2000 - May: Manila visit of Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray to reaffirm sister city affiliations
2003: Business Mission from Philippines under Mina Gabor visit Winnipeg The Filipinos in Manitoba Chronology of Events
2005 January: Winnipeg delegation headed by Hon. Consul Gen. Dr. Roland Guzman to attend the 3rd Global Networking Conference of Filipinos in Cebu, Philippines
2005 January: Winnipeg delegation headed by Mayor Sam Katz & Councillor Mike Pagtakhan to visit Manila under the sister city program.

Other projects/programs/events (some dates not confirmed as of press time)
Red River College joint education projects with St. Joseph’s College
50th. Anniversary of Philippines ~Canada Friendship (2000)
Cultural performances of Philippine groups in Winnipeg: Himig ng Lahi (’81) Bayanihan Dance Company (mid 80’s);
Barangay Dance Troupe (’89). Concerts by major Filipino entertainers: violinist Gil Lopez Cabayao, Freddie Aguilar,
Sharon Cuneta, Martin & Pops, Rain Makers, Pilita Corrales, Gary Valenciano, Jaya, Ariel Rivera, Side A Band and many others.

III. Community Life
The dynamism and vibrancy of the Filipino community resonate in all aspects of community life. It is no wonder that its achievements and contributions are felt in all spheres, political, social, economic, religious, cultural, sports, arts and entertainment and many others. Gifted with a zest for life and a strong desire to serve and socialize, members formed many organizations to suit their purpose and needs. The Philippine Association of Manitoba, formed in 1970 and incorporated in 1972, takes the credit as the longest serving organization in the community. To date, more than 50 organizations (see list in this program) exist to keep the Filipino community hive buzzing.

A. Political Achievements
1981 - present: Election of the first Filipino-Canadian as Member, Legislative Assembly (Manitoba) - Dr. Conrad Santos continues to serve to this date as MLA for Wellington.
1985: Election of the first Filipino-Canadian as School Board Trustee, St. Vital School Division, Dr. Rey Pagtakhan Other trustees were elected in other years- Rick de la Cruz, Seven Oaks School Division (1994-2003); Florencio Antonio,
(1995-1998) and again in 2002 to the present, as trustee in Winnipeg School Division.
1988 - 2004: Election of the first Filipino-Canadian as Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Dr. Rey D. Pagtakhan. He held different ministerial portfolios including Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister; Minister of Veteran Affairs, Minister of Western Economic Diversification,
1999 - present: Election and re-election of the second Filipino-Canadian Member of theLegislative Assembly for The Maples -Cris Aglugub.
2002: Election of the first Filipino-Canadian as Winnipeg City Councilor, Mike Pagtakhan
2004: Councillor Mike Pagtakhan appointed as Deputy Mayor

B. Social Achievements
Housing Coops -two projects undertaken by the United Housing Co-op (Man) Ltd. (a Filipino-organized group) established on July 20, 1984
1986 Sept. 20: Inauguration of the Filipino community-initiated housing project at the Old Commonwealth Path. The Meadows West project is a $3.6M initiative (36 units of townhouses and 24 apartment dwellings in a 3-storey building. This project was built from the ground up.
1987 May 2: Inauguration of the housing project at 474 Hargrave. The 474 Rehab project is a 27-unit housing project inside an existing vacant historic building which once housed the Manitoba Telephone System and later Freed & Freed, a garment manufacturing company.
1990 Dec. 30 -Approval of the application for the $2.6M renovation/conversion of a historic building, a former normal school in the early 1900s into a housing unit for Filipino seniors at 442 William Ave.
1991 Sept.: Turnover of the completed project, 29-unit suites (11 2-bedroom suites and 18 I-bedroom suites)
1991 November 21: Inauguration of the Villa FILCASA Housing Project, later renamed Villa F el Rodriguez in 1998 in honor of its founder.

C. Achievements in Communication, Culture & Performing Arts, etc

Print Media
1977: Birth of a Filipino community newspaper “Silangan”.
1981: New Silangan -Silangan changed hands from Ted Alcuitas to a group of Filipino -Narra Publishing -
1987: May- final copy of The New Silangan
1987 - present: June, July edition -premier issue of Filipino Journal; publication now on its 17th year. 80s, 90s, early 2000 Many publications have come and gone including the Philippine Echo, Kalyaan, Mosaic, Bastat Pinoy, Philippine Connection, Hiyas and some mid 90s - 2004: The Philippine is now on its 2nd year.

Electronic Media
Late 70s - present: CKJS Radio 810 AM -From an initial few hours, one day a week (Radyo Pilipino), the programming moved to several hours a day for a week (Good Morning Philippines) to its present day multi-programming which include: Good Morning Philippines (6-9 am Monday-Friday); Manila Sound (3-4 pm Monday -Friday); Tunog Pinoy Pang Sabado (Saturdays 10:30 am -2:30 pm); and other weekend midnight programs.
80s: TV programs - Filipiniana , Philippine 0 Rama and Seasons, locally produced shows made their scenes briefly on Cable TV

Cultural & Performing Arts
Late 60s - present: Kayumanggi Dance Group started; still continues to perform at the Philippine Association of Manitoba - sponsored Nayong Pilipino Pavilion at Folklorama
1974 - present: Magdaragat Philippines Inc started and in the 80s started sponsorship of the Pearl of the Orient Pavilion at Folklorama. Karilagan Philippine Dance Company was active up to the mid 90s
1993: Ma Anne Dionisio rose to stardom as Canada’s Miss Saigon and has since gone on to perform in theatres worldwide
1997: Local talents led by the Lazo family (Joy, Marides) took lead roles in Rainbow Stage South Pacific; Nena (West Side Story) in 2002 and Joy in The King & I in 2004.
1998: Marides Lazo started appearing in theatres in Germany and across Europe
2000 - present: Younger generation now joining mainstream performing arts scene as stage and movie actors, playwrights, directors, and other media.
2004: Virginia Guiang receives the province’s highest honor, Order of Manitoba Award, a first in the community, for her longtime commitment and dedication in serving the community.

D. Religious Life
1973 - Filipino Christian fellowship organized by spouse Rev. Noel & Rosina Lapatha
1983 - establishment of the Filipino Evangelical Church, 151 Filipino-led congregation in Winnipeg on Spruce & Ellice. Previous to this, they shared facilities with Emmanuel Baptist Church.
70s - present: Filipino priests have made their way to minister in Winnipeg and Manitoba Catholic Churches. With the current shortage of priests, more and more Filipino priests are being recruited here.
80s - present: Other Filipino-led Christian and charismatic churches are becoming more and more a part of the Winnipeg faith community scene.

E. Economic Life
Filipino owned businesses are evident in the following areas: doctors’ clinics, grocery stores, restaurants & catering, bakeries, beauty salons, guest homes, insurance & travel agencies, garages, home renovations, pawn shops, jewellery stores, real estate brokerages, and many others.
1980s -present: start of local Door -to Door Money Remittance & Cargo deliveries; later joined in by bigger chains based out of Vancouver and Toronto.