FIRST ANNOUNCMENT: "Pagsulong: Filipino Youth Uniting and Advancing Our Struggles"

First Announcement - REVISED
July 13, 2006

"Pagsulong: Filipino Youth Uniting and Advancing Our Struggles"
Canada-wide Gathering for a National Alliance of Filipino Youth
September 23-24, 2006
Toronto, Ontario

Filipinos currently comprise the third largest visible minority in Canada, 14% of which, are youth and students (Statistics Canada, 2001 Census). The grinding poverty and landlessness caused by the semi-colonial and semi-feudal character of Philippine society has forced Filipinos overseas as migrant workers in countries like Canada for years. This forced migration has had its impacts on our youth. Family separation and re-unification, barriers to education and employment, racism and sexism are among the many issues they face here.

For decades now, Filipino youth and students have been educating, organizing and mobilizing our community in the struggle for our genuine rights and welfare, while participating in the continuing struggle for a just and lasting peace in the Philippines. Since the formation of the Montreal Coalition of Filipino Students (MCFS) and the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance in Vancouver (UKPC/FCYA-Vancouver) in 1995 - the first progressive Filipino Canadian youth organizations - Filipino youth in the other major cities of Canada have come together to form their own groups, which have continuously strived to give a voice to their experiences.

But as our community continues to grow, our rights are increasingly being attacked by instruments of the Canadian state. For youth, systemic racism is one of the main issues that has intensified in all aspects of their lives - the murder of Mao Jomar Lanot in Vancouver, the fatal shooting of Jeffrey Reodica by a police officer in Toronto, and, most recently, the ill-treatment of young Luc Cagadoc by school officials in Montreal are all testimonies to this. It is in the face of these growing challenges that these Filipino youth and student activists have decided to take another step forward in their organizing work.

On September 23-24, representatives from these various Filipino youth organizations will gather in Toronto for a conference under the theme Pagsulong: Filipino Youth Uniting and Advancing Our Struggles. This national gathering aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. To achieve a greater level of unity amongst existing Filipino youth organizations who support and participate in the struggle for Filipino people's national and social liberation.
2. To broaden public awareness about the struggles faced by first- and second-generation Filipino youth in Canada.
3. To learn from and build upon the previous work of the youth organizations and form a national youth organization.

Pagsulong: Filipino Youth Uniting and Advancing Our Struggles will feature panel discussions on the history of youth struggles in Canada, our current situation, the situation of the Philippines and the role of youth in the struggle of the Filipino people. It will also include testimonials from first- and second-generation Filipino youth, action planning and a solidarity night on Saturday, September 23.

All Filipino youth are invited to participate. To register, please contact:
Debbie Celis
(416) 556-6265
ukpc_toronto@yahoo.ca

This gathering is being hosted by Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada / Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance Toronto Chapter (UKPC/FCYA-TO). Exact conference location and schedule will be announced soon.