On October 21, Filipino activists and diaspora were turned away from the Philippine Consulate in Vancouver as they tried to deliver a letter expressing dissatisfaction with the corruption that has caused widespread devastation after a typhoon hit areas of the country.  The consulate, nestled amidst the luxury hotels and convention centres on the downtown core’s waterfront, barred activists from entering the building and increased security presence at its doors upon seeing people gathering outside in preparation for the letter delivery. The letter is signed by Tama Na BC, a local chapter of a new coalition of concerned Filipinos formed in reaction to the recent corruption scandal.  The North Star spoke with Noa Sison of Bayan BC at the scene. He explained, “We’re here because it’s been a month since September 21 when hundreds of thousands of Filipinos flooded the streets. And we’ve only seen the Philippine government double down on their repression of the people’s just resistance and double down on their corruption and lack of transparency.” The letter makes specific demands for transparency and accountability from state officials and contractors involved in publicly funded flood control projects.  “It contains eight demands, listing out how we can realize a corruption-free society in the Philippines. For example, making sure that the ICI investigation is transparent and also making sure that there’s no more practice of ‘budget insertions’, which basically begets all these bloated pork barrel projects where people are able to pocket the money.” The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) was established September 15 through an executive order after the public expressed concerns about corruption. The pocketing of public funds designated for flood control infrastructure has caused at least 30 deaths, the destruction of whole communities, and the displacement of thousands in rural communities especially.  Though President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stated that the commission would operate independently and would not include politicians, critics are concerned about a lack of transparency on the part of the agency. All positions within the commission have been appointed directly by President Marcos Jr. Sison is concerned that the ICI has failed to implicate Marcos Jr. in the chaotic aftermath of the typhoon and is shifting blame to the protesters.  “We know he is actually the one who is responsible, because he is the one who approves and signs off on the national budget, which is full of all these infrastructure projects that are the source of kickbacks or corruption, where all these politicians are basically enriching themselves,” he told The North Star.  Sison says the September 21 protests show that “farmers, workers, professionals, youth, students, all united basically because they all understand that enough is enough.” He says they realized that, “it’s not about who is in [the presidential palace], but actually replacing this rotten system,” that has persistently funnelled public funds into politicians’ pockets, rather than just who occupies the presidential palace as its figurehead. The endemic corruption may be felt most acutely in agricultural communities during extreme weather events and disasters, but the issue is a pervasive year-round reality that keeps people in the countryside from having any kind of stability or security. “Filipino peasants actually live on very thin economic margins already. Some make as little as 350 [Philippine Pesos] a day which amounts to about nine Canadian dollars. When we think of the corruption, we can see what the main issues of the Filipino farmers are. Seven out of 10 Filipino farmers don’t own their own land,” and since the floods, “there hasn’t been any aid yet provided to them.” Sison explains that funds that could go to supplement the local rice production and subsidize the cost of fertilizer are instead squandered on infrastructure deals that provide kickbacks or foment corruption.  “Marcos Jr. is continuing this legacy of being dependent on imports of rice to basically supplement the local supply.” According to Sison, the corruption “is just a manifestation of deeper, more entrenched problems in the Philippines. We can see that with the landlessness of farmers, the stagnation of the minimum wage in the Philippines, and all these conditions that basically force Filipinos to migrate abroad.” Once immigrants from the Philippines make it to Canada, they’re faced with challenges that sometimes mirror the conditions back home, as well as some new ones.  Take, for instance, federal Bill C-12 which draws on elements of the controversial Bill C-2 to restrict established immigration processes and expand the government’s enforcement powers. The government touts these laws as strengthening border security, but they tend to make conditions for working-class immigrants more uncertain. According to Sison, Bill C-12 will place immigrants into more precarious conditions which will leave them with fewer options for employment and lower wages. He was infuriated by the fact that Filipinos forced away from their home country find themselves heavily exploited yet again “for the benefit of just the ruling elite” once they get to Canada. But Sison says that the shared experiences of overall wage stagnation amidst a rising cost of basic goods could also be a potentially unifying force for the workers of both countries. “Philippines, Canada, we can see basically a shared interest in the working class… and we can see a need for a change in the system that does uplift the working class.”

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