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Message to Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino/
Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-Ontario
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples' Struggle
November 30, 2007
On behalf of the International League of Peoples' Struggle, I hereby
express warmest greetings of solidarity to the leadership and membership
of the Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino/Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-Ontario
on the occasion of its two-day province-wide consultation and conference
with the theme, "Palakasin! Ang Tunay na Ugnayan/Strengthen our Youth,
Unite for Freedom!"
You convene on November 30, a historically significant day marking the
birth anniversary of the Filipino revolutionary Andres Bonifacio. This is a
day favored by Filipino youth for celebrating the Filipino people's rich
history of youth activism and revolutionary resistance to colonial and
imperialist oppression.
On this day Kabataang Makabayan was founded in 1964. Since then,
the Filipino youth have from year to year renewed their resolve to continue
the Philippine revolution along the line of national liberation and democracy
against foreign and feudal domination. The struggle will go on for as long
as the semicolonial and semifeudal conditions continue to exploit, impoverish
and oppress the people and youth. Poverty and oppression drive many of
them to seek work opportunities abroad.
We are deeply pleased that you are coming together in a city and in a
province where there is a high concentration of Filipinos in order to
strengthen your ranks and your links with other Filipino youth, the
Filipino-Canadian community and the Filipino people who are engaged in
the struggle for national democracy. We welcome all the efforts that you
are undertaking to strengthen your unity and fight for the rights and
welfare and future of the Filipino youth.
We agree with your objectives: to gather young Filipino women and men
in the province of Ontario to explore the issues affecting them, to consolidate
the Filipino-Canadian youth and student understanding of their history, roots
of migration, struggles and current reality in Canada, to advance the role of
the Filipino youth in the community's struggle for its rights and interests and
the Filipino people's struggle for national and social liberation, and to form a
militant organization of Filipino youth and students in Ontario.
We appreciate your comprehension of the qualities and role of the Filipino
youth in Canada. Indeed, they are energetic in their thinking and physical
activities. They are open to ideas of change and to revolutionary changes
in society. Their mostly working class origin and status and their current
experience of class, gender, racial and ethnic discrimination in Canada put
them in the position of the exploited and oppressed. The Filipino youth
are ever challenged to fight for immediate reforms and revolutionary changes
and become worthy successors in the struggle for national and social liberation.
We also appreciate your comprehension of Filipino youth issues. These include
the issues pertaining to racism, the identity crisis, class domination and exploitation,
gender oppression and exploitation, the problems of newly-arrived youth and
lesbian and gay oppression. We hope that through your discussions you can
form the consensus and the basis of unity for the formation of the Ugnayan
ng Kabataang Pilpino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance,
We wish you the utmost success in your consultation and conference. We
are confident that you will be successful. You have a well-defined context
as you review the history and status of the Filipino people's struggle for national
and social liberation. You have a clear focus on migration and imperialist globalization,
young women and systemic racism. You have a sharp sense of direction as you
deliberate on the ways of acting collectively in Canada and renewing your roots
and supporting the people's struggle in the Philippines. We look forward to your
resounding success in terms of learning from the situation and experience, raising
the level of your consciousness, organizing the youth and mobilizing them.###
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