Canadian Filipino Net

08/27/2026

While the general idea for a future permanent Centre has already gained strong community support through the What We Heard Report, the need for a special Wellness Wing has not yet been fully discussed.

The need became clear only after the 2025 Lapu-Lapu Day Festival tragedy. This event caused lasting pain beyond the immediate effects and showed how important the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) complete view of health really is.

Read more here:
https://canadianfilipino.net/opinion/op-ed/why-we-need-a-wellness-wing-in-our-future-community-and-cultural-centre-a-one-of-a-kind-hub

Photo:
Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

08/25/2026

Two Canadian Filipinos explored how the success of the newly minted strategic partnership between the Philippines and Canada could be measured for an opinion piece in Open Canada:

"A mature Canada–Philippines partnership would expand economic co-operation while protecting labour rights; deepen security co-operation while preserving candid discussion of human rights and democratic accountability; and strengthen people-to-people ties by creating real pathways to professional opportunity for Filipino Canadians."

Continue reading here:

August 16, 2026 — Prime Minister Mark Carney and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently announced that they have elevated bilateral relations t

08/19/2026

Surrey, B.C.-based Himig Kabataan Cultural Society took home the Gold Award for College and Adult category at the 15th World Peace Choral Festival held in Vienna, Austria from July 23 to July 26, 2026. It also earned the award for excellent folk and national music.

Himig Kabataan (meaning “youthful melody”) has performed Filipino music in various local, national and international events in Edmonton, Colombia and Hungary as well as both the Canadian and Philippine national anthems in cultural and sports events.

Congratulations, !

Learn more about them here:
https://canadianfilipino.net/culture/arts/canadian-filipino-youth-choir-himig-kabataan-scores-big-in-world-competition

08/09/2026

Filipino filmmaker Lawrence Fajardo’s sociopolitical drama Silenced Nights is one of 12 finalists for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Platform Award.

This will be the first time in TIFF history that the winner of the Platform Award will secure direct eligibility for the Academy Award’s (the Oscars) International Feature Film. Silenced Nights is also the first Filipino feature film to compete in the Platform programme since it was introduced over a decade ago.

Fajardo is a film and television director known for fast-paced action films, the most popular of which is the urban crime drama Amok released in 2011. With screenplay by Troy Espiritu, Silenced Nights was shot in fictional Happyland, Tondo, and follows an ordinary worker who witnesses the deadly police shooting of a teenage boy. It explores fear, silence, and the consequences of pursuing justice through a cinéma vérité approach.

More here:
https://canadianfilipino.net/culture/arts/filipino-film-silenced-nights-gets-crack-at-oscars-via-toronto-film-festival

08/03/2026

One finding of a survey among Canadians show the Philippines among the favoured source countries of immigrants. Released in July 2026 and titled “Canadian Diversity Study 2026”, it is based on an online survey of 6,818 adult Canadians between March 4 and April 24, 2026.

The Philippines was among the source countries cited by respondents when asked the question: “Which countries do you think Canada should give priority to, in terms of attracting new immigrants?”

Continue reading here:
https://canadianfilipino.net/more/immigration/philippines-a-favoured-source-country-of-immigrants-to-canada

07/24/2026

This 24th article concludes the CFNet’s yearlong Kapwa Storytelling Project launched on August 1, 2025 in the wake of the deadliest mass-casualty event in Vancouver’s history.

The Kapwa Storytelling Project shows that while the Lapu-Lapu Day Festival tragedy shattered Vancouver’s happiness, it could not extinguish its joy. By defining joy not as the absence of sorrow, but as an unbreakable internal anchor, this final story offers a blueprint for renewal.

Read more from Hon. Dr. Rey Pagtakhan here:

The Canadian Filipino Net is an online publication owned and operated by the Maple Bamboo Network Society, a non-profit society powered by an all-volunteer staf

07/17/2026

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. met with the Filipino Canadian community in Vancouver on July 3, in what turned out to be a festive highlight of his official trip to Canada.

The reception emphasized the historic ties between the Philippines and Canada. Marcos reflected that the invitation extended to him by the government of Canada “recognizes the longstanding and enduring relationship between our two countries”, spanning 77 years of formal diplomatic relations.

More here:
https://canadianfilipino.net/news/president-ferdinand-marcos-jr-hails-deep-people-to-people-ties-between-the-philippines-and-canada

07/16/2026

On the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) arbitral tribunal ruling invalidating China’s claim of the nine-dash line over South China Sea (now West Philippine Sea), Canada joined 13 other nations in reaffirming their “unwavering commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, and rules-based, anchored in international law.”

In 2013 and led by then President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippines brought arbitration proceedings against China regarding maritime entitlements and legality of actions before the UNCLOS and a tribunal was constituted and registered under the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

More here:

July 16, 2026 - On the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) arbitral tribunal ruling invalidating China’s claim

07/15/2026

In the article “Worlding the intangibility of resilience: the case of rice farmers and water- related risks in the Philippines,” I co-wrote with Sameer Shah and Leila Harris for World Development, we found that Tagalog-speaking small rice farmers narrated resilience in terms of their courage (lakas ng loob), abilities (husay, abilidad) and strategies (diskarte) to address loss and damage to their livelihoods because of water shortage, drought or disasters, often linked to climate change.

Resilience in the diaspora is often discussed in the context of hardships and struggles faced as Filipino immigrants or migrant workers abroad who likely interpret resilience in terms of the above approximate or substitute words in Philippine Indigenous languages.

Continue reading here:

July 1, 2026 — Resilience is commonly held by many as desirable human characteristic or cherished value, based on inherited common wisdom or an unquestione

07/14/2026

Emmy Buccat is the new president of Maple Bamboo Network Society (MBNS), the nonprofit that owns and operates the online-only CanadianFilipino.Net publication.

A donor-relations professional with the University of British Columbia’s Development and Alumni Engagement Office, Buccat has a wide array of experience in journalism, communications, and events management.

Buccat is replacing Eleanor Laquian, who retired from MBNS and CanadianFilipino.Net effective June 30, 2026.

More here:
https://canadianfilipino.net/news/canadianfilipino-net-publisher-maple-bamboo-network-society-welcomes-emmy-buccat-as-new-president

The Canadian Filipino Net is an online publication owned and operated by the Maple Bamboo Network Society, a non-profit society powered by an all-volunteer staf