{"id":277630,"date":"2020-12-04T03:32:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T08:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=277630"},"modified":"2020-12-04T03:32:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T08:32:18","slug":"it-is-unacceptable-bcs-filipino-community-feels-ignored-by-premier-horgan-in-their-calls-for-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/12\/04\/it-is-unacceptable-bcs-filipino-community-feels-ignored-by-premier-horgan-in-their-calls-for-representation\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt is unacceptable\u201d: BC\u2019s Filipino community feels ignored by Premier Horgan in their calls for representation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Premier John Horgan provides an update to the media on 10 June 2020 (Photo<\/a>: Province of British Columbia\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

VANCOUVER \u2014 Last week, when Premier John Horgan announced his Cabinet, he appointed Mable Elmore, the first and only MLA of Filipino heritage in BC\u2019s history, as the Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors\u2019 Services and Long-Term Care\u2014leaving Elmore out of his Executive Council.<\/p>\n

In a Zoom call this past weekend, leaders of the Filipino community gathered virtually to share in their frustration of not being heard by the BC Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unacceptable for the Premier to claim diversity in his Cabinet when he ignores the calls of the Filipino community for representation,\u201d said RJ Aquino, founding member of Tulayan, an organization that connects Filipino-Canadians to their culture.<\/p>\n

He continued, saying, \u201cOur community is done with being ignored and taken for granted. We will not stop speaking up until we get the recognition Filipinos deserve and we won\u2019t accept empty gestures. Our community understands what meaningful action looks like and that\u2019s what we\u2019re asking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aquino along with Rudy Antonio, a Filipino community advocate, organized an online petition, which saw over two thousand people call for Elmore to be included in Horgan\u2019s Cabinet. The petition also stresses the need for provincial support in the creation of a Filipino Community Centre and asks for the recognition of the Filipino language in BC\u2019s public schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long Filipinos have gone overlooked, we don\u2019t feel appreciated or respected by those in leadership, and that needs to change,\u201d said Antonio.<\/p>\n

Although disappointed with last week\u2019s Cabinet announcement, leaders in the Filipino community remain determined to see their calls to action recognized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we have diversity in leadership we are all better for it, Filipino-Canadians feel under valued and it is time for us to be heard, let\u2019s continue to organize and make sure we are counted,\u201d said Rachel Abonita, a signatory to the online petition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER \u2014 Last week, when Premier John Horgan announced his Cabinet, he appointed Mable Elmore, the first and only MLA …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":259246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1481,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news-comm","category-news","mauthors-bc-filipinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277631,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277630\/revisions\/277631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}