Editorial

 Every year, May 3 is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day worldwide.  It’s a day which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom, to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence, and to pay tribute to journalists who gave their lives in the exercise of their profession.

News and the impacts of Atlanta spa shootings in the US on March 16 reverberated quickly on Canadian shores with protest rallies happening in major cities

like Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Vancouver during the last weekend of March denouncing violence against Asians.

 We’re not going to rehash the minute details, as many of you have probably heard of stories about Bill Gates and the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the yarn goes, the Microsoft founder and American billionaire had a role in making the virus, which was supposedly part of a plan by global elites to depopulate the world.

When Mable Elmore was first elected MLA for Vancouver-Kensington more than 10 years ago, one of her first projects was to set up an Alliance of Filipino Associations in British Columbia (AFA-BC).  It’s a sad commentary on the Filipino community that the AFA-BC did not materialize. And it was not for lack of trying on Elmore’s part. 

The year 2020 has been called many (bad) names: dumpster fire, exhausting, year of infamy, a fresh new hell at every turn.

But it will especially be known as the year that will forever be etched in every conscious mind that lived through it.

 In a recent media briefing, British Columbia’s top doctor talked about what is on the mind of a lot of people: Christmas.

Dr. Bonnie Henry joked that Santa Claus is probably immune from COVID-19, but stressed that the holiday season is going to be different in 2020.

 November 2020 - When family and friends have a birthday, we often wish them many more birthdays to come as though a long life is a great gift. Is it always desirable?  

I have many long-living relatives. My grandparents died at ages 95 and 88 in Pila, Laguna. 

Ten months into the year and the world is still wading through the pandemic.

COVID-19 carries with it unintended negative impacts on almost everyone’s state of mind, whether you’re a parent, a health worker, a teacher or a young adult whose once active social life came to a screeching halt. 

Canada celebrates Labour Day on the first Monday of September.

This year, the event falls on September 7.

August 2020 - "Canada is free and freedom is its nationality," proclaimed Canada’s seventh Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier. We Canadian Filipinos hope that those words will continue to ring true to this day and extend to our homeland, the Philippines. 

The summer of 2020 is unlike any other summer we have had before. 

 With the country still in lockdown mode, the usual favorite summer activities are out –  travelling to a “Must-see wonder of the world” or picnicking on the beach with many friends.

On May 22 this year, the Vancouver Police Department expressed heightened concern about rising anti-Asian hate crimes in the city.