Every time I open my blackberry -- which friends say is most of the time -- I am now reminded of the abundance of a laid back country where it came from which for so long has only been for me an appendage of their powerful and more flamboyant neighbor in North America.
My latest addiction, I just found out, is from Waterloo, Canada.
The small pocket-size contraption has made travel convenient and given me victory over my fear of complex inventions that tax an aging brain like mine. It has made me see the unheralded wealth of Canada, not only in technology but its citizens, and allowed me a deeper connectedness with people and things that really matter in life.
Canada is rich but does not flaunt it.
I was in this cold country -- minus 7 degrees in snow-covered Edmonton on my second day after a rainy overnight stay in Vancouver -- to raise its temperature with the heat of patriots and friends in the launch of Gawad Kalinga Canada and the Kalinga Sa Bayan campaign in Toronto on October 29.
The event -- attended by nearly 300 of the city's top leaders from business, academe, government, media and Filipino groups (passionate UP graduates and sweet Ilonggos mostly, including Consul Edna Lazaro) -- showed clearly the interest of mainstream Canada to support a cause that they can believe in.
A nation is truly rich when it has the spirit to share wealth, not just the ability to create or accumulate it.
Toronto is bustling with prosperity as the center of a stable economy despite the falling currency of neighboring cities across the border. It is the metropolis built by the talents and treasures of immigrants, where harmony in diversity is the foundation of its life. An initiative like Gawad Kalinga that is inclusive, that bridges friendship and partnership in trade and development between east and west is good news to this country where the blood of Asians run through the veins of its citizens.
There were inspiring messages from Telus International on behalf of their President Jeff Puritt to complete the 200 homes in two villages in Quezon City and support their sustainability with continuing mobilization of 5000 volunteers from their Philippine offices. He met with us earlier and gave us a tour of their brand new tower at the heart of the city beside the Air Canada sports dome. I was impressed that this busy man at the top gave us his precious time and treated us with respect as a partner in creating global social equity, not as an object of charity to whom he could just have conveniently written a check.
Profit is good when it grows a big heart and conscience.
Likewise, SunLife Financial Vice President Frank Switzer's speech to support our nation-building effort beyond their existing village in Las Pinas revealed his affection for Filipinos and made employees and clients in the audience proud of him.
Money gains added value when it is shared to add value to the life of others.
Before the launch event, top Manulife Financial executives Dawn Marchand and Sarah Saso also met with us at their impressive head office to express keen interest in our cause since their corporate thrust is to create social impact through volunteerism. Clearly, creating prosperity from the ground-up improves quality of life that people want to secure.
Doing good makes good business sense.
The Toronto event was the culmination of an enriching week-long journey for me in this vast territory that has attracted half a million of our compatriots to abandon sun for snow, poverty for opportunity and the chance to help loved ones left behind at home.
Two big nuggets of insight were revealed to me on this recent trip. The first one was evident where ever I went.
" FILIPINOS ARE GOOD TO CANADA."
They set service standards of excellence, lighten the load in the work place with their optimism and are willing to take on hard posts with long hours even in out of the way places and remote wilderness. Our prized engineers make top money in oil rigs and mine fields to send home while helping grow the local economy.
The owner of Tim Horton stores in Edmonton and Calgary, Mark Havin, appreciates his mostly Filipino staff because they work hard with a smile. In our conversation over coffee and BLT, arranged by a gem of a consul Melda Agbulos and husband Toto, he swears to their charming disposition in the way they say "next please" with a smile despite the long queues in the early morning rush.
Filipinos know joy as the best antidote to stress and loneliness.
Many of them are starting to be wealth creators and job generators themselves, not just seekers of employment that are readily available to those who came to this country to work.
Top designer, jeweller and home builder George Ilagan with partner Paul Hastings count on the elite of Alberta as clients --one of them has a 15 car garage with elevators. They provide jobs to artists, craftsmen, designers, office staff and field workers in Canada. They also outsource design jobs to a branch office in the Philippines that the local team will eventually own. To top it all, they rounded up their affluent clients and friends to build a beautiful village for the poor in Gerona, Tarlac which they are passionate about and visit regularly.
In them, I see generosity in success that leads to greatness.
Top Filipino professionals are shining in Canada as leaders in government and business : Mila Syme as a lady judge, Alex Chiu as one of the longest serving elected officials in Toronto and Pidoy Pacis as a top international executive of SaladMaster and the franchise owner of the first Max restaurant in the city. There are many more but I cited them particularly because they have initiated their legacy villages in the Philippines with the generous support of their peers, companies and alumni groups.
The DNA is good, the cause is honest, the moment is right.
They are not only good to Canada which harvested them when they were ripe and ready after graduation but to our poor country that raised and educated them with our limited resources.
Giving back to the home country is not only about gratitude but just a simple case of justice and fairness and plain good sense.
Helping shelter, feed and educate Filipinos is an investment in raising future citizens of Canada with excellent genes. Of course if the Philippines prospers, they might not want to migrate but it will still be of value to Canada in terms of creating friends, market and business partners in Asia and building a better and safer world for everyone. Which brings be to the next major point.
" CANADA IS GOOD TO FILIPINOS."
It is an accepting environment where our people can shovel snow, drink cappuccino, eat adobo, sing in church and root for Pacquiao --to be truly Canadian without being less Filipino, to see that to make Canada rich is not to keep the Philippines poor.
My college best buddy Roger Laset is vice president of the Bank of Montreal, lives a good life in Missasauga, sends his two kids to the best schools and plans to contribute his talent to our development after retirement. I was struck when he said to me "I'm glad to have my old friend back" after we talked about going beyond preaching to end poverty in our country.
I guess it is simply time to walk our talk. Then our sons and daughters abroad together with foreigners will come home to build our broken walls and invest their wealth in our shores.
They will come to create prosperity in our beloved homeland that is on the threshold of a major takeoff with a new President who is determined to end poverty and corruption in our country against all odds.
This is our moment to discover what a treasure we truly are.
By being a pro-active participant in nation-building, not a critical bystander, we remove our biggest odd --ourselves.
Canada is in solidarity with our aspirations because it thrives on synergy and reciprocity. What is good for the Philippines will ultimately be good for Canada.
This is what is motivating 17 caring Canadians from Castle Downs to go to the Philippines next January to build a playground for the children of Tarlac. The effort, led by Alberta Minister of Employment and Immigration Thomas Lukaszuk, shows that concern for our country is coming from the top.
This was also evident in the commitment of the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) - Andrew Farncombe and Glenn Miller were with us in three events -to fly our cause. They brought together some top brass from Ryerston University and Brown College to talk about how to move social development from the "happy place" of concepts and theories to where the action is like GK.
My short stay in Canada was simply a feast for my soul from many expressions of caring.
It was in the courage of BLD members not to abandon the poor in our country despite efforts to discourage their work by those in poverty of truth. They fed me faith and patriotism in action.
It was in Richard giving me the gift of his company the whole time I was in Toronto and in Amir who flew in from Montreal as his way of showing he cares for our people.
It was in Agnes and Nonoy helping me remember fond memories in high school and finding ways to convert nostalgia to concrete support for the poor in Negros.
It was in my brief encounter in Vancouver with nesting newly-weds Tom and Tam and hearing their plans to return home next year to start a business and create jobs for the poor in Bicol.
It was in our amazing team -- from the board (Pidoy, Mon, Malou, Jojo, Elvie, and Jimmy) to the last volunteer and supporter -- who showed me that they are our treasures abroad who will help us end poverty at home.
Gawad Kalinga Canada was born out of the abundance of their love for the Philippines.
The team is now ready to serve those in Canada who will help us build homes, schools, farms, water systems, renewable energy, health programs and social enterprises for 5 million of our poorest families and raise the quality of life of an entire nation.
I left Toronto for Chicago sure that the Philippines will be as rich as Canada -- soon.
It is our destiny.
