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Publisher’s Note
by CK This morning when I woke up, I noticed that some leaves in our tree in the backyard are starting to turn yellow and I told myself, what an early sign. For sure we have our nice days numbered as Fall is soon approaching. I love the color of Fall because it feels so refreshing [...]
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Pathway to Prosper

By: Tigs Tidalgo

The failure to unify the Filipino community in Calgary is not basically from quality of leaders, but from decades of unwarranted inconsistent system. It is in the practice where leaders come to being without appropriate mandate from general election. Community members are deprived the right to open suffrage.

The original Filipino association was equipped with this, but it got tangled with legal matter and eventually dissolved. From then on we persevered with half-cooked democracy in choosing leaders. This procedure is counterproductive as leaders haven’t got the required endorsement from the general community members. This is the reason why they are not fully accepted and respected.

Our desire to prosper will have difficulties if we cannot fix this first. A good leader, regardless of honesty and intention will hardly make its mark when electoral process by way of a general election is denied. It is true that open election is cumbersome and at times problematic, but we have no choice but to go through it.

To unify our community is not easy. It is venturing into a long and rugged road. It is indeed a challenge. It has to start with a degree of cooperation amongst Filipinos. It is essential therefore that CAFFA or the likes of it should stand strong and effective.

I authored the concept of CAFFA in 1984 and it came to existence in 1986. It had its years of glory and also frailness in consistency. It died three times and I resurrected it each time. This off and on habitual demise of CAFFA is detrimental to the structural image of our community of about 50,000 Filipinos today. We need an updated strong and reliable system to manage our community fully and effectively. It is on this regard that our community could rise up to expectation. We have to recognize that despite the size of our community, we lag badly behind with most cultural groups.

A seated provincial minister once said that Filipinos in Calgary must have one ‘table’ to talk with government. A unified organized community will bring us on par with major cultural groups in Calgary. This is where progress begins. I believe that we have the aptitude and the fortitude to do likewise.

CAFFA would have had an election last September 2015 as called for in the by-laws. No election did come about. However, an election was called for March 6, 2016, but because someone questioned its legality, it was re-scheduled to September 25, 2016.

CAFFA came to being thirty years ago when there were not so many of us in Calgary. The situation now is entirely different. Our community has grown quite big that the umbrella system from Filipino associations to manage our community is no longer practical.

CAFFA did accomplish its purpose. However, it has past its prime for some time and today is already limping and struggling to barely stand alive. It outlived its usefulness in style and substance that maybe time has come to allow it to rest in peace.

A group of ten community leaders is informally assembled to tackle the task of addressing this problem. We are hoping that they could come up with something for a wide open general election on September of this year. It will be the beginning of a new era for us to rank well in Calgary.

Yes, it isn’t easy. But we can do it. We have the proper ingredients to prosper. The very nature of our ingenuity, resources and willingness is more than enough to achieve and to realize a purpose. This will come to being if and when the combined wisdom of the group could come up with an acceptable format to manage fairly and effectively our present Filipino community in Calgary.

Pathway to Prosper

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