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YEAR 12, No. 9 MARCH 2009 Home Paper of the 1999 Canadian Ethnic Journalists’ and Writers’ Club Winner for Best Editorial Toronto, Ontario
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SAGA LIVES ON
SAGA LIVES ON
Dancing To Be A Star-
33 
 
INSIDE
Ooops & Bloops
Lovely
Lovely
hubby
hubby
Nestor
Nestor
- 7
- 7 
Being
fi
shy, crabbyat Kisi Kisi
- 26 
At 39, she lost her bout against can-cer. She died on March 8.However, Tejada’s sad but tellingstory has gained notice anew in politicaldebates, most recent reports said.
Galvanizing factor
On March 9, Member of Parlia-ment Paul Calandra (Conservative, Oak Ridges-Markham) told Parliament thatTejada’s “own tragic case threw intostark relief the need to improve the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).”Calandra said Citizenship, Immigra-
(To page 4)
There is a big problem withthe Live-in Caregiver Program(LCP); and almost always, care-givers are the ones punished withremoval, work permit refusals,misrepresentation charges whileunscrupulous labor and immi-gration agents go on their merryway exploiting more unsuspect-ing caregivers and foreign work-ers who are desperate to enter,work and gain permanent resi-dency status in Canada.This, in retrospect, was thereaction of lawyer Maria DeannaSantos to a
Toronto Star 
March14 article that detailed the sadplight of Filipino caregiver Jo-elina Maluto and several othervictims of foreign labor and im-migration agency misdeeds.
TEJADAMANSIBANG
They sometimes labor for long hours. They endure lonely and depressing days in icy cold environments.They sacrifice the prime of life to fulfill a self-imposed responsibility: sending enough cash back home to thePhilippines so that their families would be decently fed, clothed and housed and their children well-schooled.Against all odds, they hope to claim permanent resident status, that which has been rightfully and morally theirsafter complying with state-imposed terms and dues with their sweat and tears. Some pay with their life.Finally, they anxiously look forward to the day when they reunite with their loved ones.Many got what they wished for. But for a number, making dreams real just had to come the hardest way.This is the saga of Filipino live-in caregivers in Canada. This is the saga of Juana Tejada and Celia Mansibang.
By BUTCH DG. GALICIA
At 46, she hangs on to dear life.Terminally ill with stomach cancer,Mansibang was earlier denied perma-nent residency (PR) under the Live-inCaregiver Program (LCP) because of her illness, which medical tests showedshe could have contracted while work-ing in Canada.Her Ontario health insurance cover-age was also canceled, even as she paidtaxes during and after her LCP days, thatstarted in 2003.However, all is not lost yet.Most recent reports gathered by the
 Manila Media Monitor
showed her casehas taken the notice of immigration andlabor officials.Todate, Mansibang is preparing tosee and have husband William and chil-dren Vincent and La Sandra by her sidein the few months doctors said she couldspare.
Granted temporary stay
In a March 5 communication toMansibang’s lawyer Maria Deanna San-tos, the Ottawa-based Citizenship andImmigration Canada Case Management(CICCM) branch said it would “issuetemporary resident permits for the fam-ily to join Ms. Mansibang in Canada.”Temporary resident visas are grantedto visitors to Canada.Santos, who is helping Mansibang
 pro bono
, earlier appealed to the of-fice of the CIC Minister and that of theCICCM Director General to expeditethe processing of Mansibang’s PR ap-plication.In the letter to Santos, CICCM ana-
JUANA TEJADACELIA MANSIBANG
(To page 5)
Maluto’s story
The
Star 
report said Maluto,44 and mother of four, claimedin court documents that she waslured to come to Canada with apromise of a caregiving job thatturned out to be non-existent,that her recruiter stripped herof her passport, that she and 16others were detained and madeto cram and sleep in a basement,and that she was forced to work illegally in menial jobs.The report said nanny re-cruiter Rakela Spivak, who runsthe Rakela Care Internationaland who denied the allegations,had since sued Maluto, claimingthe nanny owed her $3,500 inbrokerage fees.
‘DISGUSTING’ TREATMENT OF FILIPINO WORKERS
(To page 6)
Fr. Ben Ebcas - Mission Director of the Archdiocese of To-ronto Filipino Mission Center, Our Lady of the AssumptionCatholic Church on Bathurst - has sounded a plea to help Filipi-no caregiver Madonna Galinato, who contracted aneurysm andunderwent and operation on March 12.Galinato, 42, mother of four, had just arrived in Canada as acaregiver. “Unfortunately, she does not have the Ontario HealthInsurance Program coverage yet. She needs our help,” Fr. Bensaid.“In this holy season of Lent, we are called to pray, fast, andperform works of mercy. No one is too rich that he can no longerreceive and no one is to poor that he can no longer give,” Fr.Ben intoned.Fr. Ben also bared plans to form a core group of people whowould sit down and reflect on the concerns of Filipinos who arein crisis in Canada. He noted the need to strategize so issuescould be addressed.
With JULITO TIGLEY 
Plea made to help nanny
Remittances
Remittances
to drop -
to drop -
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Touring Europe - 12
Touring Europe - 12
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