Virginia “Jean” Guiang Cultural activism to migrant advocacy

by Levy Abad

Virginia “Jean” Guiang is an awardee of the Order of Manitoba, and the first Filipino awarded the Citation for Canadian Citizenship. (Canadian Immigrant) Jean was also awarded the Queens Jubilee Award, and she was among the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants.

Jean hails from the City of Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya in the northern part of the Philippines. Upon her arrival in Winnipeg in 1969, Jean integrated herself with the nascent Filipino community. By 1970, she was appointed as the first Cultural Director of the Philippine Association of Manitoba (PAM), during the presidency of Les Crisostomo. She also represented the community in the yearly Folklorama between 1970 to 1978.

For the benefit of newly arrived immigrants, PAM was formed from the unification of two pioneer Filipino associations of Winnipeg – the Fil Can Association founded on August 25, 1962, and the Kayumanggi Club in 1967. (Dalayoan et al.)

Later, Jean handed the responsibility of the ensemble to a new cultural director of PAM. After this, she was asked to join “the community Folk Arts Council and became the Chairperson of all Queens and Mayors of the 44 Pavilions of every Folklorama.” She then decided to go back to serving PAM as mayor of the Nayong Pilipino Pavilion and eventually as an ambassador of the Philippine Nayong Pilipino (FB Messenger). In retrospect, the community involvement of Jean shaped the cultural engagement of the Filipino community in the mainstream cultural expression of the province of Manitoba. The fruits of this process would be the milieu from which organizations like Magdaragat and the Pearl of the Orient Pavilion would blossom.

The contribution of Jean to the early years of PAM as a cultural coordinator earned her the trust of the community and PAM’s leadership. In 1988, she became the PAM president until 1991. Before becoming the President of PAM, Jean was its Vice-President. It was during this time that she went to Ottawa and learned about the Live-In Caregiver Program in 1988 while attending the National Discussion on the Plight of Filipino Domestic Workers in Canada.

“Unaware of the existence of Filipino domestic workers in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she was shocked to hear about the horrible stories of abuse, neglect, threat, exploitation, sexual harassment, and deportation etc.” (FB Messenger) Once she was back in Winnipeg, Jean committed herself to start organizing vulnerable live-in caregivers. Her election as PAM President in 1988 helped a lot in gathering and organizing Filipino domestic workers. After a couple of meetings, 33 women became regular members and by April 24, 1988, the Filipino Domestic Workers Association of Manitoba, or FIDWAM, was founded, which is still active up to this day.

According to Jean, FIDWAM was organized to deal with exploitation and abuse issues. It also lobbied for legislative changes to improve the situation of domestic workers in Manitoba and spearheaded information sessions related to domestic workers, to name a few. The formation of FIDWAM can be considered as one of the greatest achievements of PAM, aside from culture and heritage-related initiatives. In a way, PAM was instrumental in sowing the seeds of migrant activism and advocacy. Community groups like Migrante Manitoba would continue the example of compassion started by FIDWAM, advancing migrant rights and welfare, not just in Canada, but in other parts of the world.

I asked Jean, who has a degree in education, what inspired her to devote her time to culture and migrant advocacy. She said, “I was greatly motivated by a strong desire to help and serve the community in Winnipeg and at large.” As to her hobbies, she shared that she likes to read religious books, the Bible, Life of Saints, and history books on Filipino heroes and heroines, among others.

After settling in Winnipeg for about 30 years, Jean Santoro (nee Guiang) is enjoying her retirement and now resides in Ontario with her husband where she serves as a communion minister in her church.

Sources

Canadian Immigrant: https://canadianimmigrant.ca/canadas-top-25-immigrants/canadas-top-25-immigrants-2020/virginia-guiang-santoro
Gemma Dalayoan, Leah Enverga-Magsino, and Leonnie Bailon, The First Filipino Immigrants in Manitoba (1959-1975), pp. 80-81
FB Messenger interview, December 13, 2023

Levy Abad is the author of Rhythms and Resistance: Narrative of Filipino Musicians and Activists (1972-1994). He is also a singer-songwriter, poet, and migrant rights activist who has released four albums centred on the life and struggles of migrants.