Philippine Association of Manitoba revisited 1969-2015

Les Crisostomo	Cris Aglugub	Ralph Buñag	Dr. Rey Pagtakhan

by Levy Abad

Searching online for the Philippine Association of Manitoba (PAM) yielded negative results. This prompted me to start writing about PAM to have its presence online. The Philippine Association of Manitoba was the second oldest Filipino community organization in Winnipeg, founded in 1969. It was the result of the unification of the Filipino Canadian Association, mainly comprised of doctors in 1962, and the Kayumanggi Club formed in 1967. This unification process happened under the watch of Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, the founding president of PAM, who was responsible for drafting PAM’s constitution on February 28, 1970. (G. Dalayoan et al.)

The founding Board of Directors of PAM were Neil Parado, Linda Cantiveros, Joe Sulit, Arlene Simon, Rizaldo Medina, Dr. Roland Guzman, and Nap Ebora. (L. Crisostomo interview, 2014).

PAM and its garment workers’ base

Les Crisostomo became PAM’s President in 1971. In my interview with Les in 2014 at Polo Park Food Court, he fondly told me that he was responsible for incorporating the organization and coining PAM as its name. Another great achievement of Les Crisostomo as a founder was convincing the Filipino Garment Workers Association (FGWA) under the leadership of Fundador Serrano to become a part of PAM. The FGWA joining with PAM provided the mass character to the organization previously comprised of physicians, nurses, etc.

By 1972, Cris Aglugub became PAM’s president until 1978. He was later elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Maples constituency from 1999 to 2007. This period was Cris’s first term as President of PAM and was also the time when PAM sponsored a provincial conference.

Cris was succeeded by Ralph Buñag as President from 1978 to 1980. Ralph facilitated the Manila-Winnipeg sister-city initiative in 1979. The project began under the leadership of Mayor Bob Stein and was finalized during the term of Bill Norie. Resty Taruc assumed PAM’s leadership from 1981 to 1982 during the Barangay Federation of Manitoba controversy and breakaway. By 1982, Cris Aglugub would serve his second term as PAM’s President until 1985.

88 Juno Phase: 1984

It was during the second term of Cris Aglugub that a series of grant applications and fundraisers were initiated through the collective leadership of PAM to acquire an office at 88 Juno St. The project materialized in 1984.** After the second term of Cris Aglugub, Maggie Jularbal became PAM’s President in 1986, followed by Jean Guiang in 1988 who would serve until 1991. Jean was the founder of the Filipino Domestic Workers Association of Manitoba or FIDWAM, a migrant organization advancing rights and welfare. Jean’s first Vice-President was Efren Villarba and the second Vice-President was Conrado Gomez.

Towards PCCM

Efren Villarba would be PAM’s Chair in 1992. Efren served for a brief period due to personal reasons. He was the editor-in-chief of The PAM Today, the newsletter of the PAM, and the founder of Philippine Echo, Focus Magazine in 1984. John Gano, Efren’s Vice-Chair and the founding chair of BIBAK (Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc (Mountain Province), Apayao, and Kalinga), took over as PAM’s President in the latter part of 1993 to 1994. In 1993, a big protest rally was organized to address racism and discrimination. Conrado “Popoy” Gomez (PAM’s Vice-President) served as the organizer and one of the speakers. Lou Fernandez assumed PAM’s leadership from 1995 to 1996. He was succeeded by Fred Arojado as Chair in 1997, Gildred Aloro in 1998, and Lito Taruc from 1999 to 2015.

These leaders played crucial roles in organizing the community through the ups and downs and twists and turns in our community’s history. They spearheaded cultural events promoting Philippine heritage, assisted in casework for community members, advanced rights and welfare, and addressed racism and discrimination, to mention a few. PAM continued serving the community until the formation of the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba or PCCM.

Sources

• G. Dalayoan et al., The First Filipino Immigrants of Manitoba, 1959-1975 (2005)
• **Ibid.p. 86
• Cris Aglugub, Filipinos in Manitoba
• Ralph Buñag, phone interview, January 23, 2025
• Jean Guiang, FB messenger interview, December 2024
• Leilani Villarba, interviewed January 25, 2025, Garden City
• Efren Villarba, The PAM Today, June 1991 issue
• L. Abad, 1993: Spring of Resistance
• Lou Fernandez, interviewed January 13, 2025, PCCM

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.