Fundador Serrano Founding chair of the Filipino Garments Workers’ Association

	Fundador Serrano
	Philippine Garment Workers Association’s 25th anniversary reunion in 1993

by Levy Abad

A question often asked in conversations is, “Who started gathering the Filipino garment workers of Winnipeg in the late 60s?” The name of Fundador Serrano comes to mind. Known in the community by his moniker “Fundie,” he organized the garment workers in the late 60s, specifically in 1969 and became its founding chair (Les Crisostomo, PAM’s second president’s interview in 2014).

Armand Tesoro recalls that it was in late 1968 that the Filipino Garments Workers’ Association (FGWA) was informally formed and Fundie had May Quoque as secretary and Baby Briones as treasurer (The First Filipino Immigrants in Manitoba, Dalayoan, Enverga-Magsino and Bailon, p. 81). When Les Crisostomo ran as PAM’s president, he was supported by most of the Filipino Garment Workers under Fundie Serrano. In the election of Les Crisostomo, Fundie became the first vice president, and Lino (Butch) Hermano as the second vice president. This was the beginning of the mobilization of Filipino garment workers for community empowerment in Winnipeg. In the 70s, garment workers numbered fewer than 2000. At present, there are 100,000 Filipinos across the province (Hon. Malaya Marcelino’s speech, June 2025).

Armand Tesoro, the second president of FGWA, affirmed that Fundie was the first president of the group, at a time when garment workers numbered 1,211 in 1972 (Philippine Garment Workers celebrate 45 years in Winnipeg, CTV News (online), August 18, 2013).

When I visited Dr. Rey Pagtakhan for an interview, he showed me a souvenir program of the first Philippine Association of Manitoba (PAM) election in 1970. In the list of the board of representatives, Fundie Serrano’s name was mentioned. The Filipino Garment Workers Association constitutes the working-class base of the unification of community organizations, spearheaded by Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, that culminated in the formation of the PAM.

On September 19, 2025, the Minister of Labour and Immigration, Malaya Marcelino, organized a tribute, Filipino Garment Workers’ Proclamation and Recognition, for the significant role of Filipino migrants in the Province of Manitoba. The tribute was coupled with a resolution declaring September 19 as the Filipino Garment Workers’ Day in Manitoba. This event prompted me to write this article as a tribute to Fundador Serrano and Armand Tesoro, who both played a leading role in the empowerment of Filipino garment workers in Winnipeg.

In an article written by Jon Malek titled “The Special Manitoba Garment Workers Scheme,” he explains how the first batch of garment workers arrived in Winnipeg on October 1, 1968, and that by 1969, they organized and had Fundie Serrano as their president. The emigration of garment workers to Manitoba paints a sad picture of garment workers and other workers who had to leave the Philippines in search of better opportunities abroad, rooted in the neocolonial state of the old country. It was also a dark moment in the country’s history when the late Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, which lasted for 14 years, crushing the people’s longing for integral liberation (economic and political freedom, etc.).

In my research on the Filipino labour leaders of Winnipeg from 1968 to 1998, I have always encountered the name of Fundador Serrano in the early attempts of our community to organize. Still, I have never found his picture in the archive. It was only in February 1976 that the Silangannewspaper started covering the community. Fortunately, Teodoro Alcuitas, the founder of Silangan newspaper, met Fundie Serrano in a mall in Vancouver, where the latter granted an interview and had his picture taken. I am grateful to Mano Ted Alcuitas for sending me Fundie’s picture. Armand Tesoro also gave me a 1968-69 picture of a Garment Workers’ gathering, where Fundie was present. Ted added that it was around the late 90s when Fundie left Winnipeg.

As a researcher on the history of the Filipino community of Winnipeg, one cannot ignore the contribution of Fundador Serrano in organizing the FGWA in 1968-69. Summing up what Ted Alcuitas shared with me, Fundie was a hardworking organizer who empowered newly arrived Filipino garment workers in confronting issues like discrimination and exploitation back in 1968 to the 80s. Furthermore, since Fundie was also part of the needle trades, he, together with most garment workers, confronted class-based discrimination from the earlier batch of professionals. Fundie is also known in the community as “gay.” This is also one of the obstacles he faced in the community. Despite the challenges and issues thrown at him, Fundie never stopped gathering and organizing the Filipino garment workers of Winnipeg.