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Tag: Philippines

Jews support Filipinos

Solidarity with and support for Vancouver’s Filipino community have suffused Jewish community events since the tragic deaths at the Lapu Lapu Day Festival in Vancouver April 26.

Eleven people were killed and many more injured, several critically, after a car rammed through crowds at the outdoor festival, which commemorates the historic victory of Datu Lapu Lapu over the Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan, on April 27, 1521.

Lapu Lapu is celebrated as the first Filipino hero who resisted foreign colonization and the Battle of Mactan marked the first recorded instance of indigenous resistance against European colonizers in the Pacific island archipelago.

A fund has been created by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver to support affected families and Federation has seconded three staff members to assist the Filipino community with logistical and other supports. Jewish clergy and other leaders, including Jewish Family Services, have been on the scene with support. Vancouver Talmud Torah, Vancouver Hebrew Academy, Richmond Jewish Day School and King David High School have organized a group blood donation campaign. Synagogues have held services.

“This has been an incredibly tough week for our friends in the Filipino community,” Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, said at the Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) ceremony April 30. 

photo - Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, which has created a fund to support affected families
Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, which has created a fund to support affected families. (photo from Jewish Federation)

He spoke of the many close personal connections between members of the Filipino and Jewish communities.

“We have come together to support our Filipino community from day one and we will continue to do that as long as it takes to ensure that they are secure, safe and thriving,” he said.

The night before, at the Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Remembrance Day) ceremony, Geoffrey Druker also spoke of the tragedy.

“We send our sympathies and condolences to the individuals, families and the Filipino community who suffered horrific losses and pain this past weekend,” he said.

Rabbi Philip Bregman, who is engaged in multicultural and interfaith dialogue, told the Independent that he was among many Jews at several Filipino vigils and solidarity events recently.

“I’m here in support and solidarity for this tragedy,” he told them, “but you’ve got to know how important you are to the centrality of the Jewish community.”

Bregman noted that members of the Filipino community hold crucial roles in the Jewish community. He gave as examples the operational support Filipino community members provide to synagogues, as workers at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital, the Weinberg Residence, as individuals caring for the youngest and eldest in the Jewish community. He added that tens of thousands of Filipino foreign workers in Israel provide support to Jews there, especially the elderly.

Funds raised by the Jewish community and others will assist in the vast challenges facing the Filipino community individually and collectively. There are funeral expenses to be covered, Bregman said, including for those families who are sending their lost loved ones for burial in the Philippines. Many of the deceased were the family’s primary breadwinners and many of the injured will experience damaging loss of income. There will be ongoing rehabilitation and other expenses. 

Donations are welcomed at jewishvancouver.com. 

Posted on May 9, 2025May 8, 2025Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags car-ramming, Ezra Shanken, Filipino community, Lapu Lapu Day Festival, mental health, Philip Bregman, Philippines
1,300 survivors found refuge

1,300 survivors found refuge

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27, B’nai Brith International (BBI) honoured former Philippine leader Manuel L. Quezon with a special panel discussion at the United Nations in New York City. BBI chief executive officer Dan Mariaschin is fifth from the right. (photo from BBI)

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27, B’nai Brith International (BBI) honoured a former Philippine leader at the United Nations building in New York, for having saved Jews during the Holocaust.

At a time when the Philippines was still under American sovereignty, the appointed Philippine president, Manuel L. Quezon, invited and welcomed 1,300 refugee Jews who were fleeing Nazi persecution.

Quezon, who was born in 1878 and died in 1944, was a statesman, soldier and politician. He served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944.

According to Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin, the reason why Quezon chose to help when many other world leaders refused to do so, is that he acted in the tradition of “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

Not only did Quezon welcome as many Jews as he could get visas for, he also offered them his private land to grow food and develop a kibbutz.

“I think it’s a case of, there are individuals who, I’m a firm believer in this, whose moment comes at the most opportune time,” said Daniel S. Mariaschin, BBI chief executive officer. “In the case of Manuel Quezon, I think he was a good-hearted individual. There was nothing in this for him.

“He really was a compassionate person who heard this story, thousands and thousands of miles away, and was moved to act. And now we are finding out, as more becomes known, that he was willing to save many, many more … and was, unfortunately, not able to do so. I think he stands very high … as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, who acted to save Jews.”

At that time, from 1937 to 1941, as news reports were revealing Hitler’s plans, Quezon secured the necessary visas from the American visa office for a Jewish-American family by the name of Frieder, who manufactured cigars in Manila.

Photo - Former Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon invited and welcomed 1,300 refugee Jews who were fleeing Nazi persecution
Former Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon invited and welcomed 1,300 refugee Jews who were fleeing Nazi persecution. (photo from U.S. Library of Congress LC-USW33-019075-C)

“I think the family, together with the president, were able to get word out, they were able to get those visas … although, again, unfortunately, when he wanted to save more, the ability to get more visas was just not available to him,” said Mariaschin.

Years later, the Philippines was the only Asian nation to vote for the Partition Plan in 1947, to form the state of Israel in 1948, which continued to pave the way for the positive relations Israel has with the Philippines to this day. In 2009, in Rishon Lezion, a monument was erected to honour Quezon.

The BBI event in January was well-attended and included remarks from Locsin, Mariaschin, historian Bonnie Harris, and Hank Hendrickson, who is the executive director of the U.S.-Philippines Society and a refugee who was personally saved by Quezon.

In between the various speakers, director Noel (Sunny) Izon, who made the documentary about Quezon called An Open Door: Holocaust Haven in the Philippines, shared a clip from the film. According to Izon, some 11,000 descendants of the refugees Quezon saved owe their life to him and Izon is one of them. He explained that one of the refugees Quezon saved was a doctor who saved his father’s life soon after arriving in Manila.

Another highlight of the January event was having refugee Ralph Preiss present. Preiss had been saved by Quezon, and shared his experience with attendees.

While no one from Quezon’s immediate family attended, nearly half the attendees were of Filipino descent who now live in New York.

Mariaschin said, while the event was in recognition of Quezon, it was, by extension, “in recognition of the Philippines.”

“The books, the films, the documentaries and the stories will live on from this point, forever,” said Mariaschin about other recent recognitions of Quezon’s actions. “That’s the best tribute you can have, that, rather than have this be just considered a footnote of history, it’s now becoming an important piece of the story … of the courageousness, the humanitarian impulses, of a relatively few individuals.”

According to Mariaschin, Quezon is on equal standing with the handful of other leaders who had a hand in saving Jews during the Second World War, and he said we need to continue highlighting their stories before we lose our few remaining survivors.

“I think we have to do this while there are still survivors who are living,” said Mariaschin. “Unfortunately, the clock is running down on that. In the lifetimes of those people who they saved, it’s extremely important that we say thank you.

“And we were fortunate, as I said, to have one refugee at our program, to have them say thank you and to talk about their story. It’s something that really we need to do every year now and in between, in order to memorialize those who saved Jews.”

Five years ago, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation posthumously bestowed Quezon with the Wallenberg Medal, which also acknowledged the Philippines as a whole for having saved Jews during the Holocaust. In Winnipeg, the local B’nai Brith branch is working to organize an event, together with the Winnipeg Filipino community, to honour the former president.

To view the video of the BBI event in New York, visit webtv.un.org and do a search for “Safe Haven: Jewish Refugees in the Philippines – Panel Discussion.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Format ImagePosted on April 3, 2020April 5, 2020Author Rebeca KuropatwaCategories WorldTags B'nai B'rith, Daniel S. Mariaschin, Holocaust, Manuel L. Quezon, Philippines, Teodoro Locsin, UN, United Nations
הפסידה בתביעה

הפסידה בתביעה

אישה שזכתה בעבר בלוטו הפסידה במשפט נגד חברתה שלא החזירה לה הלוואה, ונהנתה מעליית מחירי הנדל”ן בוונקובר. (צילום: lotto.bclc.com)

תושבת ונקובר שהרוויחה בהגרלת הלוטו 6/49 שהתקיימה בחודש ינואר 2007 למעלה מארבעה מיליון דולר, הפסידה בתביעה שנדונה בית המשפט נגד חברתה הטובה, שסירבה להחזיר לה הלוואה בגובה ששת מאות אלף דולר.

אנון רוסאס ילידת הפילפינים, הסכימה לעזור לחברתה הטובה איסבל טוקה, שגם היא מהפילפינים, לאחר שזכתה בהגרלה הגדולה. שתי הנשים הכירו בבית ספר בקנדה בשנת 2004. רוסאס העניקה לטוקה הלוואה בגובה ששת מאות אלף דולר, ובנוסף נתנה לה שלושים אלף דולר כמתנה. כל זאת כדי לעזור לה ברכישת בית במזרח ונקובר. טוקה הבטיחה להחזיר את שש מאות אלף דולר לרוסאס כעבור שנה, אם כי היא לא קבעה בתאריך המדוייק. לאור ההיכרות העמוקה והאמון ההדדי בין הצדדים שום מסמך לא נחתם בין שתי החברות מהפיליפינים.

בתום השנה הראשונה טוקה לא החזירה את הכסף לרוסאס אך היא הבטיחה לעשות זאת כעבור שנה. וכך מדי שנה טוקה עמדה בסירובה להחזיר את הכסף ושוב חזרה והבטיחה להחזירו בשנה שלאחר מכן. לרוסאס נמאס לבסוף מהסחבת הארוכה של טוקה, שדחתה את בקשתה להחזיר את השש מאות אלף דולר מדי שנה בשנה. בחודש יולי 2014 הגישה רוסאס תביעה נגד טוקה לבית המשפט העליון של מחוז בריטיש קולומביה. בכתב ההגנה טענה טוקה כי רוסאס העניקה לה את השש מאות אלף דולר במתנה, ולכן יש מקום לדחות את התביעה. בית המשפט דחה לבסוף את התביעה של רוסאס בטענה שלא נחתם הסכם בין הצדדים עם תנאים מפורטים, והיא לא יכלה להוכיח כי נתנה את הכסף לטוקה כהלוואה. בית המשפט ציין עוד כי ממילא רוסאס יכלה להגיש את התביעה נגד טוקה (במסגרת הדין האזרחי) לא יאוחר בתום שבע שנים, מיום ביצוע העברת הכסף בין השתיים, דהיינו עד ינואר 2014. אך התובעת הגישה את תביעה באיחור של חצי שנה (כאמור בחודש יולי) ולכן נסגר בפניה חלון ההזדמנויות להגיש את התביעה. רוסאס הפסידה כידוע במשפט וכן גם את חברתה הטובה טוקה. ואילו טוקה אמנם הפסידה את חברתה הטובה רוסאס, אך היא הרוויחה מעליית מחירי הנדל”ן בוונקובר והבית שהיא רכשה בששת מאות ושלושים אלף דולר, שווה כיום כמליון וחצי דולר.

תאי שינה בספרייה: ואיזה מסכנים הסטודנטים שלומדים עכשיו בחוץ

סטודנטים כידוע לומדים שעות ארוכות ביום ובלילה וקורה לא מעט, שהם תופסים תנומה קלה בשיעורים ובעיקר נרדמים בספריות. לאור זאת החליטה הנהלת המכון לטכנולוגיה של בריטיש קולומביה (בי.סי.אי.טי) להציב שני תאי שינה בספרייה שאחד’ מהקמפוסים שלה (שנמצא בברנבי). אם הניסוי יצליח יוצבו תאי שינה נוספים בחלקים אחרים של הקמפוס.

תאי השינה עשויים מפלסתיק מעוגל ומזכירים קפסולות גדולות שלקוחות מסרטים בדיוניים. בתאים הפשוטים כיביכול מותקנים: דלת שננעלת מבפנים, מזרון נוח ותאורה. הסטודנטים יכולים לנוח בתא עד עשרים דקות כדי שיוכלו להתאושש ולחזור ללמוד במלוא המרץ. עלות רכישת תא שינה מוערכת בכאלף ומאה דולר, והמימון מגיע ממכירת משקאות ודברי מאכל במכונות האוטומטיות שבקמפוס.

תגובת הסטודנטים חיובית. אחד מהסטודנטים אף הרחיק לכת וציין בדף הפייסבוק שלו, כי אפשר אפילו לעשות סקס בתאים בעשרים הדקות. תגובת הנהלת המכון לא איחרה לבוא: “תאי השינה נמצאים בפיקוח מצלמות כל הזמן והם ממוקמים קרוב לדלפק הצוות בספרייה. בכל מקרה התאים צרים מדי מלהכיל שני אנשים”.

Format ImagePosted on October 10, 2016October 10, 2016Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags BCIT, lawsuit, libraries, lottery, Philippines, Rosas, sleeping pods, Vancouver, בי.סי.אי.טי, בספריות, בתביעה, ונקובר, לוטו, פילפינים, רוסאס, תאי השינה
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