RADYO MIGRANTE WINS 2016 J.S. Woodsworth Award for Human Rights and Equity

By Luisito Queano
Toronto-Canada
June 22, 2016



The radio show airs on Vibe 105.5 FM  every Sunday from 1PM-2PM and has been on air waves since 2007 tackling community news and issues that affect migrants rights,  human rights, social and environmental justice all linked to the Philippine situation. 

“We are offering this award to the listeners of Radyo Migrante particularly the caregivers who are migrant workers themselves and who have been fighting for their rights to permanent residency in Canada. We also offer this award to the Lumads indigenous people of Mindanao who have been fighting for their land that has become a plundering ground for multinational mining companies and has left the Lumads landless in their own ancestral land”, Petronila Cleto, Radyo Migrante Collective member said upon receiving the award.

The awards are presented  annually  to individuals and organizations from across Ontario for their outstanding contribution towards advancement of the rights of racialized people, immigrants and commitment to human rights equity and the elimination of racial discrimination.

“We thank all the RadyoMigrante volunteers for their relentless work to make sure that we have a show every Sunday”, Lesley Valiente said, Radyo Migrante volunteer-host and herself a Radyo Migrante collective member.  Members of the collective include Jesson Reyes, Mithi Esguerra, Alex Felipe, Rhea Gamana, Sarah Salisi, Luisito Queano, Marco Luciano and Rick Esguerra.

Filipino Workers Network (FWN)  chair Ben Corpuz also came to witness the awarding joined by FWN members Paulina Corpuz and Josh Cuasay.  His group was also nominated in the Group Excellence category.

Pura Velasco, a staunch Filipino advocate for migrants rights and a spokesperson with the Caregivers Action Centre, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. Velasco now lives in Alberta and was not available to receive her award.

The awards are named after J.S. Woodsworth, the first leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) who fought against racial and religious discrimination in Canada and stood up for the rights of all Canadians to right of suffrage regardless of colour, race or ethnic origin.

The recipients in the 2016 J.S. Woodsworth Awards are:

GROUP EXCELLENCE
Radyo Migrante (Toronto)
Taibu Community Health Centre (Toronto)
Across Boundaries (Toronto)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Pura Velasco (Toronto)

YOUTH LEADERSHIP
Anjum Sultana (Toronto)
Pascale Diverlus (Toronto)
Vanessa Gray (Aamjiwnaang, Sarnia)
Lindsay Gray  (Aamjiwnaang, Sarnia)

WOMAN OF EXCELLENCE
Pamela Palmater (Toronto)
Rima Berns-McGown (Toronto)
Hodan Nayaleh (Toronto)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERSHIP
Desmond Cole (Toronto)
Janet Smylie (Toronto)
Rodney Diverlus (Toronto)
Shawn Johnston (Waterloo) ‎
Gabrielle Fayant (Ottawa)
Farheen Khan (Mississauga)