Filipino communities across the globe have joined hands to fundraise after two typhoons devastated the Philippines in a single week this month. In Ottawa, solidarity is running high.
“When I saw the reels with people up on the roof … begging for rescues, it really broke my heart,” said Michelle Sartzetakis, founder of Sweet Puspin, a Filipino dessert shop in the ByWard Market.
Just days after the typhoons, Sartzetakis announced that all proceeds from Sweet Puspin’s jelly sago desserts would go to Typhoon Tino relief in Cebu. She said she had her own family in mind, who were impacted by Typhoon Pablo in 2012.
“Most of my family’s homes were destroyed … We didn’t hear from them for four days,” she said. “The Filipino community here actually gathered together and raised money.”
Typhoon Kalmaegi, known locally in the Philippines as Typhoon Tino, left at least 232 people dead in early November. Days later, Super Typhoon Fung-wong killed at least 10 people and displaced 1.4 million.
Fung-wong, whose radius was almost the size of the Philippines itself, was the 21st storm to hit the country this year.
Remembering Ottawa’s generosity, Sartzetakis said she felt compelled to help with Tino relief efforts.
“It was time for me to give back.”
More recently, Sweet Puspin started selling stuffed pandesal, a Filipino bread roll, with proceeds also going to typhoon relief funds. They were donated by Busog Buns, another local Filipino business.
“As Filipinos, we’re very community oriented. We go lengths just to be there for each other.”
“It touches on the basic, fundamental value of what it’s like to be Filipino, which is helping one another,” she said.
Canlas said they have been working with the University of Ottawa’s Filipino Students’ Association to support people affected by the typhoons. The two associations have been sharing fundraising resources to empower students to help however they can.
“Adversities are much easier to navigate when you’re with a bigger group,” she said. “People can empathize with you, because you’re in the same boat.”
Canlas said the recent tragedy is the “biggest talk” within their club right now.
“It’s frustrating to see the aftermath,” Canlas said. “But at the same time, Filipinos are very resilient.”
Zuha Zubair, a member of Migrante Ottawa, recently travelled to the Philippines along with two other Ottawa-based activists for the International Solidarity Mission and the Asia Pacific People’s Conference Against Climate Imperialism and Militarism.
“Even though things are really bad and really urgent on the ground, they’re still being resilient,” Zubair said.
Most of the mission was spent in the Eastern Visayas region, where activists visited communities who were hit by Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
Zubair said the experience shed light on how people in marginalized communities are disproportionately impacted by natural disasters.
“We visited a lot of food insecure communities, communities with no jobs as a result of the environmental destruction,” Zubair said. “People basically have to fend for themselves.”
Zubair said Filipinos living overseas play an important role in demanding change.
“Even though we’re far away, it doesn’t mean that we’re not part of the Philippines,” she said. “We still have a voice and a say in how things are back home.”
Denie Espina, a research assistant for Carleton’s Disaster Lab said religion helps preserve unity, especially amongst Filipino immigrants.
“I think that’s what makes us so connected to our families in the Philippines even during hardships. That’s the hub where we gather,” Espina said.
“As soon as they find that Filipino diaspora wherever they are in Canada … They don’t feel as lost,” she said.
Espina added it’s important to have a secure connection to the community.
“It’s just a way of not detaching from our identities as Filipinos,” Espina said. “We can still help out even across oceans.”
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Featured image by Iya Mendoza/the Charlatan.
