16/08/2025
โ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐! ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐โ: ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ญ '๐๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฌ' ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ
TORONTO โ On August 14, 2025, Radyo Migrante, a local radio collective from VIBE 105 FM, launched their Weaving Wages workshop at Kababayan Multicultural Centre in Parkdale. Weaving Wages was an interactive workshop that wove the art of basahan (rags) making with the ongoing labor rights issues Filipinos face in Canada and the Philippines. The evening celebrated community, weaving, and the call towards the immediacy of the 1200 PHP national minimum wage in the Philippines. As participants shared, โAttaining a livable wage is important to preserve the dignity, well-being, and safety of workers. Allowing those from all walks of life access to things such as food, housing security, and the other things that make life worth living.โ
Lead facilitator, Kate Calimag โ a member of Radyo Migrante and a labor rights advocate โ interactively guided 35 participants to make a take-home basahan with accessible household materials. These materials included yarn made from retaso (upcycled fabric from t-shirts) and cardboard loom. Through storytelling, participants learned how the basahan is a common staple in Filipino households and how the tradition of weaving is deeply tied to the struggles on labor, wages, and land in the Philippines. Behind each basahan is the beautiful and historic tradition of weaving, passed down from Indigenous communities and brought into urban spaces. (2/8)
To date, the Philippines Indigenous Peoples and Filipinos living in rural communities face land dispossession, militarization of ancestral lands, high cost of living and joblessness, which push many to migrate and seek jobs in cities and abroad. Through migration, indigenous practices also migrate, making weaving practices a common way to earn wages for many urban poor communities.
According to the IBON Foundation (March 2025), 72% of the Filipino workers, including basahan-makers, are a part of the growing informal economy. Although the informal workers skillfully contribute to the Philippines economy, the Marcos Jr administration continues to ignore the widespread informality and the lack of genuine job creation.
Weaving entails labour (i.e., time, effort, and skill) to produce this type of textile product, Calimag reiterated that โIt takes about 30 or more minutes to make one basahanโ yet the maker is paid only 5 to 10 PHP; equivalent to 12 to 24 cents in Canadian dollars. That same basahan might later be sold for 50 to 100 PHP, that is ten times more than what the worker earned.โ
Migrante Canadaโs Secretary General, Chris Sorio, led the participants to reflect on the amount of time and effort it took to weave a small basahan. In response, a participant expressed that โexperiencing a slice of what it's like to be an informal worker in the Philippines. A lot of hard work/effort for very little pay.โ Sorio further compared that this type of labour meant that an average Filipino family would need to make and sell 15 rags for 8 hours to reach a livable wage of 1200 PHP.
Deeper discussions then took place where participants, like Kira Tejada of Anakbayan-North York, shared how communal art-building can support worker-led campaigns and is a way to understand the experiences Filipino workers face. โAt the Villa Colombo Homes for Aged picket with CUPE Local 5525, we met Filipino workers who worked multiple jobs, fighting for fair benefits, and caring for seniors โ all while supporting families back home. They added, โLike this Weaving Wages workshop, it wove together stories and solidarity among workers around the world, showing how art can strengthen the fight for the people.โ
The event concluded with a resounding response towards the immediate call for a national minimum wage. โWorkers deserve livable wages wherever they are! The Philippine government should implement the 1200 PHP national minimum wage now!โ #
