Filipino priest awarded by Barcelona city council

INQUIRER.net

Barcelona awards Fr. Avelino Sapida with Premi Consell d’Immigració. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/Centro Filipino

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MANILA, Philippines—Filipino priest Fr. Avelino Del Rosario Sapida won Barcelona’s Premi Consell d’Immigració over 43 other individuals of different nationalities from different organizations, INQUIRER.net learned.

According to the Ang Bagong Filipino website, the Premi Consell d’Immigració is a recognition granted by the city council of Barcelona to individuals who have greatly contributed to the integration of migrants.

Fr. Sabida, parish priest of the Church of Filipinos in Barcelona, is a constant companion and defender of Filipinos, especially the poor, the award said. He also works for the unity of migrants and tirelessly fight for the rights of the workers together with the help of different unions.

Fr. Sabida built the Centro Filipino-Tuluyan San Benito in Barcelona, an organization that gives different services to Filipinos in Barcelona. He is also a founder of the Consell Municipal d’Immigració (municipal council for migration).

The award was given to him during the global celebration of Migrants’ Day on December 18.

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Daniel Infante Tuao, from a report by Kay Abao.

RP number 1 source of migrants to Canada

INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines tied with India and China as the number one source of temporary and permanent migrants to Canada, Canadian minister of citizenship, immigration, and multiculturalism told reporters in a press conference Friday.

Jason Kenney, who was on a brief visit to the country, said there are now 450,000 people of Filipino origin in Canada. “We continue to welcome more people from the Philippines every year,” he said.
Calling it unprecedented, he said the influx of Filipinos to Canada jumped 10-fold from over 2,000 in 2000 to almost 20,000 in 2008.

The official also pointed out that Canada is the second source of remittances from overseas Filipinos last year after the United States.

Kenney said that Canada issued permanent resident visas to more people from the Philippines than anywhere else in the world, noting a 30-percent increase in issuances of said visas from 18,370 in 2005 to almost 30,000 last year.

Every year, he said, between 15,000 and 20,000 Filipinos come to Canada as permanent residents. This is apart from the thousands who come as temporary workers or who come through Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.

Kenney said Canada recognizes that immigrants play a vital role in building the country, contributing to the economy and society. “Canada believes that immigration will play an essential role in our economic growth,” he said.

That is why, he said, Canada maintains the most ambitious immigration programs in the world, last year attracting more than half a million people, from all over the world.

“Canada now has a higher proportion of immigrants than we have had in more than 75 years,” he said.

Veronica Uy