Marchers bring huge spoons, forks to Canadian embassy

Activists staged Friday a protest in front of a Makati City building where the Canadian Embassy holds office to condemn the reported discrimination of Canadian school officials against a Filipino boy's eating habits. Members of Akbayan youth marched towards the embassy, located at RCBC Plaza at the corner of Ayala and Gil Puyat avenues, to urge the Canadian government to reprimand the school officials involved. A lunch program monitor of Roxboro school in Quebec, Canada reportedly admonished Filipino-Canadian boy Luc Cagadoc 10 times for eating with a spoon and fork. Cagadoc's mother, Ma. Theresa Gallardo, learned of her 12-year-old son's plight on April 11 after the boy refused to eat his dinner. He told her, "My teacher is telling me that eating with a spoon and fork is yucky and disgusting." Outraged over the incident, the protesters on Friday brought huge spoons and forks to symbolize that Filipinos are proud that they eat meals using the two utensils. Canadians use knives and forks during their meals. Last April 13, Gallardo called the school principal to express her disapproval of the school's purported policy on eating etiquette. However, she was shocked when the principal told her, "Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada, you should eat the way Canadians eat." Gallardo earlier said she was disappointed over the principal's actions because it was supposedly prejudiced and racist. She filed a formal complaint before the Commission Scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys (CSMB) to report the incident. The Philippine Embassy in Canada has already released a statement that the "reported incident was an affront to Filipino culture." Anti-racist organizations in Canada also supported Gallardo and her son. For its part, the Canadian Embassy had previously described the incident as "atypical and isolated."-GMANews.TV