Food fight infuriates Filipinos at home and abroad
CTV.ca
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Montreal school officials are being decried as racist and intolerant after allegedly punishing a Filipino-Canadian boy for eating his lunch with a fork and spoon rather than a knife and fork.
The story first made headlines in Canada last month, but in recent days it has garnered renewed attention globally, even sparking pro-knife-and-spoon protests in the Philippines.
The boy, seven-year-old Luc Cagadoc, was allegedly reprimanded and made to eat at a table by himself after a lunch monitor at his elementary school on Montreal's West Island noticed his table etiquette.
His mother, Maria Theresa Gallardo, claims her son had been reprimanded on numerous prior occasions for his culinary habits, which she said are typical to their country.
Headlines splashed across a number of Filipino newspapers and media sources expressed outrage at the boy's punishment, which school officials claim was based on disruptive behaviour, not eating technique.
In the Philippines this week, protesters expressed outrage and officials slammed the school board.
On Friday, activists staged a protest outside the Canadian Embassy in Manila, carrying knife- and spoon-shaped placards with slogans reading "Respect cultural diversity" and "We eat with spoons and are proud of it."
Also on Friday, the Philippines Commission on Filipinos Overseas criticized the school's decision.
The commission also said Normand Bergeron, the principal of Ecole Lalande, revealed his own ignorance of cultural diversity when he allowed the boy to be punished.
The Philippine ambassador to Canada, Jose Brillantes, emphasized how seriously the embassy was taking the allegations.
But Peter Sutherland, the Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines, played down the situation.
Gallardo, who moved to Montreal from the Philippines in 1999, said her Grade 2 son became so upset and embarrassed with the repeated criticism he was receiving at school that he no longer wanted to eat.
She told The Chronicle newspaper in Montreal that she confronted the principal, and was told: "Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.".
She couldn't believe her ears.
May 07, 2006
CTV.ca
_____
Montreal school officials are being decried as racist and intolerant after allegedly punishing a Filipino-Canadian boy for eating his lunch with a fork and spoon rather than a knife and fork.
The story first made headlines in Canada last month, but in recent days it has garnered renewed attention globally, even sparking pro-knife-and-spoon protests in the Philippines.
The boy, seven-year-old Luc Cagadoc, was allegedly reprimanded and made to eat at a table by himself after a lunch monitor at his elementary school on Montreal's West Island noticed his table etiquette.
His mother, Maria Theresa Gallardo, claims her son had been reprimanded on numerous prior occasions for his culinary habits, which she said are typical to their country.
Headlines splashed across a number of Filipino newspapers and media sources expressed outrage at the boy's punishment, which school officials claim was based on disruptive behaviour, not eating technique.
In the Philippines this week, protesters expressed outrage and officials slammed the school board.
On Friday, activists staged a protest outside the Canadian Embassy in Manila, carrying knife- and spoon-shaped placards with slogans reading "Respect cultural diversity" and "We eat with spoons and are proud of it."
Also on Friday, the Philippines Commission on Filipinos Overseas criticized the school's decision.
The commission also said Normand Bergeron, the principal of Ecole Lalande, revealed his own ignorance of cultural diversity when he allowed the boy to be punished.
The Philippine ambassador to Canada, Jose Brillantes, emphasized how seriously the embassy was taking the allegations.
But Peter Sutherland, the Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines, played down the situation.
Gallardo, who moved to Montreal from the Philippines in 1999, said her Grade 2 son became so upset and embarrassed with the repeated criticism he was receiving at school that he no longer wanted to eat.
She told The Chronicle newspaper in Montreal that she confronted the principal, and was told: "Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.".
She couldn't believe her ears.
May 07, 2006
