The other side of a fighter: The Flor Marcelino Story

How does a fighter look like? Must he appear with toned muscles or a figure that is lean, resulting from weeks of work-out and discipline? Must he possess a mastery of weaponry that could kill and scare off an enemy? Is it a requirement to undergo training and be a champion in the ring? Or could it simply consist of a smile on a woman with a position, who has battled everything that life has thrown in her direction?

A Recipient of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2017, former Interim Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Flor Marcelino shared a piece of her life that she fought for in various situations.

Early battles

For Flor, who grew up in poverty, one of the fiercest encounters that life threw at her was when she was a 10-year-old. Born in Manila, Flor faced far bigger problems which made her a fighter at such an age.

“We were very poor, but we were happy.”

Of faint memories of her childhood, she remembered her father as a kind and gentle man who would sing songs and share self-made poetry with them. However, at such a young age, her biggest inspiration was taken away from their family by a heart attack when he was 48. It was a huge blow for her as a daughter, but a bigger one to her mother and five siblings.

Losing the breadwinner for a family feeding seven stomachs is another addition to the emotional damage of her father’s passing. But to grant his last words of wishing a good education for his sons and daughters, Flor’s mother was forced to send her siblings to different orphanages in the country to ensure that they could be provided with good food and education.

Flor confessed that with the happenings in her life, it was so easy to just surrender and succumb to the negative aspect of living especially in an environment of crime, vices, and gangs. She added that she also experienced physical and sexual abuse then.

“If I make a mess of my life, what would my father think of me?”

The death of her father may have placed their family in a situation that had to separate them from one another but it was through his teachings and legacy of faith that kept her broken pieces together.

“Together, my mother and I worked very hard so that we could get my brothers and sisters back from the orphanages.”

The determined Flor was able to get scholarship grants and had to work early to be able to go to a university. Her main goal then was to get her siblings back in her and her mother’s arms and she believed that graduating in a university is one of the keys to a good job. Her hardships paid off as she graduated cum laude in Luzonian University with a Bachelor of Arts Major in English in 1971, and was a Candidate for MA in Communication Research at the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Mass Communications in 1979.

New grounds

Her victories in her early battles made her a tough fighter, but with the hands of time moving forward, the now-married Flor decided to leave the country to venture to a different land.

“My husband, Orli Marcelino and I moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1982 and have called Manitoba home ever since.”

Just like other immigrants, the couple’s challenge was to put food on the table. Not to mention, they also had five children. But there was more to it as Flor also admitted that at that time, there was already a struggle in landing on jobs that were related to one’s education, especially for immigrants.

“Some employers and co-workers doubted our capability to excel at work and for children of immigrants to excel in school.”

Her husband whom she met at their workplace back in the Philippines, was an activist from UP during the First Quarter Storm. Despite earning a college degree from a prestigious university in the Philippines, Orli had to take menial jobs like working as a security guard and dishwasher. She said that she was lucky enough to be employed in an office administrative job at Red River College for 19 years.

“In due time, the Filipino population became known for hard work and dedication to their job and for children of immigrants to be duly recognized for their academic achievements. As a result, workers referring newly-arrived family or friends to their workplaces did not find it hard to obtain employment for newcomers.”

In the late 80s, Flor’s education experience helped her in owning a small business as she became the owner and editor of the Philippine Times, a community newspaper that tackled human rights abuses and corruptions in the Philippines.

“It was helpful as publisher/editor despite the huge challenge and sacrifice of doing it while holding a full-time day job and being a full-time mother of five children.”

In spite of all the struggles at work and in their new home, the couple decided to instill their sense of being Filipinos in their family.
All their children are baptized with Filipino names which are Malaya, Diwa, Mayon, Awit, and Lualhati.

At the same time, Flor revealed that they still speak Tagalog at home, though it was a bit difficult as the influence of schooling and friends were “overpowering.”

Miraculous comeback

Even fighters fall down in their battles, and as tough as Flor was carved by her past experiences and by conquering the challenges in the new grounds, it seemed that life had more for her to fight for.

Flor was diagnosed with meningioma – a brain tumor with the size of a clenched fist.

An operation was necessary to remove it. However, the doctors already warned her that she may lose her sight and/or mobility after the surgery, but at the same time, it could cost her life.

For a year, she was on disability, but the great news was that she was alive and this experience transformed her and made her stronger.

“After having faced death straight in the face when I was to undergo brain surgery in 2002, I have decided that whatever good deed I can do or must be done, I should do it right away while I have the time and opportunity to do it.”

While Flor faced different struggles even in her younger years, it was this experience that really made her realize how short life is.

“I went ahead with life decisions, as well as decisions at work, mindful of the need to do the things that I believe are helpful, worthy, and right while I have the time to do it.”

She said that even her husband and children noticed how she changed.
Flor was braver and stronger and at this point in her life, she knew that she did not fear anything anymore.

Changed battle plan

Fighters and survivors live by planning what their future would be. With a stronger Flor getting a miraculous comeback, it seemed that life was actually preparing her for an adventure she never expected to take – politics.

“I have never intended to be a politician.”

In 2007, she was already retired from her day job and she was focused on managing her small business when the chief of staff of the Premier of Manitoba and well-known party members asked her to run for their party.

At first, Flor refused the offer as she did not have the financial capabilities especially with the election campaign already on its second week then. She was also honest in admitting that she did not know much in the political world of Manitoba then. Her only partisan political work was volunteer phone canvasser during election campaigns.

While she was active in her advocacy on human rights, in the community and the church, and had experiences in housing projects in her previous work in the Philippines, she did not dream of becoming a politician.

However, the party was in dire need of a credible candidate. She gave her ‘yes’ but still asked her family and her church minister for their opinion. The church minister reminded her of her integrity, which prompted her to accept this new challenge.

“The rest was history – first Female of ethnic descent to be elected in the Manitoba Legislature, the first member of an ethnic community to be given a cabinet position, and the first female of Philippine-descent to be elected in a Canadian parliament/legislature.”

Flor was re-elected in 2011 and in 2016. Between 2009 and 2016, she served as the Minister for Culture, Heritage, and Tourism, and the Minister for Multiculturism and Literacy.

She served as an Interim Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition from May 2016 to September 2017.

“Before I set out to campaign on day one, I already knew in my heart that if elected, I will work hard to be a role model for my community in whatever capacity possible.”

A survivor of battles

A change in battle plan brought Flor’s life to new heights, and now that she has achieved things more than what her 10-year-old self could ever imagine. Here is her word:

“For anyone with the heart to serve their communities, aspire to be a politician. Be actively engaged in a political party of your choice—values and principles resonate with yours. Be prepared to take criticisms, some warranted some not. So long as at the end of the day or night, you can honestly and humbly tell yourself you tried to do your best, whatever is the result of your efforts—successful or not—you can live with it.”

Now a grandmother to five grandsons, when the time comes for Flor to leave the public life, she still wishes to impart things to the community.

Perhaps this is still rooted from her father’s influence of living a life of honesty. She said that though he did not leave any material wealth for them, it was through his way of life that continued to inspire her and be who she is up to this day.

“My life after politics would revolve around church and community work, with ample time for grandchildren and making sure they will remember me for my love, for the sacrifice I did to keep the family together, and how I strove to work to the best of my ability the assigned tasks for me.”

Flor Marcelino, with all the ups and downs, the detours, the new things she has discovered, and the small to great challenges she encounters and is still encountering right now, embodies what it is like to be a fighter.