Canada Philippines Solidarity Organization (CPSO) and Anakbayan Toronto will lead a cultural event at Toronto’s Bar Orwell on December 8 at 7 p.m.

Toast Malone and his band, an Anakbayan cultural worker and CPSO member, will be performing at the event titled Boxcutter/Please Don’t Crash/Fin…

A $15 suggested donation at the door will go toward providing food, water, sanitation and hygiene kits, and medicine for the people of Himamaylan.

The Canadian Philippine Student Organization (CPSO) and Anakbayan Toronto are hosting the event to raise awareness about the plight of the Himamaylan people through a night of cultural celebration.

Himamaylan, a city on the island of Negros in the Philippines, was placed under military lockdown in October after its residents were falsely accused of being communists and had their livestock and means of subsistence slaughtered. The Himamaylan community was the target of military bombing, resulting in the deaths of civilians.

Himamaylan is a tranquil town nestled in a valley at the foot of a mountain rich in soil and natural resources. The locals opposed the construction of extractive industries by multinational corporations because they fear for the survival of their ecosystem and the depletion of the area’s natural resources.

Since the bombings shelled into the area, the Himamaylan people, numbering to 18,000, have been displaced and have been pleading for aid in the form of food, clean water, and medicines for their children and elderly. The government of Marcos Jr. has ignored their complaints and instead relocated the Himamaylan population using military force.

For more information and tickets, interested parties should contact Anakbayan Toronto through their official Facebook page.