by PANCIT Art Collective
Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, the National Chairperson of the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KMP / National Peasant Movement of the Philippines) spoke at the packed Land is Life forum at the University of British Columbia (UBC) last May 19, 2026. Behind Ka Daning was a tapestry showing three farmer figures planting rice seedlings in the wet rice paddy.
It was a fitting backdrop for the peasant leader, born into three generations of peasants and tenant farmers in Malolos, Bulacan. Ka Daning learned to work help out as a very young child when his father died. He became a young peasant farmer when he was a teenager and after the harvest seasons, he laboured as a farm worker to earn extra income. Ka Daning still works on the land he does not own. He was described in one Philippine newspaper interview as the “landless man fights for the landless.” Ka Daning has been a peasant leader for decades, from organizing and leading provincial and regional peasant organizations to being the current National Chairperson of the KMP, the largest peasant alliance in the Philippines.
The backdrop, a 5 ft x 5 ft tapestry titled “Balde ng Pawis/Pail of Sweat” was painted by Oms Lavin, a young Filipino community artist member of PANCIT Art Collective and organizer of Migrante BC. Born and raised in Zambales, Lavin grew up surrounded by rice fields, mountains, and rivers, loved and cared for by his grandmother since he was a year old. Lavin grew up learning the value of hard work in helping his uncles with welding, making motorcycle sidecars and helping out in the motor shop. In 2014, he joined his mother in Canada. He says, ”Life here may be different, but I carry my roots and my family’s hard work with pride.”
Ka Daning was happy to meet Oms Lavin, whose work served as an important visual prop for Ka Daning’s public event. Lavin penned a short dedication to Ka Daning on the back of his tapestry and gifted Ka Daning with his artwork. Lavin confessed he was ‘starstruck” on meeting Ka Daning but beamed with pride that his tapestry is going home to the Philippines with Ka Daning.
“Balde ng Pawis/Pail of Sweat” is Lavin’s tribute to Filipino farmers, they who do not own the lands they till. “Farmers are a big important part of our lives; the reason every Filipino family has food on the table. They deserve to be given their land to till. They are the true heroes of our homeland.”
Lavin’s tapestry was part of the Healing Colours Group Art Exhibit by PANCIT Art Collective that opened on October 24, 2025 at the Sunset Community Centre in Vancouver, BC.###
