Heo/Geo Lecture Series 2025-09: Chris Sorio on spatial justice among Filipino migrants in Canada

In writing about urban labor migration of Filipinos in Canada, Philip Kelly emphasized the spatiality of class in studying mobilities because "class subjectivities might be complicated by the spatiality of migration, which is an ... important feature of the global economy" (Kelly, 2012, p. 154). While scholarly materials have been written about Filipinos in Canada in relation to assimilation and identity, labor migration and transnational habitus, few have been written about migrant geographies from the perspective of a labor organiser and worker. 

For the ninth lecture for 2025 of the Heo/Geo Lecture Series of the UP Department of Geography and co-sponsored by the UP Center for International Studies (UP CIS), Chris Sorio will talk about narratives of Filipino labor migrants: his and other Filipino workers in Canada. Sorio's talk titled Radical Routes: Filipino Migrant Narratives and Spatial Justice in Canada happens on Friday, 12 September 2025 at 5:30PM Philippine Standard Time (5:30AM Eastern Standard Time) via Zoom. 

The talk is preceded by a screening of filmmaker Alfredo Ruzol's short film Recipe for Change which focused on Chris Sorio, and which was shown in Toronto in 2024. The Philippine Reporter which covered the event in Seneca Polytechnic singled out Ruzol's film, thus "[t]he documentary revisits Sorio’s harrowing experience during the Marcos Sr. dictatorship in the Philippines. At just 21 years old, Sorio was arrested and tortured by soldiers in Manila in 1982. Now living in Toronto, he continues his activism to ensure that this dark chapter of history is not forgotten."

Sorio's presentation, on the other hand, examines the lived experiences of Filipino migrants in Canada through the lens of spatial justice, drawing upon radical geography to illuminate the intersections of displacement, labour, and resistance. By foregrounding personal narratives and community histories, it explores how Filipino migrants navigate and contest the socio-spatial inequalities embedded within Canada’s immigration and labour systems. The analysis highlights the ways in which migrants transform everyday spaces—such as workplaces, community centres, and domestic environments—into sites of agency and solidarity. Through this exploration, the presentation aims to shed light on the broader implications for understanding migrant geographies and the pursuit of spatial justice in contemporary Canada.

Chris Sorio is currently the secretary general of Migrante Canada—a grassroots organization supporting temporary foreign workers and immigrants. He is currently an MA student in critical human geography at the Environmental and Urban Change of York University. Alfredo Ruzol is a filmmaker and media producer who pursues untold stories about climate justice, human rights, social issues, and peacebuilding. Recipe for Change was recently shortlisted in the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2025. 

The event is co-sponsored by the UP Diliman Department of Geography, the Center for International Studies, and the Philippine Geographical Society (PGS). The Heo/Geo Lecture Series is a monthly resource talk / lecture given by academic geographers, geography-adjacent scholars, practitioners working in geospatial industries, and partners that engaged in multiple publics, and based locally and abroad. The talk ranges from the sharing of research findings to pedagogical practices and field-based experiences. This month's Heo/Geo Lecture Series is facilitated by two research clusters at the UP Department of Geography: Human Geography (HUG) and Media, Literary Geographies, and Geohumanities (MELANGE). 

To participate in the event, click this link to register. You can also click this link: https://tinyurl.com/2t9b6b8t