VANCOUVER, Canada – The former chief of staff of Philippine president Joseph Estrada believes a united Filipino community can be a strong political force in Canada.

Aprodicio Laquian, co-author of the book “Seeking a Better Life Abroad: A Study of Filipinos in Canada”, said there are nearly half a million Filipinos living in Canada today. Of that number, 15 have been elected to public office including 2 in the province of British Columbia.

"Many of [these Filipinos] were escaping from politics back home. So they are too engrossed in raising a family, paying the mortgage on the house, getting the children educated and its very difficult for them to enter politics. Politics here is very different from politics in the Philippines,” Laquian said.

A 2006 population census earlier showed that there are 410,700 Filipinos living in Canada, making them the fourth largest minority group in the country for that year.

The census showed that most of the Filipinos in Canada (141,225) are between 25 to 44 years old. The second largest age group of Pinoys living there are between 45 to 64 years old (99,690).

Recently, the Filipino community in Vancouver held a coming-of-age party to welcome a new breed of Filipino Canadian leaders in various sectors of society.These include university professors, lawyers, hotel executives and artists, among others. Reports from Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau, Canada