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On the 7^th death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion: Thousands of Filipino OCWs to Rally vs. U.S. Troops

Thousands of Filipino overseas workers commemorate the seventh death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion – one of their own and a victim of human rights abuse in Singapore – through protest actions in five capital cities and other sites throughout the world, this time to call for the immediate pull-out of U.S. troops in the Philippines. The demand is being made even as initial reports reveal signs of women sex-trafficking where young Filipinas serve as ‘modern-day comfort women’ for the American forces.

BY BULATLAT.COM

On the seventh death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion, thousands of Filipino migrant workers will march on the streets of five cities and others sites in four continents throughout the world. The protest marches, to be held March 17, will be launched in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Montreal, Sidney, Rome and other capital cities to demand the immediate pull-out of U.S. troops in the Philippines.

At least 660 U.S. armed troops including Special Forces are in the Philippines for war exercises jointly with Filipino soldiers. A 160-man contingent is conducting pursuit operations in Basilan alongside the Philippine armed forces against the Abu Sayyaf bandit group said to have links with al-Qaeda.

U.S. military authorities are planning to send in more troops in southern Philippines supposedly to conduct “civic action.”

The coordinated mass actions, said Maita Santiago, spokesperson of the Network Overseas Opposed to U.S. Troops (NO U.S. TROOPS!), will be held on the death anniversary of Contemplacion, a Filipino domestic who was hanged by Singapore authorities on trumped-up charges of homicide.

“Historically, this is a day when we showed the world our capacity to mobilize and unite around an urgent issue,” Santiago, who is also with Migrante International, said. “Then, it was for a migrant worker unjustly hanged, today it’s because the integrity of our nation and the dignity of our people are endangered.”

NO U.S. TROOPS! is a broad coalition of individuals and organizations united in their opposition to Balikatan 02-1 and the continued presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines. The coalition was launched last week with a press conference in Quezon City.

Present at the press conference launching were Sam Santiago from Kalipunan ng Migranteng Pilipino at Pamilya; Terry Gale of Pinay in Montreal, Canada; and Ramon Bultron of the Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants based in Hong Kong.

Protest participants

Under the umbrella of the NO U.S. TROOPS! coalition, the protest activities in various countries will include rallies, forums and other actions. Expected to take part in the global protests are Kalipunan ng Migranteng Pilipino at Pamilya and Kabataan ng Migrante para sa Bayan in the Philippines; Centre for Philippine Concerns and Pinay in Canada; the Philip Vera Cruz Justice Project in the United States; KAFIN in Japan; MIGRANTE-Australia in Australia; UNIFIL in Hong Kong; and Umangat-Rome in Italy. MIGRANTE International and its other members in different regions will also participate in the coming protest.

In its launching statement, NO U.S. TROOPS! said the U.S. military deployment in southern Philippines “is actually a combat operation that will have disastrous effects on the Filipino people and their sovereignty.”The American forces are in the Philippines “to serve the geo-political and military interests of the United States particularly in Southeast Asia,” it added.

The coalition also recalled that in several decades when the United States was operating large air and naval facilities in the Philippines, the rate of prostitution in the country went up. Meanwhile, she said, the disastrous effects of toxic waste abandoned in U.S. military bases are yet to be mitigated through clean-up and compensation to thousands of victims of toxic contamination.

Prostitution

The coalition spokesperson also disputed the claim of Macapagal-Arroyo that U.S. troops in the Philippines are prohibited from using the services of Filipino hospitality girls. She said that the president is trying to cover up for the Americans given the undisputed fact that wherever there are U.S. forces prostitution also thrives.

“For Filipino women, there is a direct link between heightened US military presence and prostitution and sex-trafficking,” Santiago said. “Even overseas, we know that Filipino women are being sex-trafficked into South Korea and Japan for the U.S. troops stationed there.”

Close to where U.S. military bases are in Asia, she said, there are around 3,000 Filipino women being prostituted in entertainment bars. “In these clubs, the women wear either two-piece outfits or nothing at all and if the customer wishes, they can also ‘take the women out’ for the night,” said Santiago.

Many Filipino migrant sex workers are recruited and sent to South Korea using the E6 visa. In 1994, there were 250 who were sent to that country with an E6 visa and in 1997, there were 1,365.

During the same period, a survey by the Saewoomtuh or Sprouting Land Center for Prostituted Women in Seoul showed that almost 85 percent of all entertainers in the country are Filipina. Along with Filipinas, there are also increasing number of Russian and Kazakstan women working in the bars.

“Historically, our experience with the U.S. or other foreign military troops proves that repeatedly, Filipino women are used as their ‘comfort women’. In South Korea, we see it happening and even now in Mindanao, there are reports of Filipino women being trafficked into areas where the US troops are stationed,” Santiago said. Bulatlat.com

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