MIGRANT WATCH

Migrant Group Turns 10
Int’l protests staged in support of jailed pro-migrant solon

“Ang paglaya ni Ka Bel ay nagbibigay katarungan din sa mga OFWs na pinabayaan ng gobyerno,” (Freedom for Ka Bel gives justice to OFWs who are neglected by the government.) Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante International chair told Bulatlat as they celebrated the organization’s 10^th year anniversary by launching an international campaign for Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Rep. Crispin Beltran’s release.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat

Migrant workers protested the detention of a migrants’ rights advocate in Congress, Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) party-list Rep. Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran, as they also commemorated the death anniversary of Filipina domestic helper hanged in Singapore.

Eleven years ago, on March 17, Filipina domestic helper Flor Contemplacion was hanged by Singaporean authorities on charges of double murder.  This same day also marks the founding anniversary of the migrant workers’ group Migrante, which was formed a year after Contemplacion’s death. 

This year, Migrante spent the day in local and internationally-coordinated protests calling for the release of Beltran who has been regarded as the migrant workers’ envoy in the Congress.  Beltran was arrested Feb. 25, a day after Presidential Proclamation 1017 was issued placing the country under a state of national emergency.

With Beltran’s detention, Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante International chair said they fear that the pro-migrant resolutions at the House of Representatives might be neglected.

Migrante’s birth

Contemplacion’s death 11 years ago sparked protests in and out of the country. Realizing that Contemplacion’s case was not isolated, and that many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were in even worse situation, Filipino migrants themselves and their families formed the Migrante International, a global alliance of OFW groups and their families.

Bragas-Regalado said that this alliance was envisioned to “protect the migrant Filipinos abandoned by the (Philippine) government.”

With its creation, migrant workers are now reaping the gains in their struggle.

Bragas-Regalado said the release of Angelo dela Cruz and Roberto Tarongoy both held hostage in Iraq, and Angelito Nayan seized by Muslim rebels in Afghanistan were some of the successful campaigns.

Aside from this, she said that the migrants’ right to vote was finally recognized with the passage of the Overseas Absentee Voting law in 2003.

The migrant workers’ political alliance was even widened with the formation of the Migrante Sectoral Party (MSP). The MSP was able to create migrant workers’ formations in various provinces in the country and across the globe.

Although they were not able to send a representative to the Congress under the MSP, Bragas-Regalado said they found a staunch migrant workers’ envoy with Beltran.

Beltran was arrested on Feb. 25 on rebellion charges filed in 1985 at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. Charges of inciting to sedition and a rebellion were filed anew against Beltran at the Quezon City and Makati Regional Trial Courts.  The Quezon City RTC ordered his release on March 13, ruling in favor of his petition for parliamentary immunity in the sedition case. The Philippine National Police however refused to honor the decision unless the Makati RTC will also order his release.

Romeo Capulong, Beltran’s lead counsel, however said the charges were only fabricated.

Protests for a migrant’s advocate

Beltran represents the workers and peasant sectors under the Anakpawis Partylist at the Lower House. But he also advances the welfare of the migrants as a big chunk of the labor force, said Bragas-Regalado. 

With Beltran serving as the vice-chair of the House’s special Committee of Overseas Workers Affairs, the migrant leader said they have found another voice that will speak for them.  Beltran has been the proponent of about 20 pro-migrant resolutions at the Lower House, she said.

It was a resolution filed by Beltran in Congress that stopped the collection of the terminal fee at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.  Another Beltran resolution ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs to give regular updates to the Lower House on the condition of OFWs.

To show their support to Beltran who has been in detention for 21 days now, Migrante International members in Austria, United States, Canada, Italy, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan staged internationally-coordinated protests on March 17.  In Manila, Migrante set up a photo exhibit at the Plaza Miranda where they also held a protest.  The exhibit showed photos on Flor Contemplacion’s case, as well as the pro-migrant workers resolutions filed by Beltran in Congress.

“Ang paglaya ni Ka Bel ay nagbibigay katarungan din sa mga OFWs na pinabayaan ng gobyerno,” (Freedom for Ka Bel gives justice to OFWs who are neglected by the government.) the migrant leader told Bulatlat.

Bragas-Regalado added that this protest is a breakthrough for Filipino migrants in Japan who made their first march and rally at the Philippine embassy there. After the march, about a hundred OFWs held a program in a plaza near the Philippine embassy.

She also said that other OFWs who have a Sunday day-off would also launch separate protests.

Protest actions include petition signing, noise barrage and rallies at Philippine embassies and consulates in various countries.

These protests, Bragas-Regalado said, was also triggered by the intensifying political repression that also affected the migrant workers, saying “wala na rin kaming kalayaang sibil para batikusin ang gobyernong ito sa mga anti-migrante at anti-mamamayang polisiya nito.” (We also have no civil liberties to criticize the government for its anti-migrant and anti-people policies.)

Death row

Bragas-Regalado said that Contemplacion was neither the first nor the only Filipino migrant that was sentenced to death abroad.   She said there are now 30 OFWs in death row while thousands are stranded in their host countries.

Last year, Migrante reported that four OFWS were executed in Saudi Arabia.  They were Sergio Aldana, Miguel Fernandez Jr., Wilfredo Bautista and Antonio Alvesa.

Recently, Marilou Ranario was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on Sept. 28, 2005 for killing her employer Najat Mahmoud Faraj Mobarak on Jan. 11, 2005.

Vice President Noli de Castro promised to bring with him Ranario’s parents when he visits the OFW. But Bragas-Regalado said he never made true his promise.  Instead, when de Castro made his visit, he pleaded for a life sentence for Ranario, contrary to the wishes of her family.

Bragas-Regalado said that Migrante and Ranario’s family were one in asking for comprehensive justice, which happened in the cases of OFWs Sarah Balabagan and Mary Jane Ramos. Like Ranario, Balabagan and Ramos were also maltreated and almost raped by their respective employer but were able to return to the Philippines alive.

She also said that it is Ranario who should instead be given justice.

Meanwhile, the migrant leader admitted that they could not win in all their struggles.  She said that the important thing is that “they fight with whatever it takes and their resolve to continue fighting for the Filipino migrants strengthens.” Bulatlat

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