The state of the nation presented by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her address during the opening of the 14th Congress was totally different from what was described by militant organizations in the street outside Congress. They seem to be talking about two different countries. But the picture being presented by migrant groups in protest actions all over the world seems to agree with the grim reality being portrayed by militant organizations.
BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 25, July 29-Aug 4, 2007
Saudi Arabia
“Aasa ka pa? Huwag na!,” (Will you still expect? Don’t bother!) said overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are members of the group Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS or Association of OFWs in the Middle East) when asked what they expected to gain from the president’s state of the nation address ( SoNA).
“Malinaw sa SoNA ni Gloria na walang bahid na suportang maasahan ang migranteng manggagawa Filipino sa bawat panig ng mundo,”( It is clear from the SoNA of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that Filipino migrant workers in very corner of the world cannot expect any protection or support from the government.) said the KGS in a statement.
The group said that as expected, the president recognized the increasing remittances of OFWs. At the same time, gauging from its record of neglecting OFWs who are in need and in distress, it was also not surprising that President Arroyo did not mention any program for the welfare of migrant workers.
The group cited the beheading of Rey Cortez in Saudi, the deaths of two ill OFWs who had been stranded in Jeddah, and the uncertain lives of about 35 OFWs still in death row, mostly in the Middle East as glaring examples of government neglect and apathy.
The migrant group also expressed dismay over the increase in several fees being paid by OFW applicants. It is being suspected that the fee increases are being implemented to finance the numerous infrastructure projects being planned and bragged about by the government. The group also said that even migrant groups are being forced to finance the construction of school buildings under the president’s name. As it is, OFWs are already being burdened by many issues and problems. In Riyadh, thousands of OFWs are being affected by the refusal of Saudi companies to provide free housing accommodations. Filipinos in the Middle East are also burdened with payments for their iqama or residence permits, they added.
United States
The United States chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN USA) and other Filipino-American groups launched their protest actions to signify their rejection of Arroyo’s SoNA.
With the coordinated visual theme of the alliance as “GMA: The Greedy Monstrous Aswang is Bleeding the Nation Dry,” the four cities ? Seattle, Los Angles, New York, and San Francisco ? featured an aswang depiction of Arroyo. An aswang is a mythical, demonic, blood-sucking creature of Philippine folklore.
“We decided it was a more accurate depiction of the Arroyo administration, given the death of human rights defenders, democracy, and now civil liberties with the Anti-Terror Bill,” said Kuusela Hilo,
acting secretary-general of Bayan-USA.
In New York, Filipinos and supporters from Bayan-USA and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), staged a symbolic protest in front of the Philippine Consulate. They were joined by the Sentosa 27, Filipino healthcare workers allegedly “trafficked to the United States by the foreign-owned Sentosa recruitment agency.” The health care providers filed charges before a U.S. court and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration against Sentosa.
Anakbayan’s Cristina Hilo urged passersby to protest the use of U.S. tax money to fund death squads in the Philippines under the $30 million foreign military aid. “That’s how much money is being allotted by your government to kill innocent Filipinos who are fighting for freedom,” said Hilo in her speech.
Supporters came from various groups such as the Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum, the International Action
Center, the Free Hawaii Solidarity Committee, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment or FIRE, NY
Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, the Anakbayan Filipino Youth Collective, Sandiwa National Fil-Am Youth Alliance, Philippine Forum, Kabalikat Filipino Domestic Workers Support Network, and Lakas Diwa Filipino Youth Alliance of New Jersey.
In Los Angeles, Bayan-USA organizations Habi Arts, Anakbayan, and Pilipinos Organizing Workers for Empowerment and Respect (POWER) staged their protest action in front of the Philippine Consulate there.
In Seattle, organizations Pinay Sa Seattle, Anakbayan, and the Philippine US Solidarity Organization (PUSO) under Bayan-USA launched a white ribbon movement at the Philippine Fiesta in remembrance of the 885 victims of extra-judicial killings and 183 enforced disappearances in the Philippines.
Seattle Hip-Hop duo and Bayan-USA artists Blue Scholars performed at the protest. The duo, one of which is also a member of Anakbayan, has been consistently producing and performing songs and music protesting against U.S. wars and military recruitment and have also just released a second album entitled BAYANI (Filipino for “Hero”).
For Filipino women organizations in the US ? Babae (San Francisco), Pinay Sa Seattle (Seattle), and FiRE (Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment- New York) of Bayan-USA? the real state of the nation is reflected in the policies being implemented by the Arroyo administration.
Among these issues are election cheating, political repression, the Human Security Act, extrajudicial killings, abductions, worsening economic crisis, and migration.
Hong Kong
“Filipinos abroad are the ‘living proofs’ of how the lives of Filipinos have not changed and even worsened.”
This was the answer of Dolores Balladares, chairperson of the militant United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-Migrante-HK) to the Arroyo administration’s claims of a supposed economic recovery, the stability of her administration and the supposed development of the Philippines towards “First World” status in the next two decades.
About 400 OFWs marched to the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong on the eve of Arroyo’s SoNA.
For the migrant group, the continued migration and “milking” of OFWs, show the “illusion of GMA’s avowed progress.”
The group also submitted two petitions to the Philippine officials: one against the reported plan to sell the Philippine Consulate General premises which allegedly “reeks of anomalies and possible corruption issues” and another that called for the repeal of the HSA that the group declared would surely include militant OFW organizations as targets.
Canada
In Montreal, the Centre for Philippine Concerns (CAP-CPC) held a picket in front of the Philippine Consulate. The protesters criticized the president’s SoNA as a “prophetic farce” and protested against the implementation of the HSA.
Protesters came from various groups such as PINAY, organization of Filipino women in Quebec, Québec Solidaire, the Societé Bolivarienne du Québec, Immigrant Workers Centre, Philippine Independent Church-Montreal, Front Rouge des Jeunes–Montreal chapter, Parti Communiste Révolutionaire.
They dismissed Arroyo’s plan to make the Philippines a first world country in 20 years as “nothing more than doubletalk.”
“When millions of Filipinos earn a mere $2 a day and go to bed hungry, when 30 million Filipinos live in slums, and when the Arroyo government refuses to implement the meager 125 peso (Can $3.00) a day wage hike, it is ridiculous to speak of first world status, said CPC coordinator Malcolm Guy.
Instead, it is the first class exploitation that is happening, said Guy citing the lack of genuine land reform, the continued export of the labor force to low-paying jobs abroad, and the kowtowing of the government to U.S. imperialist interests.
He added that the HSA, which he called the “inhuman security act” which is “part and parcel of the U.S.-led war of terror,” is just an attempt to justify state terrorism.
CPC researcher Joel Calugay said that the “Canadian imperialism” is among those countries that are lucky to have an abundant source of low wage earners such as Filipino domestics. He said that in Quebec alone, there are over 500 annual applicants for positions as domestic workers or nannies under Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program.
Meanwhile, during the observance of the Canadian National Day of Action for Human Rights in the Philippines this mid July, Filipinos and Canadians took to the streets and communities in three major cities across Canada ?Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver? to call for an end to gross human rights violations in the Philippines.
Solidarity
International delegates from Belgium, Burma, Canada, USA and Korea also joined the the Bayan-led protest in Manila.
“GMA has long been neglecting Filipino migrants abroad. It’s time we say, enough of GMA!” said Princess Bustos of Bayan-USA.
Bayan-USA artist and rapper Kiwi Illefonce took center stage at the Bayan-led protest along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City with his original rap song written for the Kabataan Party List during the recent elections.
“Even though we are tens of thousands of miles away, Fil-Ams are concerned about the State of the Nation,” said Illefonce.
Vigilance
“The Centre for Philippine Concerns believes only the Filipino people’s movement for national democracy can assure that development can take place for and by the majority of the Filipino people” said CPC’s Guy adding that they are supporting the struggle of the Filipino people for a “truly secure, democratic, and independent Philippines.”
For Bayan-USA, “the answer is national industrialization to create in-country jobs for our countrymen and an end to the economic interference of the neoliberal globalization,” and not more Filipinos leaving the country to remit their earnings.
The KGS said that they, OFWs, have always been victims of corruption and neglect from application to the renewal of their contracts.
The OFW group urges their fellow migrant workers and family members in the Philippines to be vigilant in monitoring the use of the funds of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, which are being sourced from fees collected from OFWs.(Bulatlat.com)
