This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 19, June 19-25, 2005
OFWs to Greet Gloria in Hong
Kong with Ouster Call
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to visit Hong Kong on June 20 and
Filipinos in the islands are gearing up to greet her – with protests. BY
BULATLAT “If Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
thinks that by going abroad she will find respite from the political storm
brought about by her fraudulent presidency and corruption-ridden rule, she’s
badly mistaken.” Thus said Dolores
Balladares, chairperson of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK), one of
the largest Filipino groups in Hong Kong. “Mrs. Arroyo cannot wriggle
her way out of the controversies hounding her in the Philippines. Filipinos
abroad are also disgusted with her government and we shall be part of the
brewing movement that calls for her ouster,” said Balladares. The UNIFIL also said that
different OFW groups, especially those allied with the Migrante International,
will also call on to the international community, including international
development aids and foreign governments, to withdraw support to the Arroyo
government. Similar calls by various
Filipino and international groups in other countries including Canada, the
United States and Europe are also mounting, Bulatlat learned. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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According to Balladares, Mrs. Arroyo’s coming trip to Hong Kong shows how
desperate she is to escape the heat of election fraud and corruption cases that
have besieged the Arroyo government in the past weeks. At the same time,
Balladares added, “she’s frantically putting up a front to show the
international community that she’s still in control despite the precariousness
of her situation.”
The group revealed that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) around the world are
preparing themselves to mount a massive campaign “that will complement and
strengthen the ouster call in the Philippines.”
“This is an illegitimate president. This is an illegitimate government. They
should stop extending assistance to a regime that Filipinos reject,” Balladares
stressed.
The UNIFIL chair also said that they are prepared to go to the extent of
encouraging OFWs to stop sending their remittances to government channels “to
dry up the fund that Mrs. Arroyo just uses to further plunder our country.”
“Mrs. Arroyo may think that she’ll ride out the call for ouster in the
Philippines by going abroad. She really is in for a ride from OFWs – a ride out
of Malacañang,” Balladares concluded.