REBONG,DFA NEED A CALCULATOR & REALITY CHECK WHEN FIGURING OUT APPROPRIATE RENT

An Open Letter

May 31, 2005

As a working Filipina who has been residing in New York City for 10 years,
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Gilberto Asuque’s senseless remarks in defense
of the lavish condo rental allowance extracted monthly from Philippine
government funds to house our overseas
diplomats reaps nothing short of blood from my ears (“DFA Defends N.Y.
Envoy’s Condo Rent” Filipino Reporter, May 27, 2005).

Unless the Earth is in fact spinning in retrograde and money has begun to
blossom from trees just in time for spring, there can be no rightful
justification explaining how in a country as economically-disadvantaged as
the Philippines, declared by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration itself as
suffering from an intensified “fiscal crisis”, the Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) can claim its last resort for suitable lodging for NY
Consulate General Cecilia Rebong is a whopping $10K per month pad in what
is perhaps the poshest and most symbolically decadent residence in
Manhattan’the Trump Tower at UN Plaza.

Did the DFA miss Gloria’s memo earlier in 2004 on nationwide austerity
measures or has our government’s corruption graduated from highway robbery
to actual blood-su*king right here in the Big Apple?

What adds nasty insult to the even nastier injury upon struggling Filipinos
suffering daily from this crisis is one diplomat’s comment that “it would
not be appropriate to have [Rebong] staying in Queens.”

Anyone with the slightest clue to NYC demographics’ no, not the NYC you see
in movies or in television constructed out of sets in a Hollywood studio
back lot’would know that the NYC borough of Queens is not only the most
racially diverse borough compared to the other
four, but hosts the LARGEST number of Filipino residents and businesses in
New York City. So to that end, WHY WOULDN’T it be more than appropriate for
the DFA to consider Queens as an optional neighborhood for Rebong?

It is amazing how one whip of a diplomat’s tongue on this matter manages
not only to attempt to rationalize the hijacking of funds that rightfully
belong to the starving Filipino people, but insults the working Filipinos
of Queens that constitute the vast majority for whom Rebong was deployed
here to serve in the first place.

Perhaps what the folks over at DFA need is a good real estate broker who
can enlighten them on the joys and wonders of the outstanding Queens
neighborhoods many Filipinos are proud to raise their families in and call
their home–Astoria, Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst to name a few (all with
access to major trains, bus stops, and 24-hour delis, I must add). I happen
to have kept a few business cards handy, comes with the territory if you’re
famili@r with New York residential life. I also know some that are Filipino
AND live in Queens. Bonus.

Better yet, Rebong can call us over at the NY Committee for Human Rights in
the Philippines and we would gladly assist her in finding a more reasonably
priced home. As a group of diehard city-dwellers who have traversed every
nook and cranny of the metropolis in search of Filipino communities and
educating them on the human rights situation in the Philippines, we know
New York living-on-a-budget. We also can’t in full conscience avoid
equating what the DFA is doing with these people’s funds as a direct
violation against the Filipino people’s right to affordable education,
affordable oil costs, affordable healthcare, jobs, food, and the list goes on.

Last but not least, we recommend Rebong, Asuque, and company brush up on
the latest regarding the catastrophes we have come to know as the
Philippine national economy and the national fiscal crisis. Let’s not
forget under GMA’s Philippines, back-breaking tax hikes such as the Value
Added Tax (VAT) continue to be imposed upon a largely underemployed and
under-educated Philippine population, over 3000 Filipinos still decide
daily the only way they can put food in their children’s mouths is by
boarding the plane to look for work abroad, the vast majority of workers
continue to struggle for a measly P125 wage increase nationwide across the
board, more students quit school because of intolerable tuition fee hikes
on campuses, and unarmed sugarcane workers in Cojuanco-owned Hacienda
Luisita are shot dead by military for striking against, among other things,
a day’s salary of P9.50 per day.

How can a sincere and lasting resolution to the country’s plunging deficit
problems ever be realized in the face of such lewd excess?

You do the math.

On behalf of all Filipinos NOT living in Wonderland,

Berna Ellorin
NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
(NYCHRP)

Fil-Ams Push for More Family Visas & Efficient Visa Processing

News Release
April 27, 2006

Filipinos across the US are pushing for faster processing of family visas as a concrete demand upon US legislators in Congress who are currently engaging an immigration debate that is sparking mass demonstrations for immigrant rights all over the country.

In a recent national immigrant rights conference in Chicago, various immigrant rights groups and coalitions, who had been responsible for massive demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and elsewhere, adapted key national demands in pursuit of comprehensive immigration reforms that were just and humane. A national network was formed.

Representatives from the Justice 4 Immigrant Filipino Coalition (J4I), a once local but now national formation of Filipino organizations and individuals pushing for just and humane immigration reforms, explained the relevance of family reunification for immigrants at the conference that was later adopted by the conference body as a national platform demand. J4I also fielded the only Filipino representation at the nearly 90% Latino-attended networking conference.

According to immigration policy analyst and New York lawyer Cristina Godinez, over 70% of all Filipinos who migrate to the US apply under family sponsorship. “The statutory limit on the number of family-based visas per country is unrealistic,” she explained, “As a result, family visas allotted to high-volume countries like the Philippines and Mexico are exhausted and applicants have to wait up to 23 years to have their visa applications processed.”

“There are different wait times for every family-based category. Some Filipino applicants who wish to remain in a category with a relatively shorter wait time such as unmarried children of US citizens purposely stay unmarried even if they already have their own families,” Godinez said, “This is quite a dilemma for Filipinos who are mostly Catholic, because in that situation they would be ‘living in sin.’”

“No one should have to compromise one’s religious convictions just to be reunited with one’s family in the US,” Godinez added, “This is against basic American values.”

“It is a harsh and painful reality all Filipinos in this country are connected to,” stated Julia Camagong of the Philippine Forum, a member organization of J4I. “My parents were petitioned by their siblings in the US and had to wait up to 25 years actually, to be reunited with their loved ones. It is very cruel and tears so many Filipino families apart.”

“It is not just a question of legalization. We want to increase the family visa quota, and a more efficient processing of family-based visas. There is no excuse for such a snail’s pace processing. Filipino families are suffering,” Camagong continued.

Robert Roy, executive director of the Philippine Forum, says the experience is common for all Filipinos. “My parents also waited up to 15 years to see their families again, and my brothers and their families back home are still one of the millions of Filipinos lost in the tedious visa backlog.”

Roy also explained that the push for mass exodus of Filipinos from the Philippines as the Philippine government’s remedy for joblessness and economic crisis breaks up more than 3000 families a day. “Given the wait period for family visas in this country, it is no wonder we have generations and generations of Filipinos growing up without parents and other family members. This is a grave social cost for us,” Roy explained.

The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition will be mobilizing Filipino contingents to participate in the next national day of action for immigrant rights on May 1st, 2006. In New York, a rally will be held from 4-7pm at Union Square. Filipinos are encouraged to join the J4I contingent, which will convene at 3pm on the northeast corner of Broadway and 14th Street in Manhattan before joining the main rally. J4I is a member of the May 1st Coalition Steering committee.

For more information, email justice4immigrants@yahoo.com or call 718 565 8862.

ConGen’s Pricey Condo, at the Expense of Overseas Filipinos

News Release
June 4, 2006

New York—It’s been one year since the infamous police dispersal of peaceful Filipino parade marchers ordered by the Philippine Consulate along Madison Avenue during the last Philippine Independence Day Parade. Filipinos in New York have not eased up on their demand for a recall of Philippine Consul Cecilia Rebong for her lavish lifestyle-spending of federal Philippine funds that rightfully belong to overseas Filipinos.

Marchers from the Philippine Forum, a immigrant rights and community organization based in Elmhurst, Queens, were the unlikely targets of the NYPD when they held up placards reading “No To Lavish Spending” and “$10k=12 new homes” back in the summer of 2005.

Congen Rebong currently resides in three homes, one of which is a two-bedroom condominium apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower along First Avenue. Rent has been reported to total a minimum of $10k a month, a exorbitant fee that has more and more Filipinos fuming amidst the worsening fiscal crisis in the Philippines, where over 80% of all Filipinos live below the reported poverty-level.

“Since the dispersal of the Philippine Forum marchers, all of whom are hard-working Filipinos with families who came here under the common denominator of economic survival, Congen Rebong has lavishly spent at least $120,000 more on her rent alone. That is the equivalent to at least P6,480,000 from the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), a government agency that supposedly exists to address the rights and welfare concerns of overseas Filipinos. This is basically the people’s money being wasted on shameful decadence,” stated Robert Roy, executive director of the Philippine Forum.

Roy asserted that the Philippine Forum marchers “harbor absolutely no regrets” with holding up placards expressing their disdain over outlandish personal expenditures of Philippine diplomats such as Rebong, and “would undoubtedly do it again in a heartbeat.”

In fact, what is even more shameful now is that this spending of resources continues while the crackdown on immigrants in the US is escalating to alarming heights, thanks to the US House of Representatives passage of HR 4437 and the US Senate’s passage of SB 2611, two bills that are leaving more and more Filipino immigrants with little room for dignity and basic human rights in the US.

In a recent Pulong Bayan at the Philippine Consulate, ConGen Rebong was reported to have defended the Malacang’s non-position on HR 4437 debate by stating, “Just as the US does not intervene in our Philippine government affairs, so must we not intervene with US legislation.”

“Rebong’s lavish spending coupled with government inaction amidst legislative injustice towards Filipino immigrants, documented or not, are part of the criminal negligence and culpability of the Arroyo regime towards the overall plight of our overseas compatriots,” Roy added.

The anti-lavish spending campaign was first initiated last year by Migrante International, the largest overseas alliance of Filipino organizations of which the Philippine Forum is a member.

“Filipinos in the US are not alone in their sentiments. This is an internationally-coordinated campaign because this is an international phenomenon with our consular officers,” stated Robyn Rodriguez of Migrante International in New York.

“It is especially up to Filipinos in the US to make their voices heard and express their intolerance for this type of treatment,” Rodriguez concluded.

For more information, contact Philippine Forum at philforum96@yahoo.com.

Consulate’s Concession for Fely Garcia Marks Victory for Domestic Workers Campaign

Domestic Workers Push for Fixed Assistance Policy from DFA, POEA, OWWA

New York– In a Filipino community townhall meeting held yesterday in Elmhurst, members of the domestic workers support network Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT and others realized the result of weeks of community-based campaign labor when a pinned-down Philippine Consulate announced it would offer $4900 in financial assistance towards to repatriation of Felisa “Fely” Garcia, a 58 year old Filipina domestic worker found dead in her home last March 14, 2007 in the Bronx.

Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT members and their supporters also continued to pressure for a second round of investigation in a case that the New York Police Department has already dismissed as suicide with no sign of foul play. The said townhall was also attended by Philippine Vice Consul Leandro Lachica.

“Even I was surprised of the Consulate’s announcement for a small grant for Fely’s family,” states Atty. Arnedo Valera of the Migrant Heritage Legal Resource Center in Washington DC and chief legal counsel for the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), who represents Garcia’s children in the Philippines and was also present at the townhall meeting. “Unfortunately, offering any concession of financial assistance to overseas Filipinos and their families in need is not normal or routine procedure for the Philippine government. It is administered under a so-called ‘case to case’ basis in the absence of a clear, fixed policy related to migrant worker assistance. It seems, as with the case of domestic worker Flor Contemplacion back in 1995, that the usual condition that pushes the Philippine government to react is when the community pressures in an uproar, or additionally in Fely’s case, when Philippine elections are in the air.”

“I congratulate the role of Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT, the Filipino community and specifically the domestic worker community in pressuring for this money to come through. Clearly it was the community’s response, not the goodwill of the Philippine government, that was the motivating force for the Consulate’s decision,” Valera added.

As a domestic worker organizing project of the Philippine Forum, an 11-year old community organization in Queens, KABALIKAT responded to Garcia’s reported death by securing US-based pro-bono legal representation for Garcia’s children through Valera, and since then have been fully-engaged in a campaign to push for the family’s demands for a re-investigation and full financial coverage of all death-related costs from the Philippine government, including a possible second autopsy, transportation to Batangas, and proper burial fees, not just for repatriation to Manila. A petition online administered by the network has garnered nearly 1000 signatures of support for Fely’s case.

“The authorities should listen to Fely’s children and their demand for a re-investigation. It is a reality that while abuse and exploitation is common for Filipino workers, most unfortunately opt to face these dismal conditions because they are the primary providers for their families back in the Philippines. Fely left behind four children back home with children of their own because she couldn’t make a decent living as teacher in the Philippines. We understand their frustration over the conduct of the initial investigation because they were never contacted by any authority until 2 weeks after her death,” states Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT co-coordinator Lorena Sanchez, a domestic worker who has initially worked in the Middle East before coming to work in New York.

Community members at the said meeting also pressured for a more fixed, comprehensive policy for financial assistance, legal assistance, and family compensation for overseas Filipino workers in need through funds allocated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“While we welcome this financial offering by the Consulate, it really should be systematized into policy for these labor export agencies to offers various forms of assistance to overseas Filipinos when they need it. Overseas Filipinos pay remittances and excessive fees to these agencies. We all contribute to the Philippine economy whether we are documented residents, contract workers, and undocumented workers. Overseas Filipinos have been the backbone of the Philippine economy for over 30 years. The government should at least standardize safeguard measures of those in need,” Valera added.

Atty. Valera also recalled the 2004 election scandal that exposed billions in OWWA funds extorted for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidential candidacy ticket. He warned a repeat episode should not be allowed to happen.

“There should be an auditing of the POEA, OWWA, and DFA budgets, so we know exactly how much is earmarked for actual services for overseas Filipinos. This community campaign is falling on another election season, hence we should be even more on guard of plunder of these government agency budgets by political candidates to buy votes,” Valera added.

“Fely’s case has opened and exposed a Pandora’s box of ills in the Philippine government’s labor export policy when it comes to distressed overseas Filipinos,” states Rico Foz of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), the national rights and welfare alliance of which Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT is a founding member-affiliate. Foz visited the Philippine Consulate last week on behalf of the entire membership of NAFCON, prior to the Consulate’s announcement that it would offer repatriation funds, to address the case with Philippine Consul General Cecilia Rebong face to face.

“The overseas Filipino community has the right and moral ascendancy to engage the Philippine government to create genuine rights and welfare protections and policies when it comes to the systemic and multi-billion dollar labor export industry of Filipino workers,” Foz added.

Over $12 billion US dollars were remitted last year by overseas Filipino workers, a significant percentage of which is yielded from Filipinos in the US.

As a result of Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT’s efforts to raise funds to alleviate the financial burden on Garcia’s family, Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT Co-Coordinator Shirley Cuyugan-O’Brien announced over $3000 raised last week through the Justice for Fely Fund. “This proves the the power of our kababayan (compatriots) united, even though we are thousands of miles away from our homeland, to support for each other in dark and trying times.”

The Philippine Forum formally launched its domestic workers organizing project KABALIKAT in celebration of International Women’s Day last March 2007. The Justice for Fely Garcia campaign was launched by Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT shortly after Garcia’s death and the Garcia family authorized the network to advocate on their behalf.

To make a donation to the Justice for Fely Campaign, make checks to Philippine Forum, write Justice for Fely on the memo, and mail to Philippine Forum at 54-05 Seabury Street, Elmhurst, New York 11373.

To sign the Justice for Fely Garcia online petition, visit http://www.petitiononline.com/J4FG2007/petition.html

For more information on the Justice for Fely Campaign, contact the Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT at pf_kabaliklat@yahoo.com. ###

BRONX FILIPINA’S SUICIDE LAUNCHES COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE

News Release
March 27, 2007

New York– The recent suicide of a Filipina domestic worker in the
Bronx has raised questions and concern amongst the Filipino-American
community. Felisa “Fely” Garcia, 58, was found dead in her closet by
her landlord last March 14th after hanging herself in what appears to
be a case of workplace abuse. Garcia had left four suicide letters in
an envelope in the kitchen for her landlord to find. In one of the
letters, Garcia describes she faced “abuse and harassment” from her
employer, who remains unnamed.

Community advocates with the KABALIKAT Domestic Workers Support
Network, a program of the Philippine Forum, a community service
organization in Queens, are raising questions of concern and warn that
the case not be dismissed so quickly. The investigation of the suicide
has thus far been handled by the New York Police Department with
partnership with the Philippine Consulate in New York in the absence
of contact with Garcia’s next of kin.

The Consulate’s lack of disclosure on the details of the case and lack
of attempts to contact Garcia’s family in Batangas nearly two weeks
since Garcia’s death has prompted outrage and concern.

“Fely’s family and the Filipino community have a right to know what
happened to her,” states Lorena Sanchez, Co-Coordinator of KABALIKAT.
“Fely’s letter and the nature of her death call for community action
to push for an autopsy on the nature of her abuse and an investigation
of her employer. We cannot allow this incident to be swept underneath
the rug, like many cases of distressed Filipino migrants, and not
given recognition. She was clearly crying for help.”

Upon meeting with Garcia’s landlord to offer support in her trauma,
members of KABALIKAT contacted Garcia’s family in Batangas and next of
kin in the US to update them on Garcia’s case. Garcia’s family was
never contacted by the Philippine Consulate to discuss Garcia’s death
and legal procedures. Garcia leaves behind four children she supported
as a domestic worker in New York.

In a phone conference with KABALIKAT, Fely’s eldest son Gabriel Garcia
reported on his family’s “frustration over being kept in the dark”
about his mother’s death. Fely’s children have also expressed their
desire to fly to New York in order to settle legal procedures
themselves, and not leave all matters for the Philippine Consulate to
handle. The Garcia family has been in consultation with KABALIKAT to
handle travel procedures.

“The family obviously wants justice, not silence,” Sanchez added. “We
support Fely’s family as they push for a criminal investigation of
Fely’s employer and examination of her body for abuse.”

“As an extension of the Philippine Government in the US, the
Philippine Consulate must uphold the primary interest of the Labor
Export Policy, the government-supported program for massive
outmigration of our compatriots to support the economy through
remittances. As 3000 Filipino leave the Philippines everyday, the
thrust of the LEP is not to protect and uphold the rights and welfare
of overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s), but to advance the flow of
migrants abroad, despite the social costs,” states Julia Camagong,
Co-Executive Director of the Philippine Forum.

“Throughout the world, Philippine Consulates and Embassies appear more
interested in quickly closing these types of cases of maltreatment and
distress than actually offering assistance for victims of abuse like
Fely and pursuing justice. And since the Philippine economy is not
improving under a system reeking with corruption, we can expect that
this aggressive outmigration, touted as an economic solution to our
homeland’s woes, will produce more cases like Fely’s that will not be
handled properly because the orientation of our consular offices
abroad is not to help migrants with their basic problems, but help
them remit their earnings back to the Philippines,” Camagong added.

On her part, Sanchez recalled that the last 2004 elections in the
Philippines exposed rampant corruption of government funds through the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Overseas Worker Welfare
Administration that were actually funneled towards individual
candidates’ campaign machineries versus actual migrant services and
programs. She warned that this year’s election climate in the
Philippines should again not be at the cost of genuine migrant social
services and government accountablity to the plight of overseas
Filipino workers.

“We have yet to see a pro-migrant Philippine administration with
pro-migrant legislation, and thousands like Fely suffer every year
because if this,” Sanchez ended.

The Philippine Forum was founded in 1996 as a community organization
geared towards raising Filipino-Americans’ awareness of their roots,
rights, and responsibilities. Its organizing program KABALIKAT was
launched at a gathering of over 100 Filipina domestic workers in
celebration of International Women’s Day to address and protect the
well-being of Filipina domestic workers in New York and New Jersey.

The KABALIKAT Domestic Workers Support Network will hold an open
community planning meeting to discuss the case further and call for a
community campaign to demand Justice for Fely on Sunday, April 1,
2007, 2pm at the offices of the Philippine Forum 54-05 Seabury Street
in Elmhurst. To get to the Philippine Forum office, take the V, G and
R trains to Grand Avenue/Newtown Station in Elmhurst, Queens. Exit on
Southside of Queens Boulevard . Walk towards 54th Avenue and turn left
on Seabury St . Take the side entrance to the First Presbyterian
Church of Newtown.

Garcia’s landlord will be present at the meeting to explain the case,
and a message will be read from Garcia’s family in Batangas.

The community meeting will also aim to raise funds to help relieve
burial and transportation expenses of the Garcia family. Participants
are encouraged to bring their checkbooks and make checks to Philippine
Forum, with Justice for Fely written as a memo.

For more information about the case and the Philippine Forum/KABALIKAT
Domestic Workers Support Network call 718 565-8862 or email
philforum96@@yahoo.com

Petition to Stop the Killings in the Philippines, 2006

To Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

We, the undersigned, who represent a broad spectrum of patriotic Filipinos and freedom-loving friends of the Filipino people in the United States of America, condemn the ongoing state attacks perpetuated by you and your administration against progressive leaders, parliamentarians, church leaders, journalists, lawyers, teachers and other civilians in the Philippines under the auspices of your arrogantly abusive Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP1017). All evidence has led to the clear understanding that in one fell swoop of a so-called “state of national emergency”, you have single-handed advanced you longtime agenda to reinstate martial rule reminiscent of Marcosian Martial Law (1972-1986). In our call to end the heightening political repression of innocent civilians, we reiterate our demand for your complete and immediate resignation from the executive seat you were not elected to, for your moral bankruptcy and evidently fascist acts against the people. Furthermore, we wholeheartedly support the popular people’s call for your ouster.

We demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all political detainees who are being persecuted because they espouse just and democratic ideals for the people– most notably the Honorable Congressman Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis Partylist, the Honorable Congressman Joel Virador of the Bayan Muna Partylist, the Honorable Congressman Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna Partylist, the Honorable Congresswoman Liza Maza of Gabriela Women’s Partylist, the Honorable Congressman Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, and the Honorable Congressman Teodoro Casino of Bayan Muna Partylist. The “Batasan 5”, as they have come to be known, remain unjustly incarcerated to this very hour under the totalitarian command of you military.

Furthermore, we see you devious intent of suppression with the listing of over 51 individuals under so-called charges of “rebellion.”, a convenient pretext to go after those living national heroes and leaders who have been building popular opposition against you because, quite frankly, you have made it so easy for the people to hate you ever since your ascendance to office in 2001.

It is with no illusion that we understand the recent chain of events in the Philippines stem from a consistent agenda from your administration to quell a broad and growing public and popular opposition to your regime. In fact, 8 out of 10 Filipinos in the Philippines today want your administration to step down. It is no wonder that on the very moment you declared PP 1017, the very day the Filipino people were commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship nonetheless, the streets of Manila and other urban centers were not filled with fear and trepidation over your manufactured and opportunist accusations of a military coup attempt. On the contrary, the streets of Makati were filled with confetti falling from the sky, declaring middle class and professional support from the highest skyscrapers for the toiling majority who were leading massive demonstrations calling for your ouster.

As we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the ultimate democratic practice of the Filipino people, People Power, you lambasted democracy and all its ideals by thrusting our beloved Philippines back to the darkest days of tyranny—of warrantless arrests, of heightened political assassinations of activists and genuine people’s leaders, and of press freedom curtailment and silencing.

You walk hand in hand with the fascist Marcos dictatorship before you, resurrecting almost every act of tyranny to the tee, and in many ways, surpassing him.

Well, Mrs. Arroyo, enough is enough. No amount of state-exacted terror from you ranks can ever quell the peoples yearning for freedom, democracy, and justice. No amount of killings can destroy the movement to oust you. Heed the people’s call for resignation, or stand to be ousted with such popular conviction of the people, it will rise above the public humiliation standards of the two ousters before you.

The truth is, we see your desperation climbing, your proclamations a failing attempt to cling to what little power you still have. You harbor zero in the people’s respect, the people’s trust, and in the people’s support. Like Marcos before you, your anti-patriotism has ignited a united call for nationalism from patriotic forces to isolate your anti-Filipino acts. While you rely on your trusted economic support from the war-hungry Bush administration to fund your killing campaigns, the democratic sectors of the American people know your game and continue their pressure for the complete withdrawal of US military and economic support to your regime.

We are Filipinos in the United States—men, women, and children—enjoin ourselves with our American brothers and sisters, to demand the following:

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, RESIGN OR BE OUSTED!
RELEASE CONGRESSMAN CRISPIN BELTRAN AND THE BATASAN 5!
RELEASE ALL POLITICAL DETAINEES!
JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES!
NO TO POLITICAL REPRESSION!
DEFEND PRESS FREEDOM!
US OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES!

Signed:

Bulosan’s Legacy Lives Through Heightened Opposition Against Continuous Witchunt of Filipino Progressives in Post 9/11 America

Statement
November 20, 2005

As Filipino-Americans across the US gather this month to celebrate and commemorate the life and legacy that was Carlos Bulosan, Bayan USA honors him best by exposing and condemning the continuous witchunt and red-baiting of pro-people Filipino progressives in post-9/11 scapegoatist America.

The recent public smears, accusations, and attacks against Bayan USA members and leaders embody the same forces that hounded the heavily-surveyed Bulosan till his last breath.

It is important to remember Bulosan– revered and respected by elites, scholars, artists, youth, and workers alike– secured a listing in Senator Joseph McCarthy’s blacklist drafted by the House of Representatives Un-American Activites Committee throughout the 1950′s. Providing a spoken and written voice for the voiceless and exploited immigrant laborers spread across Depression-stricken America, Bulosan was branded as a threat to national security and endured a painful decade-long hound by the FBI that included the constant gathering and filing of his tax records, credit records, and personal mail. He was continously punished by forced impoverishment as the FBI filed memos to US employers, preventing Bulosan from gainful employment and leaving him penniless upon his death.

Carlos Bulosan led a life under constant risk because of his political beliefs. Central to these was the belief in genuine civil rights and liberties for the exploited migrant worker, the right for migrant workers to organize, unionize, and demand for genuine democratic reforms. Central also was the belief that Filipinos in the US could never be free from suffering as long as their compatriots in the motherland continued to suffer the plight of rampant human rights violations, economic disparity, and foreign domination.

Bulosan acted on these beliefs by opposing US domination and intervention in the Philippines and denouncing US puppet Philippine presidents who pampered US interests over Filipino people’s welfare. He allied himself with and relentlessly supported the democratic struggle waged by the Filipino people for genuine land reform, workers rights, end to militarization, and foreign intervention. He dispelled mythical demarcations that the struggle of Filipino migrants in the US was separate from the overall struggle of the Philippines for genuine national sovereignty.

Just as the Cold War provided the framework for the US government’s witchunt of Bulosan and other progressives, the US-led War on Terror imposes the needed backdrop of paranoia to apply the same red-baiting tactics and initatives against modern-day Filipino progressives who are working to sustain Bulosan’s progressive vision for a new generation of Filipinos in the US. Under the banner of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or Bayan USA chapter, Filipino-Americans have been harassed and surveyed by both the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security, our leaders smeared as conspiratorial communists and organizations branded as communist fronts.

It is with Bulosan’s stoic example that we take these attacks in stride, because it is a mere reflection of how backward this so-called War on Terror is striving to regress our American and world culture. But it is also a glaring indication of the need for Filipinos to take leadership in challenging and breaking the culture of fear created by warmongers and oil-thirsty world leaders. It is a sounding horn of the penetrating relevance of Bulosan’s life’s work.

Bulosan’s presence today would undoubtedly translate to a US-based call to oust the fake and illegitimate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime. It would translate to the call for the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement and withdrawal of US military presence in the Philippines. It would translate to the call to repeal the US Patriot and Homeland Security Acts and mirror image—the Anti-Terrorism Bill in the Philippines. It would translate to the condemnation of state atrocities committed against legitimate human rights defenders in the Philippines, and the killing spree of Bayan and Bayan member organization leaders. It would translate to the defense of Filipino progressives everywhere, such Professor Jose Maria Sison and all overseas compatriots supportive of the Philippine people’s movement.

If Bulosan were alive today, he would find himself marching side by side with Bayan USA and with the Filipino people.

We call on all Filipinos and allies in the US to be ever more vigilant and critical against baseless and smearing attacks against legitimate progressives in our communities. It is with thoroughgoing education and firm linkage with marginalized and disenfranchised Filipino majority that we can prevent and end Bush and Arroyo’s aggressive war campaign against critical mass in these turbulent times.

FILIPINOS IN NEW YORK TAKE A STAND FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

News Release
April 3, 2006

Queens, NY– The block-long Filipino commercial district of Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens was the site of over 150 loud and proud Filipino immigrants, allies, and others who participated in an outdoor demonstration and noise barrage for immigrant rights last Sunday, April 2nd.

“We Filipinos who are forced to migrate abroad to provide for our families back home, whose contributions are invaluable to the US economy and the American people, are standing with the millions of immigrants in the US who are coming out of the shadows to fight for our basic human and civil rights. We will not be cowed into further marginalization and sit quiet as legislative bills in the Senate spell-out various degrees of immigrant repression. We are mobilizing and asserting our rights even as the Arroyo government back home has openly announced it will do nothing to issue protection for us,” stated Henry Soliveres of the Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition.

The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition (J4I) is comprised of concerned Filipino organizations and individuals in the New York and New Jersey areas who united as early as late December, when the controversial Sensenbrenner Bill (HR 4437) passed in the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin, alarming many immigrant communities of a heightening anti-immigrant climate within US legislative circles.

Last Sunday’s rally, organized by J4I, was the largest New York gathering of Filipinos to denounce the passing of HR 4437 and to call for just and humane immigration reforms such as a path to legalization and an overhaul of the tedious visa backlog system that has kept so many immigrant families painfully apart. The US Senate portion of the immigration debate is currently happening in Washington DC, while immigrant-led protest actions are continuing to take place nationwide.

It is also part of the buildup for an even bigger national demonstration for immigrant rights scheduled for Monday, April 10, 3-7pm with a massive convergence in front of New York City Hall. J4I is actively calling on Filipinos to participate and organizing a Filipino contingent.

Publicized as a Pagtitipon para sa Legalisasyon (community gathering for legalization) by the organizers, the event started off as early as 9:30am with an indoor forum on immigration legislation and a status report on the Senate deliberations at the Perlas Ng Silangan Restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue.

By 11am, the congregation moved outdoors and marched from 69th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, passing the number of Filipino restaurants and businesses lined along the street such as Sally’s, Renee’s Kitchenette, Johnny Air Cargo, Krystal’s, Barrio Fiesta and other immigrant-owned storefronts. Filipino and non-Filipino patrons and staffers cheered visibly with support for the marchers, some even walking out to join the march. Vehicles driving by honked their horns also in support.

Colorful banderitas reading “Yes to legalization, No to Deportation” were hung along the awnings of various Filipino-owned storefronts, creating an atmosphere that was not only militant, but celebratory of immigrant diversity.

“It is beautiful to see our Filipino community invigorated by our own collective strength. This is a long battle for us against the wave of repressive bills in the US Congress right now. But even the debate in Capitol Hill is no match for the united voices of immigrants out on the streets. It is even more important now for Filipinos to unite and keep the pressure on our senators and other politicians who cannot ignore our demands,” stated Steve Raga of the Sandiwa National Filipino-American Youth Organization.

There are over 4 million Filipinos in the US, the third largest immigrant community in the US, with one of the largest undocumented populations. An average of 60,000 Filipinos migrate to the US each year. In 2005, overseas remittances to the Philippines from Filipinos in the US totaled to approximately $6 billion, a key factor in keeping an otherwise dilapidated and ravaged Philippine economy afloat.

Rallyists were also keen on focusing on the criminal negligence of the Arroyo administration back in the Philippines, whose aggressive labor export policy pushes an average of 3000 Filipinos abroad daily to find work, yet has no sufficient program of protection for its overseas nationals when hit hard by racist and repressive laws abroad.

In a recent statement, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Gilberto Asuque mentioned “the best we can do is monitor developments in the US Senate…. Filipinos in the US who are in violation of US immigration laws should come home.”

“But what if these laws US legislators are issuing are blatantly anti-people and in violation of basic human rights, such as the US immigration system for the last few decades? It is shameful that the Arroyo administration, which cashes in immensely from the tens of billions of dollars in our remittances, will not stand up in defense for its own people abroad. There are at least eleven Latin American countries who sent foreign ministers to Washington DC to lobby for more just and humane immigration laws. It is wrong that the Philippines is not one of them,” stated Alan James Alda of the youth organization Anakbayan.

“That is the response of the Arroyo government, which is clearly not OUR government,” stated an unidentified Filipina domestic worker and rallyist in response to the DFA.

As members of the April 10th Network Steering Committee, the J4I Coalition and its member organization Philippine Forum are organizing a Filipino contigent that will meet at 1:30pm at the northeast corner of Broadway and Wall Street in Downtown Manhattan before joining the main rally. All are welcome to join.

Member organizations of J4I include Anakbayan, Critical Filipino/Filipina Studies Collective, Kinding Sindaw, Migrante International, Movement for a Free Philippines, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Philippine Forum, and Sandiwa National Fil-Am Youth. All Filipino organizations are welcome and encouraged to join. For more information, contact J4I care of Philippine Forum at 718-565-8862 or by emailing justice4immigrants@yahoo.com.

Filipino-Americans Join Solidarity Pact with African-American Trade Unionists in Support of Immigrant Rights

New York– In a press conference held on the steps of New York City
Hall yesterday, the militant Filipino-American alliance known as BAYAN
USA joined over 30 African-American trade unionists, New York City
Councilman Charles Barron, and immigrant leaders in expressing firm
worker solidarity with the massive tide of immigrants rights
demonstrations demanding comprehensive immigration reforms from the US
Congress.

“We workers, particularly black workers and trade unionists fighting a
racist and exploitative system against all working people in the US,
are in full solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers who are
actively steering what is evidently a new civil rights movement,”
stated Larry Holmes of the International Action Center.

“We fully understand and embrace that the struggle of our immigrant
sisters and brothers is not separate from the struggle of all working
people, and we will not let ourselves be divided, by those in power who
will opportunistically use the power of the immigrant rights movement
to pit black worker against brown worker. Immigrant rights are worker
rights.” Holmes continued.

NY City Councilman and black nationalist activist Charles Barron also
acknowledged that the American working people understand that it is the
onerous economic policies of the US government with other countries
such as the Philippines that causes forced migration of peoples in the
first place.

Speaking from the Filipino community, BAYAN USA representative Berna
Ellorin affirmed Barron’s statement by pointing out that the Arroyo
government’s subservience to US economic dictates over the Filipino
people’s interests sets the condition that pushes at least 3000
Filipinos abroad daily to find work abroad because of rampant
joblessness and non-industrialization in the Philippines.

“For most immigrants it was never a matter of choice to migrate. It is
a matter of survival. Now that we are here, and sustaining the
Philippine economy with our remittances, our struggle as immigrants to
reform the racist and anti-migrant US immigration system cannot be
separated from the struggle of all working people of color. As
immigrants, we are also fighting for what Rosa Parks, Martin Luther
King, and Malcolm X were fighting for– basic civil rights,” Ellorin
stated.

Among the demands supported by speakers were legalization, not
criminalization of undocumented workers, swift family reunification for
immigrant families, full workers rights and protection for immigrants,
and no to enforcement-type immigration legislation.

The Congressional debate on immigration reform is currently ongoing
amidst pressure from immigrant groups in massive outpouring on the
streets. A nationally-coordinated immigrant rights rally last April
10th gathered over 250,000 alone in Manhattan and millions more in
other US cities. Immigrant groups have signified the demonstrations
will only escalate.

Other speakers included black labor unionists Brenda Stokely and Chris
Silvera of the Million Worker March.

BAYAN USA and the Million Worker March also openly supported the call
for an immigrant and worker rights demonstration on Monday,
May 1st, 4pm at Union Square Park, as an extension of the storm of protests that
has erupted across US cities. The New York action would also be in solidarity with
the call for a national boycott for immigrant rights.

“In countries around the world, May 1 is traditionally a day of action
as international workers day. This May 1st, immigrants and workers will
affirm this tradition in New York City,” Ellorin ended.

As a member of the NY May 1 Coalition Steering Committee, BAYAN USA and
other Filipino organizations are organizing a Filipino contingent. For
more information, send an email to the New York Committee for Human
Rights in the Philippines at nychrp @ yahoo.com ###

Filipinos Join Rally at City Hall

More than 100 Filipinos and immigrant allies joined over 100,000 people in a New York City immigrant rights rally as part of the April 10 national day of action across several U.S. cities, calling for comprehensive immigration reforms amidst the ongoing immigration debate in Capitol Hill.

The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition (J4I), a broad formation comprised of Filipino organizations and individuals from New York and New Jersey, raised their banners and flags high in a sea of multinational representation in front of Manhattan’s City Hall.

“We are the third largest immigrant group, and second largest Asian population in the U.S. Over 60,000 Filipinos migrate to the U.S. every year. We migrate not because we have dreams or illusions of luxury. None of us choose to leave our loved ones behind and live a life substandard to the rights, freedoms and opportunities afforded to citizens. Our migration is forced by an economic crisis rooted in and fueled by U.S. foreign dictates that prevent the self-determination, economic development and industrialization of our home country and others,” stated speaker Berna Ellorin of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, a member of the Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition, on the main stage.

Berna Ellorin was the only Filipino speaker during the April 10 rally.

The Filipino contingent convened and marched from Wall Street in Downtown Manhattan and eventually joined the broader Queens-based Immigrant Communities in Action contingent that marched to the main rally site in front of City Hall.

A large Philippine flag marked the contingent alongside the flags of J4I member groups Anakbayan, Migrante International, Philippine Forum and Bayan USA.

Several Filipinos passing by and working in the Wall Street area noticed the Philippine flag flying high within the massive crowd and joined the J4I Contingent on site.

Among the coalitions concrete demands are legalization for undocumented persons, swift family reunification, no to the criminalization of immigrants and their supporters, and full worker protection and rights for immigrants.

The coalition is also adamantly opposed to and denounces the passing of U.S. House Resolution 4437 (HR 4437) last December.

“We Filipinos must assert our basic human right to live in dignity and with the opportunity for economic prosperity, and will tolerate no immigration system that sees us as subhuman and treats immigrants as modern-day slaves. Filipinos are joining this growing and unstoppable immigrant rights movement in the U.S., even as the Arroyo government back home is shamelessly bowing down to U.S. dictates and not lifting a finger to protect us,” Ellorin continued.

Marchers in the broad Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Contingent on April 10 included members of Filipino American Human Services Inc. (FAHSI), Sandiwa National Filipino-American Youth, Sumisibol, Anakbayan, Philippine Forum, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Migrante International, Bayan USA, Movement for a Free Philippines, Kinding Sindaw and the Critical Filipino/Filipina Studies Collective.

J4I is actively calling on all Filipinos to participate in a Filipino community vigil for immigration reform on April 23, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Philippine Forum Office, 54-05 Seabury Street in Elmhurst, Queens.

The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition is also organizing a Filipino contingent to join the next massive, nationally-coordinated immigrant rights rally on May 1, 4 p.m., in Manhattan’s Union Square.