Migrante International denounces the March 13th press briefing held by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Presidential Communications Office (PCOO) as a desperate attempt to silence the growing people’s movement in the Philippines and in the international community who are outspoken and critical of the large-scale human rights violations committed by the Duterte Administration.

Image source: https://www.icc-cpi.int/itemsImages/pr1343.jpg?RenditionID=28

The Philippine government’s so-called “truth mission” to Europe to discredit and malign respected people’s organizations and institutions who for decades have been bravely defending the human rights of the poor, most oppressed and marginalized in Philippine society only exposes their failed efforts to cover up their shameful record.

It is clear from the presentation given by Brigadier General Antonio Parlade and other government officials that they did not have sufficient evidence and documentation to prove to the officials of the European Union, Belgian Foreign Ministry and United Nations that certain Filipino people’s organizations they are giving financial support to are linked to “terrorist groups”. Their list of legal organizations supposedly acting as cover for “terrorist organizations” is baseless and becomes a target list for harassment, surveillance and killings carried out by the State with impunity.

While they boast to European officials that human rights are being “promoted, protected, and fulfilled” in the Philippines, people’s organizations throughout the country have diligently and carefully documented countless data, testimonies and stories of systematic violations of civil, economic, social and political rights of the Filipino people, including the killings of human rights defenders since Duterte took office.

Meanwhile, the Philippine government’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) likewise proves that the Duterte regime is hell-bent on quashing actions that undertake independent and impartial probe into the human rights situation in the Philippines. Migrante International wholly supports the statement of ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda vowing to continue the preliminary investigation into the killings under President Duterte’s fake war on drugs that has claimed thousands upon thousands of lives.

It is the right of the most oppressed sectors of Philippine society to expose the truth about their conditions and express their outrage at their government who is responsible for the systemic injustices they are facing everyday. It is not a crime for people’s organizations to actively engage in advocacy, education and lobbying efforts and utilize international platforms such as the United Nations to lift up their grave concerns. It is not a crime nor a “scam” if the Filipino people forms alliances, coalitions and partnerships with other people’s organizations all over the world who are similarly struggling for the same basic human rights which they are denied by their own governments. International solidarity is not “an obligation of developed countries to help developing countries” but a duty of oppressed peoples all over the world who are fighting for genuine democracy, freedom, peace and justice to support each other.

Migrante International fully supports immediate investigations and fact-finding missions by the UN, EU and International Criminal Court to understand the real human rights situation in the Philippines.

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Migrante Aotearoa condemns the violent attack against our Muslim brothers and sisters in Christchurch. Reports of death rose to 49 and several injured are still being treated at this stage. No specific information on the casualties’ nationalities have been yet released but we have not received any report that a Filipino was hurt after the incident. We have been monitoring reports and continuously in contact with our coordinator based in Christchurch.

We are calling on our fellow Filipinos to be vigilant and work together with all peace-loving New Zealanders in promoting respect and wellbeing for all. Prime Minister Jacinda Arden stated that these extremists are trying to destroy New Zealand because of our diversity and rejection of racism but they will not win. We are united and will continue to uphold our values of kindness and compassion.

Just barely a day before we observe International Women’s Day, our hearts were bruised anew by the agony of a Filipino household worker in Hongkong who was terminated after being diagnosed with stage three (3) cervical cancer.  Losing her access to medical treatment, Baby Jane Allas has only two weeks left before she is sent back to the Philippines. A single mother of 5 children, a bleak prospect awaits her in the Philippines as she fights for her life and her family’s future.

Her tribulations epitomize the plight of many Filipino migrant women. Like Baby Jane Allas, many domestic workers succumb either to physical illness or mental disorders due to their subjection to maltreatment and inhumane working conditions. In January, a 39-year old domestic helper was executed in Saudi Arabia. Now, another Filipina waits for her fate after the Saudi Court of Appeals maintained her 2017 death sentence.

As one Filipina to the next gets queued to the gallows under the government’s labour export program, the dearth of opportunities in the Philippines continues to banish millions of Filipino women to the far ends of the earth; enduring even the most dangerous and demeaning jobs overseas employment could offer.

Under the US-Duterte regime, the misery of Filipino women has increased a thousand-fold. Every single report about domestic workers being sexually assaulted by their employers elicits our indignation but what we got right here is a president who tried to draw out comical reactions from his audience while recounting his account of molesting their household helper.

In an event hosted by DTI officials in January, President Duterte rationalized rape as a cultural practice and as a matter of “territory.” In the same speech, Duterte described OFW families as dysfunctional. He added that in the absence of the mother, it is the daughter that takes her place. Who would ever forget his order to shoot female rebels in the vagina since according to Duterte they are good for nothing without it? Likewise, Duterte assured soldiers last year that they can rape up to three women with impunity. No other president in Philippine history has ever derogated women more spitefully than President Rodrigo Duterte.

His misogynist remarks demonstrate his view and treatment of women as low caste citizens. Since violence against women comes in many forms, state violence has exacerbated under Duterte’s watch. The attack against press freedom as seen in the arrest of Rappler’s Maria Ressa, the Sagay 9 massacre which claimed the lives of 4 women and 2 minors, the intensifying persecution of activists and the social injustices being perpetrated against female workers in the country are just some of the countless attacks that Filipino women go through.

In the peasant sector, Duterte’s Rice Tariffication Law will drive more rice farmers to landlessness as the government opens the floodgates of cheap imported rice. This will force farmers to sell their lands to greedy property developers and landlords. Food insecurity along with the rising cost of living torments Filipino women who grapple with the ill effects of Duterte’s TRAIN Law.

Due to unjust labour practices like contractualization and the absence of a national minimum wage, many Filipino women are forced into modern-day slavery upon deployment overseas. As usual, the government does nothing to save our troubled workers and migrants from the entangling roots of forced migration.

The Duterte regime doesn’t spare a word or bullet in his ferocious attacks against peasant and working women who stand to assert their rights. He has turned the country into a massive blood basin. Yet as how it has been in the days of old, the recognition of women’s rights were not attained without heroic struggle.

Parallel to observing International Women’s Day to honour women of the working class and those from the peasant sector, it is likewise a day of protest to fight against the razing plagues of feudal oppression, bureaucrat-capitalist exploitation and imperialist aggression that not only subjugate millions of women here in the Philippines but billions of women around the world.

Today, Migrante International joins in solidarity with all women who have chosen the path of struggle for liberation and democracy. Filipino women migrants are bravely lifting their banners high with indefatigable allegiance and faith to the masses as we wage our battles against all forms of oppression and exploitation ravaging under the US-Duterte regime.

Fight the US-Duterte regime’s macho-Fascist reign of terror!

Rise for women’s dignity! Unite for real change!

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Migrante International considers the purported intention of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to impose a 90 % reduction on the deployment of construction workers overseas due to local demand for Duterte’s Build, Build, Build projects as very misleading. In reality, there has been a huge decrease in the deployment of construction workers in typical destinations like Saudi and other Middle Eastern countries due to the economic downturn in the region.

Image source: https://static.rappler.com/images/construction-worker-afp-20140202.jpg

An ever-increasing number of big construction companies in Saudi Arabia are failing to meet their obligations to their employees and labourers. What the Duterte administration is not telling us in relation to the Middle East crisis is that this has led to thousands of stranded and distressed OFWs in Saudi who have been clamouring for immediate repatriation.

On top of the economic crisis, Middle Eastern countries like Saudi and Qatar are vigorously implementing the nationalization (Saudization, Qatarization, etc.) of their labour sector. Saudi Arabia is already beginning to curtail the issuance of job orders as it proceeds to prioritize its own nationals in job placements.

Based on POEA figures, the overseas deployment of construction labourers and welders experienced a 31 % plunge in 2017. This is several times bigger than the average or overall 4 % drop in the total deployment of OFWs in the same period. DOLE’s attempt to smokescreen the real situation by citing Duterte’s Build, Build, Build is pure deception.

We see this as the Duterte regime’s mode of seeking damage control on the issue of its onerous deals with China which highly favoured Chinese contractors that require placement of Chinese workers. This is highly suspicious considering the timing of DOLE’s pronouncement of the 90 % deployment decrease was made just after its high-level committee meeting with other government agencies wherein they sought to address the issue on the influx of foreign workers in the Philippines.

Imposing a cut back on overseas deployment will not address the issues of Filipino workers. In fact, it goes against their desire to get their families off the hook from the rising prices of goods due to Duterte’s TRAIN Law and the agony of underpaid work caused by low wages. Filipino workers can only dream of having in their own country the benefits of free services like housing, free transportation, food and medical care which many have experienced overseas before the crisis began.  Many Filipino labourers are wary that the absence of these free benefits and services in the Philippines will only exacerbate the seasonal nature of their project-based contractual occupation.

Clearly, the Duterte regime has no intent in building the conditions that will make Filipino workers stay in the country as it refuses to reverse the government’s anti-worker policies that perpetuate contractualization, low wages, hazardous working conditions, absence of benefits and poor social services.

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