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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President Duterte’s continued defilement of our sovereignty allowed China to dictate the Philippine government’s implementation of the Build, Build, Build program. Aside from placing our natural resources and other national assets as collateral, the ludicrous favour extended by the regime towards Chinese firms and contractors further ordained China’s displacement of its workers as seen in the influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines. This condition only proves that Duterte’s infrastructure madness does not truly generate employment opportunities for Filipino workers.

Image source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/files/2016/08/39634473_L.jpg

Contrary to the Duterte regime’s original bloated hype that the Build, Build, Build program will provide more employment opportunities for Filipinos at home, the Philippines is actually facing the worst jobless “growth” since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. In May last year, Budge Secretary Benjamin Diokno wooed OFWs to take advantage of the government’s program which in his projection is set to generate 1.1 Million jobs annually. However, thousands of Filipinos continue to leave the country daily for overseas employment and the Philippines still has the highest unemployment rate in the ASEAN region.

The government’s $24 Billion debt laden infrastructure deal he signed with China in 2016 is now increasingly marred with controversies following an exposé spearheaded by former Bayan Muna representative Neri Colmenares disclosing the one-sided provisions in the US$62 Million loan agreement for the Chico River Irrigation Pump project.

Migrante does not subscribe to the view that Chinese workers are to be blamed for stealing jobs from Filipinos. It is the unequal trade and investment agreement signed by Duterte with China that is depriving Filipinos of employment opportunities.

In its on-going trade war with the US, China has crafted the US$1 Trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) heightening its superpower ambitions by seeking a larger control over global trade through directing the entry of Chinese state-owned and private firms that require hiring Chinese workers. Remittances from overseas Chinese workers would allow China to increase its foreign currency reserves.

Unlike in traditional migrant-receiving countries, the influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines is not due to a shortage in our local labour pool but because of the conditions imposed by China’s investments and loans to the Philippines.

We find the Duterte government’s claim that Filipino workers are unskilled as abhorrent. Under the regime’s thrust of drooling over loans and enormous importations of construction materials from China, Duterte is literally pump-priming China’s economy at the expense of Filipinos and our country’s sovereignty. Since these projects will increase property values in the Philippines, it is only the ruling elite who will benefit while the 99 % will bear the brunt of a jobless and debt-stricken economy.

Chinese and Filipino workers alike are victims to this unequal treaty signed by the Duterte regime with China. The exploitative labour conditions perpetrated by China and its corporations are not secretly shrouded. Under China’s Belt and Road Initiative which is now ravaging in other countries, there have been documented cases of lowly-paid and illegally trafficked Chinese workers who experienced exploitative and hazardous working conditions. This is totally the same story with many of our overseas Filipino workers.

Migrant workers are not criminals. Their right to live and work in dignity and security must be respected regardless of whether they are documented or undocumented. Let us not allow the Duterte regime and the government of China to treat migrants as bargaining chips in their onerous loan agreements.

Junk the unequal trade agreements between the Philippines and China! Reject the unequal conditions tied to the aid imposed by China! Uphold Philippine sovereignty!

Advance genuine land reform and national industrialization! Duterte’s Build, Build, Build will not bring about genuine industrialization and jobs!

No to the criminalization and exploitation of undocumented migrants and workers!

Filipino migrant and workers stand in solidarity with Chinese migrants and workers!

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Migrante International stands in solidarity with Chinese and Filipino workers who are victims of the labour export program implemented by China and by the Duterte regime. We denounce the racist antagonism being sown by xenophobes that seek to set workers from both countries against each other.

PHOTO SOURCE: http://media.interaksyon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Construction-workers-against-the-sun.jpg

Migrants are not criminals and their right to live in dignity and security must be respected regardless of whether they are documented or undocumented. Everyday, they endure the pain of banishment from their places of origin just to bring food on the table for their loved ones back home. It is only rightful that they be treated just as the way we want overseas Filipino workers to be treated in any host country.

The influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines only proves that Duterte’s Build Build Build program is a failure and does not really generate employment opportunities for our own Filipino workers. Instead, Filipinos are only being burdened of subsidizing the private profit of wealthy capitalists and big private contractors through Duterte’s TRAIN Law.

It is also a testament to the failure of China to improve the lives of its own workers in its adoption of the capitalist system of production. As a result, China is now involved in the capitalist exploitation not only of its own workers but that of the labour forces of other countries. It is taking advantage of the Neoliberal policies being adhered to by countries like the Philippines to establish its emerging imperialist ascendancy. China’s capitalist disposition of placing profit over people is fueling labour unrest among mainland Chinese workers.

Conclusively, it is President Duterte himself who provoked Filipinos over the threat to our country’s sovereignty by providing a bigger sway to China in dictating how the Philippine government will go about with implementing its Build Build Build program. Just as how it is done in the Philippines, China intends to address its economic slowdown and tame the resentment of Chinese workers by luring them to overseas employment. We see this as one way China can boost its foreign currency reserves through remittances to mitigate the effects of its ongoing trade war with the US, its main imperialist rival.

Migrante International fully stands in solidarity with Filipino migrant children in Israel who are now facing detention and deportation. We feel despair that young Filipino children have been victimized twice by an unjust cycle of forced migration. Due to the scarcity of opportunities in the Philippines, their parents left for Israel to experience a better life for themselves and for their children. They belong to millions of overseas Filipinos who were stricken by the Philippine government’s labour export program wherein Filipinos are marketed to foreign countries so that they can keep the economy afloat through their remittances and the various state exactions imposed by state institutions.

We lament that once again, these families are being forcibly evicted anew from a place which for many years they have learned to love as their home. Once they get back to the Philippines, these children and their families will have to adjust to an even harsher life that may eventually drive them to search for greener pastures in other countries where they are likely to face the same challenges they have experienced in Israel. Such is the cycle of forced migration that hounds not only Filipino migrants in Israel but likewise their compatriots in other countries.

As advocates for migrants’ rights and welfare, our position is firm that migrant families and children do not deserve to be treated like outcasts. Migrants are not criminals. No person should be declared illegal on the basis of their nationality or status and they deserve to be given the chance to integrate in society, most especially children who were born and have lived all their lives in the host country.

Importantly, it is incumbent that the roots of forced migration in the Philippines like landlessness among farmers, unemployment, homelessness, and the absence of national industrialization be addressed by the Philippine government so that no Filipino would ever have to leave their country out of necessity and hopelessness.

Lastly, we extend our gratefulness to the United Children of Israel (UCI) who have come to the aid of these Filipino children. We appreciate the support they provide to Filipino migrants in these trying times. It is our utmost hope that advocacy work for the rights and welfare of migrants and children continue to flourish in Israel, the Philippines and in the rest of the world.

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