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MIGRANTE International: Clemency for Mary Jane Veloso!
Following the inauguration of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on October 20, Migrante International calls on Prabowo to grant clemency and freedom for Mary Jane Veloso at the soonest time possible. We appeal to the new president of Indonesia to protect victims of human trafficking and end the fourteen years of Mary Jane’s suffering on death row and prison.
Mary Jane Veloso comes from a family of poor farmers and is a mother of two. Desperate to provide for her family in a country lacking stable jobs, Veloso accepted an offer to work as a domestic helper in Malaysia but was instead deceived and swindled by illegal recruiters into carrying luggage containing drugs into Indonesia in 2010. Mary Jane was arrested, put on trial in a language that she did not know, and sentenced to death. The global campaign to save her life and widespread protests and clamor in 2015 resulted in the arrest of her traffickers and her scheduled execution was stayed.
Mary Jane is still on death row to this day, her road to freedom fraught with delays in her legal case in the Philippines. Nine years since charges of human trafficking were brought to Mary Jane’s recruiters in Nueva Ecija, no significant progress has been made on the part of the PH government to speed up the process of taking Mary Jane’s testimony in Indonesia to aid in the legal case. Moreover, Marcos Jr. himself failed to appeal directly for clemency for Mary Jane during former President Jokowi’s Manila visit earlier this year. The Marcos Jr. administration must do away with its sluggishness and delays that are tantamount to years of denying justice for Mary Jane. In future talks with Prabowo, the PH government must demonstrate a sense of urgency and political will to secure Mary Jane’s freedom and bring her home to her family.
For fourteen years, Mary Jane and her family have fought with sheer determination to prove her innocence, raising awareness about the struggles of women migrant workers who become victims of human trafficking. It is our hope that President Prabowo will demonstrate compassion and wisdom and set an example of commitment to combating human trafficking in the region of Southeast Asia by granting Mary Jane clemency and immediate release.
We call on migrant, women and human rights advocates all over the world to stand with Mary Jane and her family and join our call in appealing to the new Indonesian government to grant clemency for Mary Jane on humanitarian grounds. Our determination to fight for Mary Jane’s freedom stops with no government in Manila or Jakarta.
Clemency and Freedom for Mary Jane Veloso!
Seafarers Summit Inilunsad
September 30. SEANetwork Seafarers Summit
Dinaluhan ng mga marino mula sa iba’t ibang organisasyon ang isang pagtitipon para muling talakayin ang Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers na isa nang ganap na batas na pinirmahan ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. nitong Setyembre 23.
Kabilang sa mga pangunahing naglilinaw ng mga kahinaan ng batas sina Atty. Edwin DELA CRUZ, Atty. Joseph ENTERO, Engr. Xavier BAYONETA ng Concerned Seafarers of the Philippines, Rep. Arlene BROSAS, ng GABRIELA WOMEN’S PARTY, Liza MAZA, Co-convenor ng MAKABAYAN Coalition, at Atty. Neri COLMENARES, unang nominado ng BAYAN MUNA PARTYLIST. Inihapag ng mga tagapagsalita ang mga dapat gawin na sinang-ayunan ng mga delegado sa pagtitipon kabilang ang pagkwestyon sa Korte Suprema at parlamento ng lansangan dahil sa mga probisyon ng batas na labag sa konstitusyon at mga kontra-marino.
N. Bacarra/Kodao
Libreng Serbisyo sa mga Gusto ng Repatriation!
Mga Kagyat na Panawagan ng mga OFW sa Gobyerno ng Pilipinas sa Panahon ng Amnesty
Sa halos tatlong linggong lumipas nang sinumulan ng gobyerno ng United Arab Emirates ang Amnesty program nito, nasa 20,000 ng mga expatriates ang pumaloob sa unang linggo ng programang ito, 2,053 dito ay mga Pilipino. Sa ulat ng Migrant Workers Office at Philippine Embassy ay nasa 200 nang mga kababayan ang nag-avail ng repatriation. Mula sa datos na ito ay napakaliit ng bilang na ito, dahil sa tantya natin ay napakalaking bilang pa mga Pilipino ang may problema sa kanilang mga dokumento.
Ipinararating ng maraming OFW sa Migrante Middle East ang maraming dahilan kung bakit kakaunti pa lamang ang pumapaloob sa Amnesty program. Isa sa mga dahilan nito ay ang napakalaking gastusin para sa pag-aayos nito. Sa bahagi ng mga Pilipino na gusto pang magtrabaho o manatili sa UAE, kailangang ayusin ang pag-aaply ng bagong passport na may gastusin na humigit kumulang 700AED kasama pa dito ang dagdag na gastusin na pinapataw ng UAE sa pag-aayos ng papel para sa Amnesty tulad ng translation fee(80AED)at iba pang fees.
Nasa 1,100AED ang aabutin ng gastusin na napakabigat para sa OFW’s na walang regular na trabaho. Dahil dito, isa sa mga panawagan ng mga OFW ay suspendihin ang paniningil ng passport fee na pinapataw ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas at maglaan ng ayudang pinansyal ang gobyerno ng Pipinas para sa mga bayarin na sinisingil ng gobyerno ng UAE
Marami sa mga OFW’s ay gusto pang manatili sa UAE para makahanap ng trabaho dahil sa kawalang katiyakan sa kabuhayan sa Pilipinas. Kaya malaking ginhawa para sa mga OFW’s kung sususpendihin ang Passport fee at magbibigay ng ayudang pinansyal para sa pag-aayos ng mga papel. Dagdag pa sa rekisito na hindi makakapagpalit ng status sa loob ng bansa kung walang pang handang employer na magbigay ng working visa.
Sa kalagayan na wala pang employer, parehong pag-aayos ng mga papeles ang prosesong dadaanan. Kailangan lumabas ng UAE at magpunta sa mga bansa sa Asya labas sa GCC at Europa para maging tourist visa holder. Ang ganitong proseso ay napakalaking gastusin at walang katiyakan kung sa loob ng dalawang buwan ay makakahanap na ng trabaho.
Marami sa mga kababayan natin ay gustong pumaloob sa amnesty at makahanap ng bagong trabaho sa UAE. Natutulak ang malawak na sambayanan Pilipino sa ganitong sitwasyon dahil sa Labor Export Program at kawalan ng trabaho sa Pilipinas. May malalim na pinag-uugatan sa kaaayusang panlipunan ng Pilipinas kung bakit ganito ang kalagayan ng mga OFW at ito ay dapat na solusyunan sa pamamagitan ng tunay na reporma sa lupa at makabayang industralisasyon , at pagtamo ng tunay na kalayaan at demokrasya. Pero sa kagyat , dapat na akuin na responsibilidad ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas na bigyan ng tulong pinansyal at libreng serbisyo ang lahat ng Migranteng Pilipino na gustong pumaloob sa Repatriation , gayundin ang mga gusto pang manatili sa UAE.
Sa kasalukuyan na nakasalang sa pagtatalakay sa kamara ang budget ng Department of Migrant Workers hindi katangtap-tangap na imbes na dagdagan ay babawasan pa ang budget ng departamento. Dahil sa dumadaming problema ng ating mga kababayan sa labas ng bansa marapat lang na dagdagan pa ang budget lalo ang para sa Aksyon fund at gawin itong accessible para sa lahat ng Migranteng Pilipino.
Bilang kahilingan ng mga OFW sa UAE, ikinakampanya ng Migrante ang mga sumusunod na kagyat na panawagan:
Passport fee gawing Libre!
Ayudang Pinansyal sa pagproseso ng mga papel para sa Amnesty!
Libreng serbisyo sa mga gusto ng Repatriation!
Tutulan ang pagbabawas ng badyet para sa DMW!
Aksyon o Saklolo Fund gawing accesssible sa OFW!
End U.S.-backed Israeli terrorism in the Middle East!
September 26, 2024
Stop the genocide in Palestine! No to imperialist-driven war!
BAYAN USA, Migrante Middle East, and Commission 15 of the International League of People’s Struggles (ILPS) emphatically condemn Israel’s recent escalation of terrorist attacks on the Arab masses in the region as it continues its genocidal assault of the Palestinian people.
There has been no let up in Israel’s genocidal rampage against Gaza almost one year after October 7. The Israeli Occupation Forces continue to bombard refugee camps, such as its war crime in Khan Yunis earlier this month that vaporized the remains of entire Palestinian families with 2,000 pound bombs. According to the most recent medical studies, Israel’s genocide will cost the lives of at lest 186,000 Palestinians.
In response to Israel’s brutality, Arab resistance movements in the region have lent their support to the Palestinian cause. With eyes trained on occupying a greater swath of the Middle East, Israel has taken this moment to carte blanche attack other countries. In the past two weeks, it coordinated a complex terrorist attack by exploding pagers and other communication devices within Lebanon, killing dozens and injuring thousands. It met retaliatory missile fire from Lebanon with a barrage of its own missiles, killing almost 1,000 Lebanese people in the past week, including Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah. The assassination — which happened almost concurrently as Benjamin Netanyahu lied through his teeth to the United Nations General Assembly saying “Israel seeks peace” — is sure to fan the flames of regional war. That the zionist forces have the bloodthirst to commit these kinds of war crimes while still subjugating the Palestinian people shows just how bankrupt and rotten the state of Israel truly is.
But Israel is far from alone. The attacks against the Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni, and Arab peoples throughout the region would not be possible without the military financing, arms, and political and moral support provided by U.S. imperialism. Both U.S. presidential aspirants — Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party and Donald Trump for the Republican Party — have wholeheartedly defended the lie that Israel has a “right to defend itself.” Even Harris, who some have praised for calling for a ceasefire, has done nothing substantial to stop the steady flow of weapons to Israel. In fact, the Biden-Harris administration has even deployed more naval warships to the region, signaling that she was serious when she stated she would ensure the U.S. military remains the “most lethal fighting force in the world.”
BAYAN USA and Migrante Middle East, together with the ILPS Commission 15 on migrants, refugees and diaspora displaced by imperialism, continue our resolute solidarity with the Palestinian, Lebanese, and all Arab masses against U.S.-Israeli terror. We also know that any act of aggression by U.S. imperialism and Israeli war criminals also places the Filipino masses in danger, as millions of overseas Filipinos work in Palestine, Lebanon, and across the whole Middle East region because of the Philippine government’s systematic labor export program. Our best defense against such attacks is to link arms with our Arab brothers, sisters, and siblings to build the anti-imperialist and anti-fascist united front against our common enemies.
We call for peace based on justice in the Middle East — and that justice means a free Palestine, a free Lebanon, a free Yemen, and freedom for all Arab peoples under the yolk of U.S. imperialism and its zionist project.
Free Palestine! End U.S.-backed Israeli war crimes! U.S. out of the Middle East! U.S. out of everywhere!
Sara Duterte, Itinatakwil ng Migranteng Pilipino
September 27, 2024
From the halls of Congress to overseas Filipino communities, it is clear that Sara Duterte is unfit to continue as vice president.
Duterte is abusing billions of pesos in public funds taxed from OFWs. She refuses to explain her office’s budget abuses through the anomalous spending of confidential intelligence funds. Children of OFWs are now suffering from poorer access to quality education because DepEd funds were misused during Duterte’s term as education secretary. At every budget hearing, she continues to evade accountability for irregularities in public spending under her watch. Sara Duterte is drawing the ire of Filipino migrants and their families around the world.
Migrants and their families are sick of dishonest and corrupt governance from the likes of Sara Duterte. Her abuses of public funds and betrayals of trust cannot be tolerated, even by Filipinos abroad. We welcome and stand behind the growing clamor to #ImpeachSaraDuterte. This September 27, we pledge to turn the nationwide noise barrage against Duterte into a worldwide noise barrage for transparent and accountable governance.
