On the IHRD – HKCARPP Reaffirms its Solidarity with the Filipino People in their Struggle for Just Peace

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December 10, 2024

On the IHRD – HKCARPP Reaffirms its Solidarity with the Filipino People in their Struggle for Just Peace

For over 19 years, the Hong Kong Campaign for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCHARPP) has tirelessly campaigned to build solidarity for the Filipino people’s work towards just and lasting peace.

Today, the world marks the 76th anniversary of International Human Rights Day. On this day, we aim to highlight how the human rights crisis in the Philippines has worsened under the Marcos Jr. regime – both for communities in the Philippines and for Filipino migrants working abroad. As part of the international response to this point, the Hong Kong Campaign for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP) held their annual cultural night for human rights in the Philippines on the 7th of December.

Over the course of the evening, over 70 attendees gathered to hear and watch different kinds of cultural performances while learning more about the human rights crisis in the Philippines. Performers came from different backgrounds and countries, to share their talents with the audiences and express their solidarity with the Filipino peoples dreams for just and lasting peace. Connected by the fact they all are currently living and working in Hong Kong, performances included songs, dances and poetry.

The evening opened with Amirah “Mek” Lidasan joining us via zoom to share first hand updates on the human rights crisis. Lidasan is a patriotic Moro leader from the Philippines who has dedicated her life to actively fighting for the rights, peace and culture of the Moro and Indigenous peoples. Lidasan spoke about the current struggles of indigenous and Moro communities in Mindanao and across the Philippines to protect their ancestral land and culture as well as their struggles against rising human rights violations including denial of right education.

Members of HKCAHRPP performed a cultural interpretation to the song “Freedom of Education”, featuring the struggle of the Lumad (indigenous) children from Mindanao and their dreams to go to school in their land without members of the Philippine military using their school for war games. Schools that have been shuttered by the Philippine government over the past two years. HKCAHRPP members visited Mindanao this past summer and met Lumad students, who all shared of dreams and determination to move back to the ancestral lands and reopen the schools.

Throughout the evening, poems were read in English and Tagalog from “…And So We Write”, the first ever poetry zine released by HKCAHRPP on the night. All original poems written by HKCAHRPP members and Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong, told the stories of the realities of Filipino farmers, indigenous peoples, and communities to protect their lives, families, and the importance of international solidarity.

The evening also featured a time of remembering the martyrs, human rights defenders, farmers, women, and activist who have lost their lives in the Philippines this year and those who have disappeared without a trace. We also recognized those who are facing the ongoing human rights violations and red-tagging of the Philippine government while urban poor and farming communities are neglected. We know that the attacks and targets of the Philippine government reaches overseas to Filipino migrant workers, by red-tagging those who are holding the government accountable for its neglect of the welfare of Filipino workers abroad, including Filipino migrants here in Hong Kong. We also recognized the countless martyrs in Palestine who have been killed in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West bank.

Finishing with a closing solidarity action, attendees were invited to sign and add their slogans to two banners with the call Foster a Just Peace in the Philippines! as a sign of ongoing commitment to expand our solidarity with the Filipino people.

Beyond a one night event, HKCHARPP and those gathered expressed their steadfast and growing solidarity with the Filipino people in their struggle for just and lasting peace in their country. HKCAHRPP joins with the international community in strengthening our support to the Filipino people. We call upon all peace-loving people in Hong Kong to join with us in building the broadest solidarity support to advance the struggle for just and lasting peace in the Philippines.

National freedom & democracy will realize migrant and human rights

Pinoy Abrod

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December 10, 2024

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National freedom & democracy will realize migrant and human rights

On the 76th commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Migrante International and its chapters of overseas Filipino organizations around the world assert that full realization of our migrant and human rights entails our achievement of national freedom and the democratic demands of our people.

Through genuine agrarian reform, we can realize the economic rights of millions of landless peasants by ending feudal and semifeudal land monopolies. We can uphold the dignity of millions of exploited Filipino workers by asserting people’s control and building of basic industries in our homeland. By achieving national freedom, we can end decades of oppressive and foreign plunder of our land and people.

After countless violations of the rights and dignities of migrant workers, the millions of Filipinos overseas and their families are together with the toiling masses back home in wanting these basic demands. We realize that upending the social bases of the Labor Export Program is the solution we need to end decades of forced migration, human trafficking, and labor exploitation. To achieve our national democratic demands, we must come together in opposing the US-backed Marcos Jr. regime as it tramples on human rights on a widespread scale to uphold the rotten order.

We continue to charge Marcos Jr. for his gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Following his guilty verdict for war crimes during the 2024 International People’s Tribunal, cases of extrajudicial killings, abductions and enforced disappearances, bombing and forced internal displacement, and the use of terror laws against dissenters and ordinary people have continued to pile up.

Marcos continues decades of state policy of suppressing dissent against worsening economic crises under his rule. Wages are unlivable for the vast majority of workers. Prices of basic goods continue to spiral up. Landlessness and forced displacement is a harsh reality for peasants. The budget for social services for the people continues to be pilfered by the Marcoses and their corrupt cronies. Under US dictates, Marcos continues to ramp up military spending instead of supporting migrants and the entire toiling masses.

As the Marcoses escalate their feud with the Duterte clique for their own gain, we must also continue to hold the Dutertes accountable for their own violations of the people’s basic rights. Rodrigo Duterte must be jailed for the blood of thousands of Filipinos on his hands for his dirty wars on “drugs” and “insurgency”. Sara Duterte must be impeached for losing public trust after plundering confidential and intelligence funds under the OVP and DepEd.

We Filipino migrants, who make immeasurable contributions to our economy and society, cannot tolerate the Dutertes for wasting public funds and waging wars on the poor. We cannot allow the Marcoses to continue doing the same as they bicker and threaten each other over the “prize” of ruling the country. Their political families represent the most rotten state of politics in our country, commit gross crimes against our people, and deny our aspirations for land, livelihood, and rights. To realize our human rights and aspirations to return to a liberated Philippines, we must continue to organize, march, and remove the Marcoses and Dutertes as obstacles towards our goal of genuine freedom and democracy.

Marcos, singilin! Duterte, panagutin!

Compatriots – NDFP condemns latest U.S. schemes to drag the country into war with China and the people into its counterinsurgency attacks

Pinoy Abrod

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November 29, 2024

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November 29, 2024. The revolutionary mass movement of Filipinos overseas represented by Compatriots-NDFP denounces the signing of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and opening of the Combined Coordination Center (CCC) between the United States and the Philippines. Both were announced in quick succession during U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to the country last week.

The GSOMIA allows the exchange of highly confidential military intelligence that would also pave the way for access to more sophisticated weapons from the U.S., including missile systems. The CCC on the other hand would operate as de facto U.S. base within Camp Aguinaldo, similar to other bases established under the unequal Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Both the GSOMIA and CCC are being touted as major steps to secure the Philippines from aggressive attacks from China as well as provide humanitarian assistance. In reality, these moves will only serve to drag the Philippines and the Filipino people into a U.S.-provoked war with China, as well as further intensify the state’s counterinsurgency against the Filipino people’s just revolution for national and social liberation.

We are not naive to the fact that the U.S. has been ramping up its military support to the Philippines so that it can supposedly crush the People’s Democratic Revolution and focus its efforts on “external defense” against China. Rather than bring safety and security, the masses will be placed in further danger, especially those in the countryside where the sharing of intelligence and arms has been weaponized against civilian communities and the people’s army with no distinction. The establishment of a de facto U.S. base in the heart of Manila and the ability to bring in more dangerous U.S. weapons only makes the Philippines a bigger target for China, as Chinese officials had already warned when the U.S. positioned a Typhon missile system in Ilocos for the 2024 Balikatan War Games.

Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr.’s statement that the new agreement and center would allow the Filipino people “the freedom to do what one wants without being a stooge of what party have you” is a bare-faced lie. The GSOMIA, CCC, and all other forms of U.S. military intervention and agreements put the Philippines further under the boot of U.S. imperialism, the Filipino people’s sworn enemy. Our freedom can only be achieved through national democratic revolution and by ousting US Imperialism from our homeland. Filipinos overseas, join the fight for a Philippines free from U.S. intervention and for a country that we can return home to without the threat of U.S. backed counterinsurgency and war!

Defend Migrant Workers! Proteksyon, hindi deportasyon!

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November 27, 2024

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Defend Migrant Workers! Proteksyon, hindi deportasyon!

On November, 23, 2024, more than 70 Filipinos and community supporters rallied in front of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles to demand that the Philippine government defend undocumented Filipinos and migrant workers ahead of anticipated mass deportations under the incoming Trump administration.

During a “one news” interview posted on November 19, Philippine Ambassador to the U.S., Jose Romualdez, announced that Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Eduardo de Vega, would visit Los Angeles that weekend to discuss ways to support undocumented Filipinos. This announcement came weeks after Romualdez received backlash for recklessly advising Filipinos to self-deport given Trump’s election.

Despite the alleged meeting to discuss addressing concerns of undocumented Filipinos, there was no public notice on the Philippine Consulate or Embassy’s websites inviting community members to provide input.

Given the widespread fear and concern for the safety and livelihood among at least 300,000 undocumented Filipinos in the U.S. and their families, Migrante USA alongside BAYAN USA gathered concerns from Filipino migrants across the U.S. seeking to demand the following from our government:

Do NOT cooperate with the US Department of Homeland Security in any manner, especially not to deport, harass, or surveil our kababayan. Support with the release of Filipino Nationals in ICE detention, including Jovi, Dhenmark, and Ligaya, and ensure their welfare.
Provide immediate assistance and support to undocumented Filipinos. Remove barriers to accessing services and aid, such as asking for documentation status. Provide factual and correct information and resources on the rights and welfare of undocumented Filipinos in Tagalog other Philippine languages; do not spread misinformation.
Stop refusing to meet with Filipino Nationals in Distress! Assist them immediately, including immediate assistance to the Florida 15, United 6, Amity Workers, and other Filipino migrant workers facing trafficking and wage theft. Hold abusive Filipino employers accountable, including pushing for prosecution in the Philippines as applicable. In addition, release ATN to Filipino workers facing homelessness & evictions.
End all surveillance and intimidation of Filipinos seeking government support, as well as those advocating for economic justice and opposing political repression.
Be transparent with the DFA and DMW budget and give priority to services, rights, and welfare. No to funds for pork barrel, surveillance and war!
Ensure job stability, regular hours, living wages, & safe working conditions in the Philippines in order to sustain Filipinos and our families in the country and keep our families together.

Para sa mga kababayan: kapag tayo ay nagsama-sama at nagkakaisa, hindi natin kailangang matakot. Ipagtanggol natin ang ating mga karapatan. Makibaka, huwag matakot!

We call on our fellow Filipinos to come together to protect our community and fight for our rights and welfare. Join an organization. Join the national democratic movement. Defend migrant workers!

Pahayag ng Migrante Middle East sa pagbisita ni PBBM sa UAE

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November 26, 2024

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Pahayag ng Migrante Middle East sa pagbisita ni PBBM sa UAE

Trabaho sa Pilipinas, Hindi sa Labas!

Sa darating na Nobyembre 26, 2024 ay nakatakdang bumisita si Pangulong Marcos sa United Arab Emirates para lalo pang pagtibayin ang paglalako sa mga mangaggawang Pilipino sa ibayong dagat sa pamamagitan ng Labor Export Program at patindihin ang pagsikil sa karapatan ng mga migranteng Pilipino.

Ang pagbisita ay sa kabila ng kaliwa’t kanang drama at awayan ng dalawang paksyon ng naghaharing kampon ng kasamaan, ang pagkating Marcos at Duterte, katatapos na mga bagyo at patuloy na matinding krisis pang-ekonomiya. Hindi na bago sa Rehimeng Marcos Jr. ang pagbisita sa iba’t ibang mga bansa para ilako ang mga mangaggawang Pilipino sa ibayong dagat at mamalimos ng Foreign Direct Investments. Mula sa mga nakaraang rehimen hanggang sa kasalukuyang ay iisa lamang ang kwento ng mga pagbisita sa ibat ibang bansa, ito ay makakapagbigay diumano ng trabaho at magpapalakas sa ekonomiya ng bansa. Ngunit kabaliktaran ang nangyayari sa mga pagbisita, ang bawat rehimen ay namamalimos ng proyekto mula ibayong dagat na hindi naman napapakinabangan ng malawak na mamamayang Pilipino.

Imbis na ipatupad ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industralisasyon, mas abala ang kasalukuyang rehimen sa pagpapatupad ng Labor Export Program at panlilimos sa banyagang pamumuhunan na wala namang direktang kapakinabangan sa malawak na sambayanang Pilipino.

Sa pagpapatuloy ng ganitong sistema, asahan natin na hindi ito makakalikha ng trabaho at makakapagbigay ng nakabubuhay na sahod para sa mamamayan.

Habang abala ang kasalukuyang rehimen sa pagbebenta ng murang lakas paggawa sa ibayong dagat, inutil ang Rehimeng Marcos at mga ahensya nito na bigyang proteksyon ang mga migranteng Pilipino. Hanggang sa kasalukuyan ay hindi pa rin naibibigay ang full compensation ng mga mangaggawa na biktima ng Saudization. Nagpapatuloy ang malawakang pang-aabuso sa mga Pilipinong Migrante sa Middle East. Hindi natutugunan ng Department of Migrant Workers ang malawakang isyu ng contract substitution, Human Trafficking, iba’t ibang klase pang-aabuso ng mga employers, kagaya ng sexual at physical abuses sa mga domestic workers, at repatriation sa mga naiipit ng gyera sa Middle East. Inutil ang Department of Migrant Worker sa pagtulong sa mga nabibiktima ng pang-aabuso dahil mas abala ang ahensya sa pagpapatupad ng pagpapataw ng singilin sa Philheatlh, SSS, Pagibig, OWWA at OEC.

Sa isang araw na pagdalaw ng Pangulong Marcos sa UAE, sinabi niya na hindi na niya mahaharap ang Filipino community dahil madami pa raw kailangang ayusing problema sa ating bansa. Pero kung ating susuriin hindi naman seryoso at sinsero na makikinig ang kasalukuyang Rehimen sa tunay na kalagayan ng mga Migranteng Pilipino dahil ang polisiya nito ay ibenta ang kanyang mamamayan at hindi seryosong tugunan ang karaingan nating mga Migrante Pilipino. Sa halip, malamang na mas pagkaabalahan niya ang pagpirma sa mga kasunduang inihahanda ng dalawang gubyerno mula pa nitong mga nagdaang buwan, na malayong ihayag nila sa publiko.

Sa ganitong kalagayan, marapat lamang na ipanawagan natin ang paglikha ng trabaho sa ating bansa. Hindi matutugunan ng kasalukuyan sistema ang karaingan nating mga Migrante. Ngayong tumitindi ang awayan ng mga nasa kasalukuyang naghaharing paksyon sa politika, kailangang magkaisa ang mga Migranteng Pilipino sampu ng kanilang pamilya, at makiisa sa sambayanan, upang ilantad ang mga magpalinlang na mga boladas at pangako ng pagbabago.

Tutulan ang Labor Export Program! Ipaglaban ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industriyalisasyon para sa tunay na masagana at malayang Pilipinas!

Online Petition to Bring Mary Jane Home!

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November 25, 2024

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Online Petition to Bring Mary Jane Home!

The Save Mary Jane Veloso Task Force has launched a global petition today calling on Philippine President Marcos Jr. to Bring Mary Jane Home Safely to the Philippines, and to Grant her Clemency as a victim of human trafficking.

In 2015, the Task Force’s petition to Save Mary Jane’s Life from execution in Indonesia garnered close to half a million signatures in a matter of weeks. Let’s work towards exceeding that number for our second petition!

Our global movement was instrumental in helping save her life. Now, let’s work to bring her back home to her family safely and secure her freedom!

#BringMaryJaneHome

#ClemencyforMaryJane

https://www.change.org/p/bring-mary-jane-veloso-home-and-grant-her-immediate-clemency?utm_medium=custom_url&utm_source=share_petition&recruited_by_id=4d427150-e96b-11e4-845d-b1182e2ad7f0

US-Marcos regime prioritizes military task force “Ayungin” amid successive Typhoons devastating local communities

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November 22, 2024

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Statement of the NDFP International Office
November 21, 2024The National Democratic Front of the Philippines International Office (NDFP IO) condemns the US government’s creation of their so-called “Ayungin Task Force”, aiming to enhance military interoperability between US and Philippine forces in the South China Sea, at a time when thousands of Filipinos are suffering from the devastating impacts of consecutive typhoons.

While the US government justifies this move as part of ongoing military cooperation under the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) and the Bantay Dagat framework, it is clear that the real priority of the US is to further its imperialist interests in the region, rather than addressing the urgent humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in many parts of Luzon in the past few months. Putting US forces in Ayungin intensifies tensions between China and the Philippines with the latter obviously being used as a US pawn to provoke Chinese armed response. The creation of a military task force focused on military operations in the Ayungin shoal serves the US imperialist agenda and puts the Filipino masses at risk of destruction greater than that wrought by any super typhoon.

The NDFP IO stands in solidarity with the Filipino people who continue to bear the brunt of successive disasters exacerbated by climate change and the inept response of the Marcos Jr. government. While thousands of Filipinos are left to suffer in the aftermath of six typhoons that hit the country in a month, the US government prioritizes military buildup in the South China Sea, showing a shocking disregard for the urgent humanitarian needs of the Filipino people.

Thousands of Filipinos are still reeling from the devastation, with entire communities displaced, lives lost, and essential infrastructure destroyed. Despite the dire needs of affected communities, the US-Marcos regime continues to invest in military escalation instead of urgently directing resources toward humanitarian aid and disaster response. More troubling is how the US, in collusion with the Marcos Jr. administration, has been using “disaster response” as a pretext to justify continued combat operations in Albay and many other places across the country.

The NDFP IO calls on the Filipino people to reject this dangerous focus on military cooperation with the US and instead demand immediate compensation and aid for the victims of typhoons and flooding. The Filipino people deserve to have their needs prioritized – shelter, food, healthcare, and genuine support for their recovery – not to be further subjected to geopolitical maneuvers in the midst of devastation and calamity.

Migrante Aotearoa to NZ and PH Governments: Stop Exploiting Filipino Migrant Workers! Hold Employers, Recruiters and Governments Accountable!

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November 22, 2024

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Migrante Aotearoa to NZ and PH Governments: Stop Exploiting Filipino Migrant Workers! Hold Employers, Recruiters and Governments Accountable!

The dire plight of eleven Filipino migrants now forced to live in container vans in Auckland exposes the rotten system that exploits migrant workers for profit while governments turn a blind eye. This is not an isolated incident but a glaring indictment of the systemic failures of both the Philippine and New Zealand governments to protect workers from exploitation and abuse.

We demand immediate and thorough investigations into the greedy Philippine recruitment agencies, exploitative New Zealand employers, and the NZ government’s complicity in allowing such predators to operate and recruit migrant workers. These workers were promised jobs and stability, yet they face homelessness, unpaid wages, and dehumanizing living conditions. This betrayal cannot go unpunished!

The Philippine government’s refusal to create decent jobs at home continues to force millions of Filipinos to risk everything for opportunities abroad, only to fall victim to exploitation by heartless recruiters and employers. This government has not only failed to provide sustainable livelihoods but has also abandoned its responsibility to protect its nationals in times of distress. Its inaction has allowed exploitation and abuse to thrive, leaving Filipino workers vulnerable at every stage of migration.

Migrante Aotearoa demands an end to this cycle of exploitation:
• Shut down and prosecute the companies and recruitment agencies involved in the exploitation of these nine workers and countless others
• Hold the NZ government accountable for its failure to enforce laws that protect migrant workers and for allowing abusive employers to operate freely
• Condemn the Philippine government’s criminal neglect of its people, whose desperation to escape poverty fuels this abusive system

We call on our fellow Filipinos and Kiwi allies to rise in solidarity against these systemic injustices. Support the workers, demand justice, and hold governments accountable! Migrant workers are not commodities to be exploited—they are human beings who deserve dignity, respect, and justice.

The systemic failure of Philippine governments to create decent jobs and protect its nationals is the root cause of sufferings of overseas Filipino workers. Migrante Aotearoa will not rest until justice is served. The struggle of these workers living in container vans is the struggle of all migrants against forced migration and all forms of modern slavery.