(Isang Liham sa mga Filipina na Naninirahan sa Estados Unidos)*
NI JOI BARRIOS
Inilathala ng Bulatlat
Abril 4, 2009
Mahal na kabaro,
Mahal na kapatid,
Ang balita tungkol sa babaeng ginahis,
nagsakdal,
at nagpalit ng testimonya
ay balitang batid kong lumatay sa bawa't dibdib,
pinipilit ang bawa't isa
na bumagtas sa ngayon at sa nakalipas,
sa ngayon at sa hinaharap.
Pagkat paano nalilimot ang gahasa?
Ang paghablot ng dangal?
Ang dahas ng pag-angkin?
Tayong lahat ay mga babaeng naglalakad sa alambreng nakasabit,
waring tumatawid sa hangin.
Araw-araw ay naninimbang,
isang paa sa harap ng isa pang paa,
hawak nang nakadipa ang kahoy na mahaba,
tinitiyak ng pagtitig sa patutunguhan
na hindi sasablay sa bawa't paglapat,
na ang tindig,
ay mananatiling matatag.
Nabubuhay tayo sa bayang mapanakop
habang ang diwa ay nananahan
sa Inang Bayan sa silangan.
At tulad niyang hinalay, lumaban,
at nag-alinlangan,
Araw-araw nating hinaharap, tinitimbang,
ang bawa't tanong at kontradiksiyon.
Ay, kayraming tanong, kayraming kontradiksiyon.
Hawakan sa ating mga kamay ang alaala
nina Victoria Laktaw na minsan nang tumula tungkol sa gahasa,
ni Karangalan, ang babaeng tinalikuran si Macamcam,
sa dulang ipinalabas sa tanghalan sangsiglo na ang nakalipas,
ni Tandang Sora, na sa edad na nobenta
ay hindi sumumpa ng katapatan sa dayuhan.
Kung sabay-sabay tayong hindi iwawalay
ang pagtitig sa dako pa roong patuloy na pakikipaghamok,
ang bawa't hakbang, saan mang sulok ng daigdig,
ay ambag nating hakbang,
sa tunay na kalayaan ng bayang Iniibig.
Hindi totoong walang pangamba ang mga tumutulay sa alambre.
Nananalig lang sila na bukong-bukong man ay pumihit,
ang talampakan ay hindi manginginig sa pag-apak sa lubid.
* * *
Tightrope Walking
(A Letter to All Filipinas Living in the United States)
Published in Bulatlat: April 4, 2009
Dear fellow Filipina,
Dear sister,
The news on the woman raped,
the plaintiff who recanted her testimony,
was news that whipped our hearts,
news that asked us to bridge the present and the past,
the present and the future.
How does one forget the violation of the body,
the stripping of dignity,
the violence of conquest?
We are women walking tightropes,
seemingly floating on air.
Each day a balancing act,
one foot in front of another,
arms outstretched holding on a balance pole,
eyes front to the point of destination,
the key to the certainty of our steps,
the stability of our stand.
We live in a colonizing nation
while our spirits reside
in our mother country in the East.
Like her, the woman raped, she who fought,
and then again, went forward and backward,
Each day, we face, we weigh,
our questions and contradictions.
Yes, so many questions, so many contradictions.
And yet, we hold in our hands the memory
of the Victoria Laktaws,
poets who wrote verses on colonial rape.
of Karangalan, or Honor, the heroine who rejected Macamcam the Greedy
in a play performed a century past.
Of Tandang Sora, the 90-year-old revolutionary
who refused to take an oath of allegiance to America.
Together, if we look towards the struggle in the homeland,
each step we take, anywhere in the world,
is a step we offer towards the freedom
of the country of our hearts.
It is not true that tightrope walkers have no fear.
They just have faith that even when the ankle pivots,
the soles of their feet will never sway.
*This poem was inspired by the work and statements of Nicole’s lawyer, Ging Ursua, as well as other fellow TOWNS members (June, Tita Letty, Lorna, Nina, Tessy, etc.) who have fought hard not only for Nicole but also for true sovereignty in the Philippines. I also acknowledge Gabriela Philippines’s consistent struggle against the Visiting Forces Agreement. I dedicate this poem to the following women I work with in the US: Kuusela Hilo, whom I relied on for comfort and friendship when I was a homemaker in Boston; to Chat Aban, Rachel Redondiez, Rhonda Ramiro, and Roseli Ilano, my co-workers in the Bay area, and to Julia Camagong, my friend and fellow Peryante member for twenty-five years.
Showing posts with label Gabriela. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gabriela. Show all posts
Monday, April 06, 2009
Friday, November 14, 2008
Women migrants debunk empowerment myth, vow to continue struggle for rights
Jobs available to women are “mere extension of stereotype women roles as homemakers and as sex objects.” These are, in essence, gender-oppressive roles made to appear as formal work placing women in situations open to abuse and exploitation.
BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat/MIGRANT WATCH
A Filipina in dire need lured by promises of gainful employment in Singapore ending up being forced into sexual slavery. A Thai domestic helper in Hong Kong who is paid meager wages. Women from poor countries sold as brides to Taiwanese men. Highly-educated Mongolian women forced to take on jobs not related to their profession. All of them are bound twice—as migrants and as women.
Women migrants who attended the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR) this October shared their predicaments, debunking claims that migration has led to the empowerment of women.
The so-called feminization of migration, the United Nations and the International Labor Organization (ILO) claim, has the potential in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
But women migrants think otherwise.
Eni Lestari, chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) said that the current trade of migration is not voluntary but forced migration. She said migrant workers are like commodities owned by the sending governments to be exported to other governments, in exchange for remittances and as a way to reduce unemployment.
Lestari said that even before migration, political and economic structures propagate a patriarchal culture. Society views women as slaves who are subordinated by men, she said.
Lestari, an Indonesian who works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, said that most women migrants surrender their power to their employer or recruitment agency. Women are made docile and are vulnerable to all forms of violations.
Prostituted
Samantha (not her real name), 40, is the breadwinner of a family of 13.
Like many Filipinos looking for a decent job, Samantha and her niece Clarissa (not her real name) applied for a job in Singapore.
Before leaving, she stayed at the residence of the recruiter, known to her only as Amanda, in Caloocan City. She, her niece and the other talents practiced moves for a Malay dance.
During the orientation, Samantha and the others were instructed to say they were just on a holiday when questioned by immigration authorities in Singapore. They were even given “show money” for the authorities. She was also told that they would not encounter any difficulty with immigration officers in the Philippines because everything had been settled.
On July 14, she left for Singapore. What appeared to be a harmless job turned out to be a nightmare. Upon their arrival, Amanda confiscated all of their cellular phones. They were brought to bar, the main door of which is always locked. Worse, they were forced to have sex with customers of the bar.
“We cannot just sit; we are obliged to sell sex. We have no choice,” Samantha said.
They were told that they have to raise 5,200 Singaporean dollars for their placement fee.
On July 15, Samantha had a Japanese customer who paid 100 Singaporean dollars for three hours of “service.”
“I was crying, it was my first time to have sex with someone I don’t love,” said Samantha, crying.
The next day, Samantha said she learned that Amanda’s real name is Cindy Domingo.
They are prohibited from saying anything about their situation. When talking to their relatives over the phone, Amanda or Cindy would listen and would always warn them not to cry.
Samantha said Amanda would hurl invectives at them. “She even listens to our conversations with customers… She does not keep a list of the money we give her,” said Samantha.
When her visa was about to expire, Amanda took her to Malaysia where stayed for three to four hours so she could renew her visa.
In August, a British customer “hired” Samantha for eight days. She was paid 8,000 Singaporean dollars. “All the money went to Amanda,” related Samantha.
She was determined to escape so she pretended to be nice to Amanda. Just before she left, she witnessed how Amanda slapped another woman victim. “She pulled her hair, banged her head on the wall… I wanted to help her, she was so skinny and helpless but I could not do anything,” said Samantha.
On Sept. 7, she flew back to Manila with the hope of getting back at Amanda and of helping out the other victims of sex trafficking.
Outright lie
In its position paper, women’s group GABRIELA said, “That migration leads to development is an outright lie. That migration of Filipinas can lead to women’s empowerment is a ludicrous notion…The truth is more and more women are being sold as domestic helpers, as entertainers, as caregivers and as mail-order brides in exchange for their dollar remittances.”
“The stark truth, as shown by the Philippine experience, is that women migrant workers find themselves in situations that are very disempowering,” the group maintained.
GABRIELA said jobs available to women are “mere extension of stereotype women roles as homemakers and as sex objects.”
“These are, in essence, gender-oppressive roles made to appear as formal work that place women in situations open to abuse and exploitation,” it said.
Only hope
GABRIELA said the organization and collective actions of migrants and their families are their only hope for protection and better conditions.
“Just as globalization created a borderless exploitation of workers, it has fortunately also paved the way for a borderless organization of oppressed peoples as exemplified by the growing and developing organization of migrants worldwide,” the group said.
It added, “Women migrants must actively take part in the growing resistance against neoliberal policies by building women migrants’ organizations, strengthening their alliances with anti-globalization women’s groups and participating actively in people’s organizations in their own countries or their host countries.” (Bulatlat.com)
BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat/MIGRANT WATCH
A Filipina in dire need lured by promises of gainful employment in Singapore ending up being forced into sexual slavery. A Thai domestic helper in Hong Kong who is paid meager wages. Women from poor countries sold as brides to Taiwanese men. Highly-educated Mongolian women forced to take on jobs not related to their profession. All of them are bound twice—as migrants and as women.
Women migrants who attended the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR) this October shared their predicaments, debunking claims that migration has led to the empowerment of women.
The so-called feminization of migration, the United Nations and the International Labor Organization (ILO) claim, has the potential in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
But women migrants think otherwise.
Eni Lestari, chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) said that the current trade of migration is not voluntary but forced migration. She said migrant workers are like commodities owned by the sending governments to be exported to other governments, in exchange for remittances and as a way to reduce unemployment.
Lestari said that even before migration, political and economic structures propagate a patriarchal culture. Society views women as slaves who are subordinated by men, she said.
Lestari, an Indonesian who works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, said that most women migrants surrender their power to their employer or recruitment agency. Women are made docile and are vulnerable to all forms of violations.
Prostituted
Samantha (not her real name), 40, is the breadwinner of a family of 13.
Like many Filipinos looking for a decent job, Samantha and her niece Clarissa (not her real name) applied for a job in Singapore.
Before leaving, she stayed at the residence of the recruiter, known to her only as Amanda, in Caloocan City. She, her niece and the other talents practiced moves for a Malay dance.
During the orientation, Samantha and the others were instructed to say they were just on a holiday when questioned by immigration authorities in Singapore. They were even given “show money” for the authorities. She was also told that they would not encounter any difficulty with immigration officers in the Philippines because everything had been settled.
On July 14, she left for Singapore. What appeared to be a harmless job turned out to be a nightmare. Upon their arrival, Amanda confiscated all of their cellular phones. They were brought to bar, the main door of which is always locked. Worse, they were forced to have sex with customers of the bar.
“We cannot just sit; we are obliged to sell sex. We have no choice,” Samantha said.
They were told that they have to raise 5,200 Singaporean dollars for their placement fee.
On July 15, Samantha had a Japanese customer who paid 100 Singaporean dollars for three hours of “service.”
“I was crying, it was my first time to have sex with someone I don’t love,” said Samantha, crying.
The next day, Samantha said she learned that Amanda’s real name is Cindy Domingo.
They are prohibited from saying anything about their situation. When talking to their relatives over the phone, Amanda or Cindy would listen and would always warn them not to cry.
Samantha said Amanda would hurl invectives at them. “She even listens to our conversations with customers… She does not keep a list of the money we give her,” said Samantha.
When her visa was about to expire, Amanda took her to Malaysia where stayed for three to four hours so she could renew her visa.
In August, a British customer “hired” Samantha for eight days. She was paid 8,000 Singaporean dollars. “All the money went to Amanda,” related Samantha.
She was determined to escape so she pretended to be nice to Amanda. Just before she left, she witnessed how Amanda slapped another woman victim. “She pulled her hair, banged her head on the wall… I wanted to help her, she was so skinny and helpless but I could not do anything,” said Samantha.
On Sept. 7, she flew back to Manila with the hope of getting back at Amanda and of helping out the other victims of sex trafficking.
Outright lie
In its position paper, women’s group GABRIELA said, “That migration leads to development is an outright lie. That migration of Filipinas can lead to women’s empowerment is a ludicrous notion…The truth is more and more women are being sold as domestic helpers, as entertainers, as caregivers and as mail-order brides in exchange for their dollar remittances.”
“The stark truth, as shown by the Philippine experience, is that women migrant workers find themselves in situations that are very disempowering,” the group maintained.
GABRIELA said jobs available to women are “mere extension of stereotype women roles as homemakers and as sex objects.”
“These are, in essence, gender-oppressive roles made to appear as formal work that place women in situations open to abuse and exploitation,” it said.
Only hope
GABRIELA said the organization and collective actions of migrants and their families are their only hope for protection and better conditions.
“Just as globalization created a borderless exploitation of workers, it has fortunately also paved the way for a borderless organization of oppressed peoples as exemplified by the growing and developing organization of migrants worldwide,” the group said.
It added, “Women migrants must actively take part in the growing resistance against neoliberal policies by building women migrants’ organizations, strengthening their alliances with anti-globalization women’s groups and participating actively in people’s organizations in their own countries or their host countries.” (Bulatlat.com)
Friday, October 24, 2008
Arroyo’s labor export policy and GFMD 'promote trafficking of Filipino women'
BY BULATLAT
A women’s party list group scored the Arroyo government and the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD) for the intensified trafficking of Filipino women and children. To show their disgust for the Arroyo government and the GFMD, the Gabriela Women’s Party held a protest parade this morning at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Pasay City.
Gabriela Women’s Party’s “Parade of Pinays for Export (PX),” highlighted the plight of Filipino women who were trafficked as mail order brides, domestic workers and caregivers, and prostituted women in countries such as the US, Singapore, Japan, Kuwait, and Canada, among others.
According to reports, some 300,000 to 400,000 Filipino women are victims of trafficking yearly. They are among the 12.3 million victims of forced labor or servitude worldwide.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said that the Philippines belongs to the top five countries in the world with the most number of human trafficking victims, 80 per cent of the victims are female minors. The DFA reported some 238 cases of trafficking in 2007, 212 of these are cases of sex trafficking in Singapore.
Cristina Palabay, Gabriela Women’s Party secretary general, said that Arroyo’s labor export policy ‘legitimizes the trafficking of our women and children to precarious and exploitative situations in host countries.’
”Without jobs and livelihood within the Philippines, victims are lured, deceived and facilitated by profit-hungry syndicate recruiters and even government officials with promises of different jobs, good compensation, high wages and benefits,” Palabay said.
Palabay disclosed that despite the enactment of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2003, there were only eight convictions involving 11 persons out of more than 200 cases filed in violation of the law.
Palabay also said that by highlighting the Philippine government as the role model among nations for exporting labor and by pursuing regular and protective forms of migration, “the GFMD’s role in the promotion of trafficking of women and children becomes clearer.”
”Without jobs and livelihood within the Philippines, victims are lured, deceived and facilitated by profit-hungry syndicate recruiters and even government officials with promises of different jobs, good compensation, high wages and benefits,” Palabay said.
Palabay disclosed that despite the enactment of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2003, there were only eight convictions involving 11 persons out of more than 200 cases filed in violation of the law.
Palabay also said that by highlighting the Philippine government as the role model among nations for exporting labor and by pursuing regular and protective forms of migration, “the GFMD’s role in the promotion of trafficking of women and children becomes clearer.”
Palabay said that with the generation of some $28 billion from the illegal industry of trafficking of women and children, the GFMD sees trafficking as a “profitable industry.”
The group will participate in the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR), a counter forum to the GFMD, on October 28 to 30. (Bulatlat.com)
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