Statement

Is Philippine Consulate, mouthpiece of cheater Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, “manufacturing” support for the illegitimate Gloria presidency?

July 8, 2005

As progressive overseas Filipino workers, women, and youth in Canada, we critically examine the adieus and posh farewell banquet of Consul General Zenaida Tacorda-Rabago whether the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is “manufacturing” support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Amidst the political and economic crisis in the Philippines, Rabago’s acceptance of this decadent farewell banquet is in line with the elite’s insensitivity to the suffering of the majority of Filipino people. It is in line with the actions of the rotten corrupt government bureaucrats, landlords, and big business in the Philippines that use the suffering of Filipinos for their own selfish interests.

Even our suffering as overseas Filipino workers in Canada has fallen on deaf ears, despite the numerous times progressive Filipino organizations have brought our concerns forward to the Philippine Ambassador to Canada and to the Philippine Consulate.

Almost 100 000 domestic workers arrived from the Philippines to Canada under the racist and exploitative Live-in Caregiver Program. Under the LCP, domestic workers are forced to live and work in the homes of middle- and upper-class Canadian families as domestic workers for a minimum of 24 months within a strict 3-year period. Domestic workers, all of whom are professionals like nurses, midwives, teachers, earn only $2.00/hour while being denied our basic rights as workers. We are segregated as cheap labour. We are modern-day slaves.
In B.C. alone, 8,000 Filipino domestic workers live and work in the homes of affluent Canadians, cooking, cleaning, and caring for their children and elderly. Because of the de-skilling, dehumanization, and desperation brought on by the LCP, we are trapped in low paying service sector jobs similar to domestic work even after we complete the requirements of the program and sponsor our families.

Because of our economic desperation, many of us are forced to take out large financial loans from scrupulous loan sharks that charge up to 60% interest just to be able to send money to our families in the Philippines.

Given our community’s present situation and the dire need for genuine development and peace in the Philippines, we shall continue to demand that the Philippine Consulate and the incoming Consul General of Western Canada and Northwest Territories uphold the rights and welfare overseas Filipino workers and to not be merely a mouthpiece to a corrupt and rotten President and government.

We call on Canada to withdraw its support to the Arroyo regime, for Canadians to support the Filipinos’ call for the ouster of Arroyo for the formation of a transitional council that will democratically and genuinely uphold the interests of the majority of the Filipino people. ##

Statement of:
Philippine Women Centre of BC, BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, SIKLAB (Advance and uphold the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos), Filipino Nurses Support Group, Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance