Migrante Europe

Category: News

  • Disaster Survivors Vow to Continue the Fight for Justice and Rights

    DaluyongLogo

    PRESS RELEASE

    May 8, 2015

    Rehabilitation is not for Sale!

    Disaster survivors from different parts of Mindanao and Visayas converged in Yolanda-stricken Tanauan, Leyte to demand a stop to President B.S. Aquino’s wholesale selling of rehabilitation projects to business ventures in disaster-stricken areas.

    As a national network of disaster survivors, Daluyong calls for “full and independently-verified” transparency in Aquino’s relief and rehabilitation funds amidst widespread cases of corruption by government agencies, local government officials, and non-government organizations and continuing sorry conditions of disaster survivors in substandard housing and in relocation sites that are detached from livelihood sources, high unemployment, and worsening poverty.

    Daluyong leaders, in its national council meeting in Leyte, expressed support to Typhoon Yolanda survivors in their opposition to the business-led “Build Back Better” scheme which they said had only benefited President Aquino’s closest allies in the business sector through the Private-Public Partnerships (PPP).

    Daluyong leaders specifically demanded full transparency on the government’s Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) that the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) implements.

    “The guidelines set by DSWD only discriminates victims and sets the limits for its availment. ESA should be given to all victims,” said Marissa Calbajao, spokesperson of People Surge of Yolanda Victims.

    Daluyong leaders also called for government’s comprehensive response to the impending drought to hit the country.  The El Nino is already hurting farmers, the prolonged dry season has been destroying crops making farmers who are yet to recover from calamities and farmers in general, fearful of the damage the drought will bring to their communities.

    “The government is ill-prepared for this drought and we are not seeing a comprehensive plan. Unlike typhoons, the drought is a calamity with gradual but far-reaching effects on livelihoods and disrupts the next cropping seasons,” said Felipe de Jesus, of the Unyon sa mga Mag-uuma sa Agusan del Norte (UMAN) who are reeling from the double blows of Tropical Depression Agaton and Typhoon Senyang.

    Daluyong leaders representing different disaster survivors organizations shared common problems facing calamity victims today – commercialization of rehabilitation projects, corruption by government officials and use of rehabilitation projects for early electoral campaigns, heightening militarization, and increasing human rights violations in disaster-stricken areas.

    Among human rights violations are the killing of disaster organization leaders (11 in Typhoon Pablo areas and 1 in Typhoon Yolanda area), military deployment in disaster-stricken areas to pave way for mining and plantation ventures, and red-tagging of protesting disaster survivors, their organization and leaders.

    “Many of the leaders who protested the government’s corrupt distribution of relief aid to Typhoon Pablo victims have been killed. I am facing charges for public disturbance for a mass action demanding immediate relief aid. DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman and President Aquino are the ones who should be tried and fired,” said Carlos Trangia Sr, chair of Barug Katawhan (People Unite) for their criminal negligence and corruption.

    Daluyong leaders reiterated the chronic problems faced by disaster survivors even before supertyphoons reached their communities.  Most of the regions hit by calamities were already in the top 10 list of poor communities. In a recent survey, Yolanda-stricken area Leyte was catapulted into #1 spot, purportedly surpassing the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).  Disaster communities have long been vulnerable to destruction due to the large-scale mining activities, logging, and vast agri-business plantations, but despite these warnings, foreign and local corporations continue to proliferate in these communities aided with investment incentives from the Aquino government.

    Daluyong leaders vowed to continue their fight for justice and rights for the victims and survivors of disasters.#
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    Reference: Marissa Cabaljao +639358997858 (People Surge Alliance of Yolanda Survivors), Carlos Trangia +639303143841(Barug Katawhan, Typhoon Pablo Survivors); Rogel Otero (Indug Kautawan, Typhoon Pablo Survivors), Francisco Pagayaman +639361215714 (Survivors of Sendong – Collectives), Felipe de Jesus, Sr. +639076714223 (UMAN, Typhoon Agaton and Typhoon Senyang Survivors)

  • Leader of Haiyan victims to visit Europe to push solidarity for genuine rehabilitation efforts in Samar and Leyte

    Leader of Haiyan victims to visit Europe to push solidarity for genuine rehabilitation efforts in Samar and Leyte

    Press Release
    4 April 2015

    The chairperson of People Surge – a broad alliance of Typhoon Haiyan victims, survivors, organizations and individuals  joined together in the common goal of helping victims and minimizing the risk from similar calamities in the future – is scheduled to visit the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany from April 8 to May 8, to drum up support and solidarity with the rehabilitation efforts of people’s organizations, communities and NGOs in the provinces of Samar and Leyte that suffered most from the typhoon.

    Dr. Efleda Bautista, will be meeting with development agencies, solidarity groups, relief and rehabilitation NGOs, Filipino migrant organizations and political parties during her tour of the three European countries.

    “Dr. Efleda ‘ Laidz’ Bautista’s Europe visit will primarily be to express gratitude in behalf of the communities and people’s organizations in Samar and Leyte that have received support from European agencies and groups, and the Filipino community, in their effort to rebuild their lives two years after the deadly typhoon and to explore ideas from Europe on how communities can strenghthen their climate resiliency,” explains Rev. Cesar Taguba, chair of Migrante Europe and coordinator of the Bautista’s Europe visit.

    She will also drum up support and solidarity from European friends the initiatives of communities and people’s organizations under People Surge to push for the genuine rehabilitation and justice for the victims, Reverend Taguba added.

    Taguba emphasized that two years since the tragic disaster that claimed the lives of more than 7,000 persons (from government figures) and countless others missing, the communities affected have yet to completely recover from the disaster, and benefit from a supposed rehabilitation plan from the Philippine government.

    “Along with the call for justice for the Haiyan victims and communities is the people’s demand for the Aquino government to account for its criminal responsibility for the death, destruction and the missing” Taguba stated.

    In the Netherlands, Dr. Bautista is expected to meet with the twelve “Giro 555” development agencies that have pulled together their resources to respond to the cry for relief and rehabilitation of the Haiyan victims. The people of the Netherlands responded to the call of “Giro 555” and raised more than 30 million euros for the victims. She will also meet with other Dutch development agencies and the Filipino community. The Filipino community in the Netherlands, likewise, mobilized itself with a campaign to complement the help extended by the Dutch people.

    In Germany, Dr. Bautista will meet with solidarity groups and express gratitude for the support of the German people for the rehabilitation efforts in typhoon Haiyan-devastated areas. German humanitarian relief organizations were among the first to reach the Haiyan victims and extend relief. They also extended about 144 million euros in relief and rehabilitation efforts.

    In Belgium, she will meet with a consortium of Belgian development  and solidarity groups that have been active not only in relief and rehabilitation work in the Philippines but also in community development, anti-mining and income-generating projects.

    Dr. Bautista is a native and resident of Tacloban, Leyte, and herself a victim of typhoon Haiyan. She holds a doctorate degree in Education from the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Universität in  Frankfurt, Germany. She was a teacher and dean of the graduate school in two educational institutions in Leyte. She is active in several people’s organizations in the Philippines and is chairperson of the Leyte Center for Development, an NGO doing extensive work with rural, clan/family and youth communities in the region particularly on conservation, waste management, coastal clean-up, anti-mining and recycling based income-generating-projects.

    In September 2014, Dr. Bautista participated as a “global ambassador” of the Philippines at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York City.#

    Reference:

    Grace Punongbayan
    Director, MIGRANTE Europe
    Postbus 15687, 1001 ND Amsterdam
    Mobile: +31-6-33056411
    Emails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

  • Thank you, Pope Francis, for acknowledging gov’t neglect of OFWs – Migrante

    pope-migThank you, Pope Francis, for acknowledging gov’t neglect of OFWs – Migrante

    Global alliance of overseas Filipinos expressed tremendous gratitude to Pope Francis for acknowledging the real plight of overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) and their families.

    In his speech delivered in Malacanang, Pope Francis made mention of OFWs and the Filipino diaspora. The Pope said that he “cannot fail to mention” the OFWs “who are often neglected and whose contributions to society are not fully appreciated”. The Holy Father also said that the Filipino diaspora is “helping the life, culture and religious heritage” of other countries.

    “Thank you very much, Pope Francis, for hearing our cries! Thank you for speaking in behalf of the 15 million overseas Filipinos all over the world who are being neglected, abused and exploited and abandoned by the Aquino government. Filipinos all over the world are overjoyed and empowered to further fight for our rights and to struggle for genuine social justice so that our common endeavors may be realized,” said Garry Martinez, Migrante International chairperson.

    Martinez also noted the Pope’s mention of “families being destroyed.”

    “One of the main reasons of Filipino families being torn apart is the phenomenon of forced migration. Our OFWs are separated from their families because of desperation and the need to survive. Pope Francis, who hailed from a family of migrants, knows this by heart. We agree with the Pope that what we should strive for is a ‘society of authentic justice, solidarity and peace’, something that is very far from what we have now which is a society of corruption, greed and conflict under the Aquino administration,” Martinez said.

    The migrant leader said that he hopes the Pope’s statement will “open new doors and networks among churches and their brethren for the promotion and protection of the rights of Filipino migrants and their families around the world”.

    Lastly, Martinez called on all OFWs and families to continue to organize, unite and struggle for social justice and revolutionary reforms. “The Pope himself said, ‘Dear migrants and refugees! You have a special place in the heart of the Church… Do not lose your faith and hope!’. For us, this should translate to the message that, despite and in spite of all our sufferings and torments, the people united shall never be defeated.” ###

  • Protesters hound BS Aquino in Belgium over his dirty record on human rights and corruption

    IMG_4242Progressive Filipinos and their Belgian solidarity friends picketed President BS Aquino as he delivered a speech at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels, Belgium yesterday Sept. 16.

    The protest picket was spearheaded by Migrante Europe and joined by members of the Ugnayang Pilipino sa Belgium, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) and the Belgian solidarity organization INTAL. The protesters carried placards that stated: BS Aquino human rights violator, Aquino king of thieves, Keep off disaster funds, Justice for Willem Geertman and Fr. Pops Tentorio, and No to EDCA!

    They also distributed the statement “Enough of BS Aquino, Corrupt and Brutal Ruler! Never again to another Marcos dictatorship”, which was signed jointly by several European human rights, solidarity and Filipino organizations across Europe.

    IMG_4160Queried by the media covering the event, Rev. Cesar Taguba of Migrante Europe asserted: “We are here to raise concerns over the corruption, human rights abuses and tyranny of Aquino.” He said Aquino is misinforming the EU about the real situation in the Philippines and that the protest is one way of exposing this.

    According to Reverend Taguba, BS Aquino obviously took the backdoor to enter the venue to avoid the protesters. The meeting, he said, was supposed to start at 6:30 pm, but Aquino’s entourage delayed their arrival at the venue at around 6:50 pm.

    The protesters shouted such slogans as “Noynoy, shame on you!” BS Aquino, Taguba stressed, could not hide his regime’s corruption, human rights violations, puppetry to the US and trying to follow Marcos with his term extension scheme, during this Europe visit.

    Inside the Egmont Institute, one of the members of INTAL Brussels Philippine Group who listened to BS Aquino’s speech, questioned Aquino on his human rights record, during the question and answer that followed.

    “I am delighted to hear that the protection of human rights is part of your government program. Because the numbers are not good: 204 activists murdered, 208 others in prison, 21 cases of enforced disappearances … all since the beginning of your presidency,” Johan of INTAL said.

    IMG_4166Another INTAL participant in the Egmont meeting, Fanny Polet, writing on her blog afterwards said: “He (Aquino) also answered to another question about the economic partnership agreement, ensuring us of his will to accelerate it. This is not really something we are looking forward to, when we see the social damages such a policy would give rise to…..” She said critical leaflets for distribution titled “Time for President Aquino to tackle the Philippines’ dirty, open secret” and “Stop torture”, made their way on the registration table at the Institute.

    A team of Belgian policemen tried to disperse the picket, but the protesters stood their ground and asserted their right to express their views over serious developments in the Philippines.

    Major Filipino news channels (GMA News, TV5, ABS-CBN) covered the protest. However, two Filipino media persons were harassed and almost prevented from entering the Egmont Institute by Aquino’s security personnel after they were allegedly observed “sympathizing” with the protesters.#

    Reference:

    Grace Punongbayan
    MIGRANTE Europe
    [email protected]
    +31-6-33056411

    [photos by Jon Bustamante]

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