“Marcos has no right to speak on the concerns of women as his corrupt regime traffics and sells out working Filipina women, forcing them in the thousands to leave their families and work abroad in dangerous conditions.”
TORONTO – ”Marcos out of NYC!”
This is what the progressive Filipino community in New York City chanted as they confronted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and members of his cabinet Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.
Marcos Jr. is in the United States to attend the United Nations for the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. According to BAYAN USA, a national alliance of 50 progressive Filipino organizations in the US, Marcos has no right to speak on the concerns of women as his corrupt regime traffics and sells out working Filipina women.
“Working Filipina women continue to fight against corruption, fascism, and for a free Philippines. Here in the US, Filipinas wrongfully detained and abused by ICE, such as Alma Bowman, Tita Rebecca, and Ligaya Jensen, fought for their freedom and demanded the Philippine government be held accountable.” BAYAN USA said in a Facebook post.
Community members also denounced the hypocrisy of Marcos speaking on the status of women while gender based violence and exploitation continue to worsen in the Philippines. They pointed out that although the Philippines was the first Southeast Asian country to ratify the international bill of rights for women, such commitments remain largely symbolic without real systemic changes that address the exploitation and oppression faced by working class women and girls.
“Marcos, how dare you come to New York City to speak on the status of Filipino women. Marcos, it doesn’t matter what you say about Filipino women or what their status is. The people who are starving, who are struggling, know the truth: you are using women as a selling point and a bargaining chip to secure your seat next to Trump’s feet. Marcos is the number one oppressor of women in the Philippines,” said April Bautista of Gabriela USA.
As Marcos Jr and his cabinet attend the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, more Filipino migrant women workers remain vulnerable to abuse, precarious working conditions, wage theft, job insecurity, illegal recruitment and loss of legal status in host countries.
In the US, Filipino women have faced unjust ICE detention, medical neglect and have received little to no help from the Philippine Consulate.
On Monday, March 9 in New York City, Filipino activists confronted Secretary Lazaro and Ambassador Romualdez in front of the luxurious Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. They called out the lavish spending of the Marcos Jr. entourage while oil and cost of living skyrocketed for working class Filipinos.
“We were here since 8 a.m. waking them up because we know those people sleep in and enjoy their luxury hotels, drive around in their Mercedes Benz, while the Filipino people are facing the lowest value of the peso in ages, facing huge oil price hikes, facing bombs dropping on them, facing no food on the table. Yet here they are in rooms that cost up to $17,000 a night. This is what we mean when the Philippine government is run by bureaucrat capitalists. Bureaucrats who want nothing more than to profit and get power,” said Andan Bonifacio of BAYAN USA
BAYAN USA criticized both officials for neglecting Filipinos in the US who face detention and deportation under the fascist Trump regime, noting that Romualdez has repeatedly encouraged Filipinos to self deport.
“BBM continues to sell out Filipinos and the Philippines by increasing US militarization in our homeland, orchestrating rampant government corruption, and continuing to systematically export Filipinos as cheap labor to the Middle East who now remain trapped in the War Zone.” BAYAN USA said. (RVO)
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