Tag: gabriela usa

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Filipino Women Resist President Duterte’s Fascist Regime

For Immediate Release
February 25, 2018
Contact: Irma Shauf-Bajar, National Chairperson, gabrielawomen@gmail.com

Filipino Women Resist President Duterte’s Fascist Regime

Today, February 25, 2018 marks the 32nd Anniversary of the EDSA People Power movement and the end of Ferdinand Marcos’s 21 years as president and dictator of the Philippines. Like Marcos, President Duterte has taken the bloody road in an attempt to impose a full dictatorship over the country, which promises more repression and killings on top of the already 14,000 people killed by his regime. GABRIELA USA stands with the Filipino people and the rapidly growing international community who demand for Duterte to stop the killings and never again to dictatorship in the Philippines!

Last week, members of GABRIELA New York and church workers were in General Santos City in Mindanao as part of an international solidarity fact-finding mission delegation. They were observing a psychosocial intervention program implemented by GABRIELA Philippines, where they are currently serving T’boli-Manobo communities who were victims of a massacre allegedly committed by military elements. The delegation was stopped at five Philippine military checkpoints and prevented from completing their scheduled activities due to the confiscation of their passports and being detained at the immigration office. There was no just cause for the detention of the delegation.

“The U.S.-Duterte regime is engaging in tactics to cover up and prevent the public from witnessing the heightened militarization and all-out war against the Filipino people. It is our duty to continue to expose and condemn the Philippine military’s ongoing human rights violations and abuses,” said Irma Shauf-Bajar, Chairperson of GABRIELA USA. “We stand with the Filipino people, our sisters and the international community in resisting militarization and demanding an end to this fascist dictatorship!”

Since U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Philippines in November 2017, state-sanctioned violence against indigenous people, workers, peasants, and human rights defenders has sharply escalated.  GABRIELA USA views this as unsurprising, given that Trump’s visit led to deals which secured U.S.-led foreign domination of the country, including $14.3 million in U.S. military spending for Duterte’s armed forces. At the same time, U.S. military presence in the Philippines is expanding under the U.S. “counter-terror” Operation Pacific Eagle; we expect this to directly contribute to even more politically-motivated killings and repression. It is clearly the U.S.-Duterte regime that continues to attack the most vulnerable and marginalized communities with impunity – violating both the people and the nation’s sovereignty.

On this anniversary of the EDSA People Power Movement, let us continue to Rise, Resist and Unite against the fascist U.S.-Duterte regime. We urge you to join MALAYA: U.S. Movement Against Killings and Dictatorship, and for Democracy in the Philippines. Please sign this  PETITION  to demand to Stop the Killings and prevent a new dictatorship in the Philippines and share it widely.

 

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Filipino American Women Outraged by Duterte’s Misogynistic Remarks and Call for International Solidarity

For Immediate Release

February 12, 2018

Contact: Irma Shauf-Bajar, National Chairperson, gabrielawomen@gmail.com

 

Filipino American Women Outraged by Duterte’s Misogynistic Remarks and Call for International Solidarity

 

Members of GABRIELA USA denounce President Duterte’s fascist and violent misogynistic order to “shoot female rebels in their vagina.” Duterte said, “If there is no vagina, it would be useless,” implying that women are useless without their genitals. From the beginning of his presidency, Duterte has made several misogynistic comments towards women, including rape jokes which encourage the Armed Forces of the Philippines to commit violence against women and use rape as a tool of war. This is utterly reprehensible and must be condemned.

As GABRIELA USA, we must expose and oppose the U.S. backed fascist Duterte regime, that has killed over 13,000 Filipinos through the so called “war on drugs,” displaced more than 400,000 people in Mindanao because of martial law, and Duterte’s counterinsurgency program, “Oplan Kapayapaan,” that continues to target activists through killings, illegal arrests, and other human rights violations.

Duterte’s macho-fascist comments are violent and dangerous, as it will allow for not only his army but also encourages all men to continue to fuel violence against women. We must recognize that Duterte’s remarks on women stems from the Philippines’ feudal-patriarchal and imperialist structure. Duterte and the ruling class benefit from a system that abuses and exploits the majority of Filipinos, keeping them in poverty. This explains why many Filipinos, including women, join the New People’s Army, to engage in armed struggle for genuine liberation for the Filipino people.

GABRIELA USA calls on our family, friends, community, and allies to join us as we RISE against Duterte’s fascist regime, RESIST militarization of our homeland and bodies, and UNITE against the macho-fascist Duterte regime to oust him from office! We invite our community to join us on February 14th for One Billion Rising, a global campaign to end violence against women and on March 8th to commemorate International Working Women’s Day.

 

RISE against Fascism! RESIST Militarization! UNITE in solidarity for self determination!

End Violence Against Women Now!

Oust the US-Duterte Regime!

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Filipino Women Against Modern Day Slavery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 18, 2017
Reference: Irma Shauf-Bajar, GABRIELA USA National Chairperson, gabrielawomen@gmail.com

Filipino Women Against Modern Day Slavery

The article written by Alex Tizon regarding the story of Eudocia Pulido and her forced migration and exploitation as a modern day slave in the United States highlights the current conditions of Filipino women. Eudocia Pulido’s story cannot be understood outside of the context of the Philippine society and history rooted in U.S. imperialism and neoliberal economic policies that have caused the systemic suffering of many underpaid domestic helpers like Lola.

The Philippines is one of the largest labor exporters in the world with 6,000 Filipinos—60% women—leaving the country every single day to work, because of rampant poverty, joblessness, and landlessness. Lured to apply for positions that do not exist, promised legal status and wages, and instead becoming undocumented, drowning in debt, and isolated in a foreign country — thousands of OFWs end up working in virtual slavery. Recruiters and employment agencies take advantage of their workers, by charging exorbitant fees and loans and threatening their workers with deportation or physical violence to the workers and their families. Living in fear and with no place to go, many OFWs endure the discrimination, abuse, and exploitation in order to survive.

It is important that we do not whitewash the writer’s parents’ and family’s crimes of slavery, imprisonment, and trafficking. Alex Tizon’s account of Eudocia Pulido’s story does not exonerate him from his family’s complicity in the abuse and exploitation of another human being. And we also must recognize this particular experience is not an isolated one, and stems from the Philippines’ feudal patriarchal and imperialist structure. The commodification and exploitation of generations of Filipina women continues to be an inherent effect of the ever worsening conditions–conditions which will persist and generate many more Eudocia’s until comprehensive and fundamental socio-economic and political changes are made to address the root causes of the country’s poverty.

Members of GABRIELA USA continue to take action and call for an end to the exploitative system in the Philippines and denounce the Philippine government for its neglect of its own people within the country and lack of protection of OFWs abroad. In addition, we uplift the voices of Filipino migrant women to tell their own stories. GABRIELA USA seeks to empower migrant women to know and understand their rights, to fight back against oppression and exploitation, and to participate in the movement for national democracy in the Philippines. If you are moved by Lola’s story we encourage you to join a chapter of GABRIELA USA and join the fight against feudal-patriarchy and the systems of power that allow women like Lola to be forced into exploitation.

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Filipinas in the U.S. March on May Day for Protection and Dignity for Immigrants and Workers

For Immediate Release
May 2, 2017
Reference: Irma Shauf-Bajar, National Chairperson, gabrielawomen@gmail.com

On May 1, 2017, GABRIELA USA chapters in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New Jersey and New York City mobilized alongside thousands of immigrants and workers to demand safety, dignity and access to basic rights under an anti-immigrant and anti-worker Trump administration. In light of increasing criminalization of immigrants, through the implementation of Trump’s fascist policies of immigration bans and building border walls, GABRIELA USA insists on upholding humane legislation such as sanctuary laws for undocumented immigrants and protection for immigrants in detention and deportation proceedings. At the same time, the alliance of progressive Filipino women’s organizations also upholds the rights of workers in this country and globally–for a living wage, dignity and respect in the workplace, and access to decent jobs.

Filipinas, both immigrants and children of immigrants, marched side by side with other immigrant communities to underscore the significant contributions of immigrants to the U.S. economy today and historically. With placards, banners, and speeches about modern day colonialism and imperialism, members connect the violence of U.S. war and occupation abroad to the trends of migration to the U.S. Trump is calling for a $58 billion increase for the Defense Department dedicating half to military spending, while cutting his federal budget on housing, education, healthcare, women’s reproductive health, and organizations that provide support for domestic violence survivors. Trump and his administration is exposes themselves in not prioritizing low-income women of color, immigrant women workers, trans and gender nonconforming people and our children who will bear the brunt of the harm of these policies.

Filipinos make up one of the largest Asian American immigrant communities in the U.S.–they also make up a formidable number of migrant workers employed in essential industries like healthcare, domestic work, construction, and education. Filipino women are also victims of human trafficking in these industries. GABRIELA women demand and say no to war because women are the victims of crimes promoted by the U.S. wars abroad and at home including murder, rape, harassment and other sexual abuses, and human trafficking. GABRIELA USA has been at the forefront of demanding justice for Filipino immigrants who have been exploited without recourse from the U.S. and Philippine governments.


Representing Filipinos who are working in low-wage industries and also professional sectors, GABRIELA USA members marched for dignified and respectable working conditions. Nationally, members are waging and supporting campaigns on livable wages, wage theft, and an end to human trafficking and forced migration. GABRIELA USA calls our community, families, and our allies to RISE, RESIST, and UNITE: RISE against fascism, RESIST militarization, and UNITE for self-determination and liberation for all oppressed peoples. With the demand to protect and preserve the dignity of immigrants and workers, mass organizations remain committed to organizing in our communities and among the ranks of working women in order to advance the struggles of workers and all the oppressed. On May Day and everyday, GABRIELA USA stands with immigrant communities and workers whose labor, skills, and contributions advance the U.S. economy, allowing society to run and function daily.

 

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Happy International Working Women’s Day!

For Immediate Release
March 8, 2011

Reference: Raquel Redondiez, Chairperson, GABRIELA USA, chair@gabusa.org

Filipino Women in the U.S. Stand in Solidarity and Sisterhood with Women’s Struggles Across the World
GABRIELA-USA’s Statement on the Centennial of International Women’s Day

On March 8, 2011, over ten thousand women in the Philippines took to the streets, in what are the largest International Women’s Day actions organized by GABRIELA, the world-renowned Filipino women’s alliance.  The women demanded relief from the economic crisis in the form of price controls of basic goods, national wage hikes, immediate repatriation and protection for migrant women, comprehensive reproductive health services, education for all, and housing for poor families.  In addition, GABRIELA highlighted their unity with the rest of the Filipino people in calling for fundamental change and national liberation.

Filipino women across the US are participating in activities throughout the week of March 8 to commemorate International Working Women’s Day and expose the dire impacts of the long-term global economic crisis on the lives of Filipinas in the nation and around the world. Filipino women are taking to the streets and are engaging their communities to confront and expose the role of U.S. imperialism in the prolonged crisis of joblessness and increased attacks on women’s rights and livelihood.

In the Philippines, women face an economic crisis of epic proportions as the prices of basic commodities like sugar, rice, and gas continue to increase beyond affordability. Households suffer as utility rates skyrocket, leaving families no choice but to live without electricity or running water. On top of the increased prices of commodities, the Aquino administration also imposes an excessive 12% tax called the Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT). With every increase, it is traditionally the women who must carry the burden of managing the household and its shrinking budget.

In the United States, Congress continues to balance the budget on the backs of women and children by proposing cuts to basic services like health care assistance to pregnant women, new mothers and children, education, and reproductive healthcare. Republicans are attempting to pass a budget that cuts nearly $60 billion in federal funding, a move that would do irreparable damage like slash 700,000 jobs through 2011 and strip all funding from Planned Parenthood, the largest women’s health provider in the nation.

As these attacks against women are being committed, both the Aquino and Obama administrations continue to paint a rosy picture that claims that the economic crisis is lifting and that the lives and welfare of Filipinas and other women are not in danger.

GABRIELA USA chapters are participating in activities throughout the nation such as a women’s day rally in Harlem, a mother’s march in Los Angeles, a domestic violence vigil in Seattle, and a forum on women’s issues in San Francisco, to expose the true nature and situation of Filipinas, as well as take action in commemoration of the historic militant women’s movement that continues today. The demands of Filipino women for protection against unfair price hikes and cuts against social services light a fire that fuels women to take to the streets and fight against anti-women and anti-people policies.

“The centennial of International Women’s Day is an important reminder and inspiration for us to continue to struggle for full women’s emancipation, especially as we are confronted with relentless attacks against women’s rights, and the erosion of social services that women and children need more than ever,” stated Raquel Redondiez, Chairwoman of GABRIELA-USA.

On this occasion, we honor the legacy of Gabriela Silang, and all of our grandmothers, sisters, daughters, and especially all the working women who have dared to organize and struggle in defense of their rights and for the advancement of future generations of women.
Join GABRIELA USA in standing in solidarity with our sisters and mothers worldwide struggling against U.S. imperialism’s attacks on our women’s basic rights, our families’ livelihood, and the public social safety net.

MABUHAY ANG KABABAIHAN!
Long Live International Women’s Day!

Photos by Tudla Productions and Luis Liwanag