FILIPINO DOMESTIC HELPERS GENERAL UNION
ALLIANCE OF PROGRESSIVE LABOR - HONG KONG
PRESS STATEMENT
8 March 2006, Hong Kong
“It is shameful that a peaceful protest to mark International Women’s Day is violently dispersed by a woman President! Pres. Gloria Arroyo is an insult to the women’s global struggle for rights and justice!” exclaimed Ms. Gigi Torres, trade union organizer of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) in Hong Kong.
The march-rally was spearheaded by the women-members of APL in the morning of March 8, as part of activities to mark International Women’s Day. The protest, which was supported by partner organizations of APL, intended to march from Quezon City to Mendiola (near Malacanang, or the Presidential, Palace). According to the APL press statement, the police blocked the rallyists in Quezon City, a short distance from Sto. Domingo. After an hour of negotiations, the police, without any provocation, began arresting AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and clobbered the activists ruthlessly with batons and truncheons. Many were hurt and injured during the scuffle. Those arrested along with Rep. Hontiveros-Baraquel were Mr. Josua Mata, APL Secretary-General and several labour activists.
The Filipino Domestic Helpers General Union (FDHGU) in Hong Kong, an affiliate of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) in the Philippines, denounces the dispersal of the peaceful Women’s Day action, the brutality inflected on the women and labour activists, and the arrest of AKBAYAN Rep. Hontiveros-Baraquel, APL Secretary-General Josua Mata, and other activists.
AKBAYAN and APL have been among the strongest advocates and supporters of Filipino migrants’ rights; they were among the pioneering groups that exposed abuses of migrants’ rights in the Philippine Congress since the 1990s; AKBAYAN was one of the primary advocates that spearheaded the campaign until enactment of the “Absentee Voting Law”, which came into effect in 2004 and now empowers Filipino migrants to vote. APL, particularly Mr. Mata, is one of the pioneering trade unionists who have made concrete efforts to help build the trade unions of Filipino migrants, including FDHGU in Hong Kong. Mr. Mata is now detained at Camp Karingal in Quezon City, the infamous detention centre where so many political prisoners were held during Marcos’s martial law regime.
Therefore, we consider the attacks on AKBAYAN, APL and women and labour activists as an assault to legitimate groups that have worked hard to strengthen democracy in the Philippines and promote the empowerment of the Filipino migrants.
March 8 celebrates the triumph of women’s resistance and struggle almost 150 years ago; it is condemnable that Mrs. Arroyo’s repressive powers were exercised on women demonstrators on this day. Worse, Mrs. Arroyo had supposedly lifted the State of Emergency on 3 March 2006; yet, the government continues to use the same repressive powers against legitimate people’s protests. Mrs. Arroyo declared a State of Emergency on 24 February 2006 in order to stop what she claimed was an attempted military coup and ’right-left’ conspiracy to topple her government. Yet, the emergency powers were used mostly against legitimate protests and groups, as exemplified by the warrant-less arrests of other AKBAYAN and opposition leaders, closing down of newspapers critical of Mrs. Arroyo, banning demonstrations, and the curtailment of civil liberties. The University of the Philippines College of Law faculty condemned Mrs. Arroyo’s use of emergency powers as an “unconstitutional infringement on civil liberties.”
Mrs. Arroyo’s latest repressive actions further indicate her desperate bid to hold on to power, even at the expense of sacrificing the Filipino people’s interests, just to pursue her personal agenda.
Today, International Women’s Day, the Filipino women migrants in Hong Kong mark this noble occasion by condemning the assault on women’s rights and democratic freedoms in the Philippines. We also celebrate the strength and unbroken commitment of the women activists and supporters to resist violence and repression against women. FDHGU and APL-Hong Kong marked today’s International Women’s Day as the day of protest of all Filipina women who are fighting for justice, freedom and liberty.
On Sunday, 12 March 2006, members of FDHGU, together with different migrants’ organizations, will hold a protest action at the Philippine Consulate General to protest the brutal dispersal of the Women’s Day rally, the illegal arrest of the women and labour activists. FDHGU and APL-Hong Kong are specifically calling for the immediate and unconditional release of APL Secretary General Josua Mata, AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, and all arrested activists.
Filipino Domestic Helpers General Union
Alliance of Progressive Labor - Hong Kong