Overseas Filipinos in Canada say crisis in Philippines not over; 
 support call for President Arroyo to step down

July 30, 2003

Press statement

As reaction about the weekend failed military "putsch" in the Philippines reverberates around the world, we are compelled to speak up as overseas Filipinos in Canada against the Arroyo regime's desperate attempt to convince the Filipino people and the world that the crisis in the Philippines is resolved.  We say that the crisis in our homeland is far from over. 

Despite eager pronouncements in the State of the Nation address about the "strong republic," we know the true state of the nation.  These are the conditions of the majority of the Filipino people - the ordinary worker and peasant and their families.  What are these conditions?  They are devastating poverty, unemployment, landlessness, militarization, displacement and political repression.

We overseas Filipinos in Canada know that the Arroyo regime has done nothing to resolve the basic problems of the people.  The Philippines now has the highest rate of unemployment in Asia.  The value of the peso continues to drop.  The Arroyo regime continues to push anti-people policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization under the neo-liberal paradigm.  The regime also continues to sell off our national patrimony, act with unbridled puppetry to the US and unleash campaigns of state terror against the people and revolutionary movements. 

As overseas Filipinos, we see through the Arroyo regime's public relations gimmicks about the lauded overseas Filipino worker.  President Arroyo called us a "truly global worker" in the State of the Nation address, who "enjoy the unbeatable comparative advantages of an English-speaking education, advanced skills and a uniquely caring nature."

After years working abroad in harsh and exploitative conditions, we do not enjoy a better life.  We face intensifying racism, cutbacks in social programs and services, and desperation to help our families in the Philippines survive.  We know firsthand that the fundamentally unjust semi-colonial and semi-feudal system in the Philippines forces more of us to migrate abroad, whether as domestic workers, nurses doing domestic work, mail-order brides or prostitutes.

The events of the weekend merely confirm and expose to the world that the Arroyo regime is rotten to the core and gravely isolated.  While we recognize the legitimacy of some of the officers' grievances, we cannot support their call for a military solution.  Instead, we support the call of Bayan, Gabriela, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Anakbayan and other national democratic organizations for President Arroyo to step down.  We congratulate the thousands of militant protestors who took to the streets in the Philippines on the day of the State of the Nation address.  They delivered a fatal indictment of the Arroyo regime for its betrayal of the people.

Yet we must remain vigilant in these times.  The Arroyo regime must not exploit these events to try to manoeuvre for power beyond the 2004 elections.  We are deeply disturbed by allegations of the military officers that the corruption in the military runs all the way up to Defense Secretary Reyes and President Arroyo herself.  The allegations about the orchestration of the Davao bombings expose a distressing drive to exploit the "war on terrorism" for personal profit and power.

We call on overseas Filipinos in Canada to understand the roots of our forced migration that lie in the socio-economic and political crisis in the Philippines.  Let us continue to organize and mobilize ourselves to struggle for our community's genuine rights and welfare; but also to support the Filipino people's struggle for national and social liberation.  As the crisis of the imperialist system deepens, we 8 million overseas Filipinos will be hit harder.  Let us join with other anti-imperialist and democratic forces, just as we did in Montreal this weekend, to condemn the imperialist domination of oppressed peoples and work together in solidarity for a future of true freedom, democracy, liberation and emancipation.

Statement of:

Vancouver
B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Filipino Nurses Support Group
SIKLAB (Overseas Filipino Workers Organization)
Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance
Philippine Women Centre of B.C.

Ontario
Carelton University Filipino Students Association
Ontario Commitee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Pilipinong Migrante sa Canada
Philippine Women Centre of Ontario

Montreal
Montreal Coalition of Filipino Students
Kabataang Montreal
PINAY(Filipino Women's Organization of Quebec)
Commitee for Social Justice and Human Rights in the Philippines/Centre for Philippine Concerns
Filipino Workers Support Group
Filipino Parents Support Group

Nationally
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada