We list the work and the achievements of the Government of the Philippines’ (GRP) panel under President Rodrigo Duterte and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Peace Panel from the resumption of formal talks in August 2016 up to January 2017.

These efforts and achievements should redound to direct and actual benefits to the Filipino people in the quest for just and lasting peace.

1. Reaffirmation of signed bilateral agreements especially The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees of 1995 and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) of 1998

As early as the preliminary talks in Oslo in June, the two parties have agreed to reaffirm all previously signed agreements—while those are all already binding—in a bid to commit to pursue the peace process. This commitment was made formal in a signed Joint Statement after the first round of peace talks in August.

The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 set the framework for the talks— objective, common goal, mutually accepted principles —but was undermined during the Benigno Aquino administration whose panel called it “a document of perpetual division” and soon after the talks collapsed.

This time, the GRP and NDFP agreed to reconstitute the JASIG list of the NDFP that was destroyed when the NDFP office in Utrecht, Netherlands was raided in 2007 by Dutch authorities, in efforts of the Dutch, US and Philippine governments to keep Jose Maria Sison in the European Union (EU) terror listing as revealed by Wikileaks cables. (Read Bulatlat.com’s related article here.) The current GRP administration helped released 17 NDFP consultants who were able to participate in the peace talks, while three more remained in jail.

READ: CPP-NDF-NPA terrorist tag is wrong – peace counsel

While the CARHRIHL was the first agenda where both parties reached an agreement, the implementation of this is the tricky part—where if complied with should bring an environment with considerably less human rights violations and no political prisoners. The Gloria Arroyo administration saw the rise of extrajudicial killings, whose counterinsurgency plan Oplan Bantay Laya 1 and 2 treated activists and ordinary citizens as combatants. The Oplan Bayanihan of Benigno Aquino saw the rise of political prisoners in the country, 294 in Aquino’s 6 years, redolent of Martial Law and Marcosian tactics. In the new administration, commitments in adherence to the CARHRIHL were made, such as the promise to release political prisoners.

2. Agreement to fast-track the peace process

As you may know by now, the peace process has a four-item substantive agenda that are to be discussed and agreed upon in succession until the final truce. The first agenda that came to an agreement, CARHRIHL, was said to have taken a few years and more than 80 drafts until it was signed in 1998. And after various episodes of peace talks cancellations during the Arroyo and Benigno Aquino administrations, it has taken 18 years before the second agenda is now discussed on the table. The NDFP agreed in the the first round of talks to the GRP proposal to accelerate the negotiations in the way that while the second agenda on social and economic reforms is being discussed, the next two substantive agenda would be worked on simultaneously.

3. Agreed on common outline for the agreement for the third and fourth agenda

In the second round of talks, the two parties agreed on the common outline and exchanged full drafts for the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms, way ahead of schedule. The common agreed outlines have the core topics federalism, electoral reforms, judicial reforms, military, trade and economic agreements, political authorities and mechanisms, transitional justice, etc. The two parties also agreed on the common outline for the Comprehensive Agreement on End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces.

4. Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) agreed on joint activities

Also in the second round of talks, the JMC (composed of the GRP and NDFP monitoring committees) agreed to develop a human rights monitoring system and promote human rights through fora and trainings. The JMC also agreed to recommend the inclusion of the study of human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) in the curriculum of schools.

5. The signing of the Supplemental Guidelines for the JMC under the CARHRIHL.

However technical this may sound, this is an important success since the finalization of this document was pending since 2004. It was finalized and signed in the third round of talks in Rome. The document provides for the full operationalization of the JMC. Whereas before, the JMC mechanism would only receive complaints of human rights, IHL and ceasefire violations, the two parties can now agree to hold joint investigations of mutually-filed complaints, on accusations hurled against each other as we are now witnessing, and then agree to serve punishment for the violations and to indemnify the victims.

6. Developments in the discussions for the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER)

This is said to be the heart of the peace talks, what is at the very core of what would address the roots of armed conflict. In the second and third round, there were quick developments in the discussion on the CASER that the NDFP had projected it can be signed within the year.

The two parties were able to agree on three parts of the CASER, open discussion on the fourth part (Land Reform and Rural Development) and scheduled to discuss two more parts (national industrialization and economic development; and, environmental protection, rehabilitation and compensation) in the scheduled fourth round of talks in April. The two parties signed ground rules for the discussion on the CASER. The two parties reached a common understanding on the general features of the agrarian reform problem in the Philippines.

The two parties agreed in principle to the free distribution of land to farmers and farm workers as part of the governing frameworks of the CASER.

7. NDFP expressed openness to Duterte’s goal of shift to federal system of government provided certain safeguards like the prohibition of puppetry, dictatorship, graft and corruption, dynasty building and warlordism.

References:

1. Joint Statement on the Resumption of the Formal Talks in the Peace Negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP, signed on August 26, 2016.
2. Joint Statement on the Second Round of Talks Between the GRP and NDFP signed in Oslo, Norway on October 9, 2016.
3. Joint Statement on the Successful Third Round of Formal Talks Between the GRP and the NDFP in Rome, Italy, signed on January 25, 2017.

I cannot even think of an adjective to properly describe how it is to be an Overseas Filipino Worker or OFW. Being away from the Philippines for six months from now and working in a foreign land, I must say it is quite a humbling experience for me. To be in the most beautiful modern place I have ever been, the most popular tourist destination in the world, while working on domestic chores as most, if not all, of the OFWs here do in Paris.

Surprisingly, I adjusted to French ways of life easily, as I experience it day-by-day. I get to travel in the very efficient Metro, which is their version of our LRT and MRT. I now say Bonjour as a formal greeting and even do “beso-beso” as in place of “Hello” or “Uy, Kamusta” in the Philippines. I can now compute in terms of Euros—both the nominal value and the utility of a product—to say which is cheap, which is not, which is worth it every once in a while (mind you, fastfood meals from the likes of McDonald’s here cost 8 euros on the average or P400). I get to eat baguette for breakfast at times and have a selection of cheese to eat it with. Kissing couples in the metro or public areas is no longer new to me here as I’ve learned that French people are very romantic and passionate. It is easy to adjust because the seven to nine hours of work would surely get you in the grind quick.

But what’s hard to get used to is seeing the kind of sacrifices I have seen from all Filipino migrant workers I have met so far. What we all have to do just to provide for families and loved ones back home. I feel mixed emotions every time I hear their stories and when I experience it myself as well.

Do I feel sad because they have to endure back-breaking jobs daily as I do? Do I feel awful knowing that they are roughly 6,910 miles away from home with no family member to take care of them when they get sick or when they need help as I am? Do I feel anger every time I see the pain in their eyes when they get to share their stories of abuse and exploitation, mostly before landing a more regular livelihood here? Do I feel alarmed at the situation of growing number of Filipinos without working papers, still being employed by French household to scuttle government fees for having employees? And do I feel proud that Filipinos have the good reputation of being hard working employees, trustworthy persons and law abiding expatriates? I tend to be consumed with all those thoughts at once and that pushes me to try even harder to understand.

Filipinos working tirelessly from Mondays to Sundays, seven to nine hours everyday only squeezing breaks for lunch and transferring from one job to the next to earn that money remittance to send back home. That is why, in all my ramblings in my current disposition, the news a few days ago on the proposal to increase the value-added tax or VAT from 10% to 12% on the service fee of money remittance centers hit a snag.

The immediate reaction is a wave of disillusionment and fear that remittance centers will pass the additional burden to migrants instead of shouldering the costs. To say it directly, we individual workers can no longer manage the additional taxes. Why not go after big corporations who can muscle their way in paying their taxes correctly for all the big profits they rake in? OFWs worldwide sent $29.92 billion back to the Philippines last year. That’s 1.20 trillion pesos.

A lot of money sent to the country and what’s left with us migrants are just receipts and dues or bills at the end of the month. We stay in cramped rooms or sometimes share a room since rent is costly (300 to 600 euros for spaces as small as studio condo units) especially if you are in the center of Paris. We take advantage on hand me down items to save money and we go to open markets such as Belleville or Barbes-Rochechouart because commodities there are cheaper.

Living abroad has some of its perks, like seeing on a daily basis the most beautiful attractions in the world. But if you really try to see the bigger picture, being away from home creates vulnerable situations for the OFWs and their families. We are forced to leave behind our loved ones, family, country and home. Nothing could feel as vulnerable as that.

We were branded new heroes of the nation because our money remittances keep the Philippine economy afloat. Just hearing that line over and again, surely one would believe in a silver lining in every (dark) cloud. But how ironic that a glimmer of hope for the future of families and for the stability of the nation should be on the expense of the people being with family and having job security—supposed to be basic things a sovereign nation must look after.

That is why when I see in the news that peace talks have been cancelled, I felt falling in another confusing din. (As you might have guessed by now, OFWs watch out for news back home all the time.)

Just almost two years before I came to Paris, I joined activities commemorating the Hacienda Luisita massacre that reached 10 years that year. I find it heartbreaking that the farmers still did not get justice for what happened and the Congressman in the area and part-owner of the hacienda was then the President of the Philippines. That the farmers still did get the land even if the 1985 and 2012 decisions of the Supreme Court said they rightfully own the land now.

There is a compelling reason for me to support the peace talks between the government and the revolutionary forces, especially when I heard that social and economic reforms were on the table last January in the talks in Rome. Land reform and rural development—so we have enough food, so we don’t import rice, so farmers do not die of hunger, so we don’t all have to flock to the metro in hopes that it has greener pasture there—Yes, I want that. National industrialization and economic development—so we would learn to make our own steel, cars, computers, etc., so there will be enough jobs to go around with decent wages—Yes, I want that, too. That higher tuition fees be eradicated and inadequate basic social services be improved —Yes, I want all of that.

If not through the peace talks, then how would this be achieved?

All those years and the Philippines is still backward. That’s why OFWs like me leave the country and work in foreigner’s homes even if in our own nation we had finished good schooling. All the administrations and leaders that promised changed and progress for the country had only differing glamorization of what their achievements were. They say there has been progress, the economic indicators are good, and other descriptions unlike what our lives really are like. Because here I am in Paris, the second generation in my family to go abroad to work.

The government and those up in arms against them sitting on the peace tables and trying to reach agreements and showing sincerity to push for social economic reforms—that brings hope to OFWs like me. I appeal for the leaders in the nation to give lasting peace and real progress a chance in my homeland.

Like any OFW, I hope to someday soon come home to the Philippines, feeling safe and secure for the rest of my days.

Buwan at Baril sa Eb Major is simple yet poetic and haunting. The play will make you cry, feel angry and laugh but will leave you either disturbed or enlightened and hopeful. It is a well-performed relevant play that is a must-see for the older generation to remember what happened during the Marcos dictatorship and for the younger generation to realize that its truth is as much as the truth of the present times.

The play written by Chris Millado and directed by Andoy Ranay was originally staged in 1985 by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) at the height of political unrest brought about by the years of dictatorship since 1972 and then intensified by the killing of Ninoy Aquino in 1983. A year after the play’s staging, the Marcos dictatorship will be toppled down by the people’s uprising known as the People Power. The stories, although completely different in settings and characters, are weaved by a common cause symbolized by an unseen person whose encounters are mentioned in passing by the characters in each act.

The opening act is a reunion of siblings Manggagawa (Danny Mandia) and Magsasaka (Crispin Pineda) during the 1984 Lakbayan. The siblings who have not seen each other for a decade shared their experiences and struggles in the countryside and in the factories in the cities. The farmer and worker dialogue is the perfect opening act as it will also open the realities of the majority of the Filipino people that they experience until now.

A highly emotional scene of the Pari (JC Santos) and Babaeng Itawis refugee (Angeli Bayani) left the audiences sniffling. The Itawis woman narrated the killing of her father and the Priest shared his personal reasons for helping the refugees. At the end of the scene, Bayani delivered her monologue in the language of her character that the audiences cannot understand, no more translations, but performed it too real and heartbreakingly that words were no longer needed.

The Socialite’s (Jackie Lou Blanco) monologue of sharing her experience to her household help of social awakening and joining protests is a comic relief after the previous heavy acts. Blanco’s portrayal of the Socialite’s antics of how to negotiate in a protest she is about to attend and her conversations with her friends is quite hilarious. The act would make the audience realize that even the privileged can be encouraged to side with the cause of the people’s struggle once they are made to understand the actual situation of the oppressed masses. This was also most likely a homage to the participation of the upper middle class and richer sections in society leading to Edsa 1 in February 1986.

Cherry Pie Picache as the Asawa in the fourth story conveyed a message of a moment of confusion and doubt, but later on of resolve to claim the body of her slain rebel husband and pretend to be his cousin to protect her identity. Torn between continuing with her work as an activist in the city and giving up by shying away from the movement. As she comes closer home with her husband’s body, she realizes that she is not alone in the struggle and her son, even at a young age, understands somehow his parents’ cause and shows willingness to continue the fight.

The last story was an interrogation and torture scene between the Pulis (Joel Saracho) and Estudyante (Ross Pesigan). The dialogue matched the tension-filled physical scenes with amusing and witty lines from both characters. The audience will be surprised with the Pulis’ background and would silently be relieved as the activist outwits the police as he pretended to be unknowledgeable and not deeply entrenched in the movement.

The use of live music with only a cello and an acoustic guitar is also commendable for its simplicity and gracefully tugged at the right emotions of the audiences in each story.

If not for the multimedia presentation of historical photos interplayed with similar recent footage to introduce each story, one would think that we are watching a play with stories mirroring the present situation of the country. The struggles of the peasant, workers, national minorities, students and other sectors are quite the same more than 30 years after the play was first staged. For someone who had no direct experience during the dictatorship or not privy to what happening in the peripherals of the country, Buwan at Baril sa Eb Major is a thought-provoking play, one that will surely disturb.

There were no elaborate props, stage design and choreography, and there was no need for them to make this play great. The combination of great talent and brilliant material was enough to come up with a well-crafted production and a masterpiece of theatre. Our country needs more cultural productions like this that not only focus on an individual’s struggle but also his/her connection to the society. There is a constant need to combat the prevailing culture of individualism haunting our youth, made to flourish more than ever in today’s social media.

But the play is not only stories of oppression and tragedy, but also stories of struggle and hope. And as we are confronted with the gloom of landlessness, increasing prices of commodities, everyday traffic, low wages, scuffled peace talks, extrajudicial killings, this is just about what we need to be staged in front of our eyes: a glint of hope that if we continue to struggle with the people, there is a better life, a better society ahead of us. As the last line “tulog na aking munting buwan” is solemnly delivered by the Asawa and all the characters lift their faces to watch the imaginary sleeping moon, we know that the sun is soon to rise, that light and hope amid the darkness would never fail to come.

Tatlong linggo makalipas matanggal ang 12 manggagawa ng departamento ng Physical Facility and General Service Office (PFGSO) sa Adamson University (AdU), naka-tatlong hearing na sa Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ang Unyon ng mga Manggagawa ng Adamson University (UMAdU) at tagapamahala ng AdU. Para sa mga manggagawang natanggal, wala pa ring mahalagang pag-usad ang pagsampa nila ng kaso na illegal dismissal, unfair labor practices, at union busting.

Noong January 14, inabisuhan ni PFGSO Head Architect Daniel Mergal ang 13 manggagawa ng Caritas – PFSGO na magtatapos na ang kanilang “kontrata” sa trabaho.

“Nagtrabaho kami noon, araw ng Sabado. Nung nag-uwian na kami, kinausap kami ni department head, Arch. Dani Mergal. Sinabi niya na sa Lunes, wala na kayo. Bale, magclearance na kayo,” ikinuwento ni Israel Fababier, 35 taong gulang, presidente ng UMAdU at isa sa mga manggagawang tinanggal sa trabaho.

Nakasaad sa listahan na tatanggalin ang walong pintor at limang karpintero. Ngunit pinaiwan ang isa na nasa listahan upang iextend ang kanyang kontrata at nakaambang tatanggalin din.

“Kinuwestyon namin. Bakit naman ganoon? Bakit bigla ninyo kami tinanggal?” daing ni Fababier.

Ang mga manggagawa ng Adamson

Nakabilang si Fababier sa mga karpinterong itinanggal ng PFGSO. Ang PFGSO ay bahagi sa Student Services ng AdU na nagtititiyak ng kalinisan at kaayusan ng mga pasilidad gaya ng mga silid-paaralan, palikuran at laboratoryo.

Tantiya nila Fababier, aabot sa 160 – 180 ang mga manggagawa sa ilalim ng PFGSO at hindi lalagpas sa 20 ang mga regular dito. Ang mga natitira ay mga kontraktwal o mga colorum casual lamang.

“Kapag colorum ka na casual, wala kang kontrata sa trabaho. Hindi katulad ng isang kontraktwal,” ani ni Fababier.

Dahil walang kontrata ang katulad ni Fababier na isang colorum casual na manggagawa, wala siyang kasiguraduhan kung hanggang kailan ang panahon ng pagtratrabaho sa unibersidad. Ang masaklap pa rito ay tinatawag silang “endo” o “end of contract” na sa katunayan ay wala naman silang hawak na mga kontrata.

“July 2, 2014 ako nagsimula. Tatlong taon na akong nagtatrabaho. Wala kaming specific project na pre-determined ang trabaho. Inilagay lang kami para maging facility maintenance talaga,” banggit pa ni Fababier.

Ang mga manggagawang tinanggal ay umaabot na sa tatlo hanggang walong taong nananinilbihan sa AdU.

Pumapasok ang mga manggagawa ng 20 araw sa isang buwan at tumatanggap ng P500 kada araw. Ang kanilang tinatanggap ay sahod ng isang non-skilled worker lamang. Nangangahulugan ito na dapat mas malaki pa ang sinasahod nila Fababier na maituturing na mga skilled workers.

“Hindi nakakasapat ang sahod ko para sa aking pamilya lalo na’t dalawa ang anak ko. Tapos ngayon tinanggal pa kami,” dagdag ni Fababier.

Employer ng mga natanggal na manggagawa ng AdU 

“Na-hire kami ng Adamson sa pamamagitan ng Caritas Et Labora,” sabi ni Fababier.

Ang Caritas Et Labora ay isang “human resource service cooperative” na kabahagi ng Caritas Manila: Church of the Poor, isang ahensiya ng Katoliko at Archdiocese ng Maynila na layuning magbigay ng “social services” at “development” sa mga mahihirap na sektor ng Pilipinas.

Ang Caritas Et Labora ang kinikilalang employer ng mga manggagawang tinanggal. Ngunit sa mga nagdaang hearings sa DOLE, iginigiit ng mga abugado ng AdU, na sina Atty. Agnes Rivera at Atty. Pablo Cruz, na nagtatrabaho lamang sila Fababier para sa unibersidad at hindi mga empleyado nito.

Ang ganitong pahayag ng mga abugado ay nagsasabing walang pananagutan ang Caritas Et Labora at AdU sa pagkakatanggal ng mga manggagawang taon-taon nang naninilbihan sa unibersidad.

Naisiwalat din na ang Caritas Et Labora ay lumalabag sa proseso ng batas paggawa dahil hindi ito rehistrado sa DOLE. Gumagalaw sa paraan ng “labor-only contracting” na pinagbawalan na ng DOLE nitong nakaraang taon.

Kung para sa Caritas Et Labora at AdU ay hindi sila ang employer dahil walang kontratang nagpapakita nito (na sa katunayan ay isa ring paglabag sa batas), para sa mga nagpoprotestang manggagawa, sila ay tila tumatayong employer na walang pagsunod sa tamang “labor practices.”

Pagbuo ng sariling unyon

“Tinatakot kami na tatanggalin na. Hindi raw kami mareregular. Ito ang mga panakot nila [Adamson] sa amin kaya huwag na raw kami umasa,” sabi ni Fababier.

Sa tatlong taong pagtatrabaho Fababier sa AdU, hindi niya natamasa na maging isang regular na manggagawa. Ito rin ang sinapit ng ibang manggagawa mas matagal pang nagtrabaho kaysa sa kanya.

“Kaya nagkaisa kaming bumuo ng organisasyon para maipaglaban naman namin ang karapatan namin,” banggit ni Fababier.

Kaya’t bago pa magkaroon ng tangkang pagtanggal sa ilang manggagawa ng AdU ay binuo na nila ang kanilang unyon dahil bukod pa sa illegal dismissal ay sinasabi nila Fababier na talagang malaganap ang unfair labor practices at walang kasiguraduhan na employment condition.

Ang ilang mga natitirang mga regular na manggagawa sa AdU ay bunga naman ng kanilang laban para sa regularisasyon. Naipanalo nila ang kaso matapos din nila mabuo ang kanilang sariling unyon at ikasa ang laban noong 1990.

Kahit gustong ipabasura ng mga tagapamahala ng AdU ang kasong isinampa ng UMAdU laban sa kanila, mas pinaigting pa nila Fababier, kasama ang 31 at dumadami pang miyembro ng unyon, ang kanilang panawagan laban sa illegal dismissal at kontraktwalisasyon.

Nitong February 13, nagpiket prostesta muli ang mga manggagawa sa harap ng gusali ng AdU dahil may banta na naman na tatanggalin ang natitira pang 35 na manggagawa sa March 6, 2017.

“Kami’y patuloy na lalaban na hangga’t hindi kami nakakabalik at hindi naireregularisa sa aming mga trabaho,” giit ni Fababier.

On Valentine’s Day, One Billion Rising (OBR) Revolution – Philippines gathered women from all walks of life at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila at 10 A.M. to call for all-out peace and to urge the Duterte government to continue the peace talks with National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

OBR is a mass campaign to end systemic violence against women and children worldwide. The campaign also saw women’s struggles as brought by various interconnected global and local issues such as “poverty, corruption, environmental plunder, imperialism, religious marginalization, immigration, labor, and political repression.”

In the Philippines, women across different cities clamour for the continuation of the peace negotiations to help end end social and economic violence against women and other sectors in the country.

While the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP have started discussing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Socio-economic Reforms (CASER), President Duterte has “arbitrarily terminated” the talks with the NDFP this January 7, 2017 and declared an “all-out war” against the revolutionary forces.

GABRIELA National Alliance of Women, one of the partners of OBR, condemns the”all-out war” operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP’s) in civilian communities.

“Rural communities are the ones suffering from the military’s renewed attacks. The army is carrying out assassinations and arrests of development workers and community leaders, while unleashing aerial bombardments and hamlettings of thousands of rural residents. We join One Billion Rising to bring to the attention of world public opinion that the government’s counterinsurgency program, designed and abetted by the US government, is sabotaging the peace talks and renders millions of women and children vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and mass casualty deaths,” said Joms Salvador, GABRIELA secretary general.

This speech was delivered at the launching of Migrante New Jersey, Pope Lecture Hall, Saint Peter’s University, October 2, 2016. 

Good afternoon everyone, magandang tanghali po sa inyong lahat.

Ako po si Cecil Delgado, a mother of a fourteen year old young man, a migrant worker and a part of Florida 15, a human trafficking survivor.

A week ago, I was asked by Yves Nibungco to first share our story for the nth time and second, why I decided to be a part of Migrante NJ. And just like the old times, I was hesitant to do this. I don’t know if I’m scared that I may say things that people wouldn’t understand or maybe I’m scared that i may fail to deliver the message. But then I remember, it was around 2007, in front of 10 corporate officers and almost 200 crew members from different countries, when I put my employment at risk, by standing up, asking questions and speaking for others. I decided to stand up and throw questions to those [corporate] officers, for those 200 crew members who didn’t have the courage to speak for themselves. Questions that I never thought would be their reason to send me home, questions that I never thought would be their reason to end my career as a Seafarer.

The company decided to send me home because they said that I was a threat. Ako daw po ay isang banta, that I am an activist. At first, I wasn’t sure about that, but I was sure of one thing. That I stood up and fought for what I know was right! I may not be a radical activist, but I know, I am an activist by heart.

And that is the reason why I am standing in front of you. Because I don’t know if by telling my story or our story, I would be able to inspire and encourage others to come out and expose themselves and seek justice. I’m hoping that by sharing a brief summary of our story, people will be inspired and encouraged, just as how Leticia Moratal and Jackie Aguirre’s story inspired us. For nothing is more powerful than a real testimony of a survivor from being a victim.

As I was saying, aside from working in different hotels and high-end restaurants in the Philippines, I was a seafarer before. I ventured in sea-based employment because aside from earning Euros, I also get to visit different countries. Unfortunately, that journey ended after four years.

I was looking for an employment opportunity, when a friend of mine encouraged me to apply to an agency in Manila. After only a month of processing, I was hired to work as a waitress. March 2008 when I first set my feet in Miami, Florida. In short, it was 2008, when I migrated.

I personally decided to migrate simply because and what everybody says “we want a better future for our family,” a future that my country doesn’t offer and a future that you can’t find in the Philippines.

My intention was only to work, earn and save, but I ended up being a human trafficking victim or a victim of unfair labor practices. I personally couldn’t believe that I can be a victim of such a thing, because when I was applying for the job, everything seemed legit, fair and legal. Complete trainings, paper works, and documents from the United States were handed to me. I also didn’t know that labor “trafficking” word has ever existed.

It was only after three years when I resigned as an Executive Assistant of Jose Villanueva, a Filipino employer who owned SanVilla Ship, who took us from the Philippines and brought here, that human trafficking is really happening here in the United States. Because before, whenever I hear “human trafficking,” I always thought about “sex slaves,” hindi po pala. I was wrong.

I personally never worked as a full time waitress. Rather, I worked as a 24/7 Executive Assistant, and being his Executive Assistant, I would say, I witnessed everything – payroll discrepancies, tax fraud, visa fraud, forced labor, unauthorized deductions, etc. I was also forced to multi task and maximize my time to minimize my loads. I was working 60 to 70 hours/wk, no overtime pay, I was paid less, managing almost a hundred employees and attending to their needs, meeting clients here and there, scouting, driving, payroll, etc. You name it all! I did it all by myself.

That’s why, it was easy for me to seek Atty. Vinluan’s advice through the endorsement of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), and he validated that our employer violated so much of my rights and that I was a human trafficking victim together with fourteen others. Our case ran from 2011 to 2014, and the government has only helped us once. We never got any legal assistance from them for our lawyer. They gave us $300 each as their initial help for their citizens in distress and I’m telling you, that was the last too. They even tried to get rid of us by offering us to be sent back to the Philippines in which we all refused.

2011 when we filed our case against our former employer. February 2013 when we received our T-visas and employment cards. 2014 when we started filing the petition for our families. 2015 when some of the F15 members got reunited with their families. And just last September 2015, I got reunited with my son. A son that I did not see in almost 7 years; a son that I did not see playing basketball or soccer, a son that I never see competing in swimming and won medals; a son that was so innocent in anything and is now eminently engage in everything; a son that I begged to have but had to leave.

I couldn’t explain how I felt when I was at the airport, waiting for him to come out, and saw him walking towards me. I wasn’t sure if I was excited or scared. Excited because finally we will be together or scared because he may not recognize me. As he was getting closer, the only thing I felt that I had to do, was to hug and kiss him, because he’s my son anyway. He would feel every beat of my heart. But then I was right, after hours of talking, my son told me, he barely recognized me. He didn’t recognize my face and my hair.

That “honesty” hurt me for a little bit, but it didn’t break me. Reuniting with my son is still the best feeling! My son is my reason why I remained strong. There’s a saying and it goes” A woman became stronger because of the pain she has faced and won”.

Labor export policy separated us but fighting the system brought us back together.

A family member once asked me if working abroad is easy or hard. Some may say easy, some may say hard. But the answer will always depend on one’s current situation. Let’s just say it’s both easy and hard. Easy because you are earning more than what you can earn in your country. Easy because you can buy what you want whenever you want it and easy because you can visit different places and meet new friends along the way. On the other hand, it’s hard because aside from being away from your family for an indefinite period of time, you are at the same time putting your life in danger or putting your future at risk!

Sometimes, a death or loss of a family member, having a broken family and separation of husband and wife are becoming a part of the “unwritten contract” as a migrant worker. Being in another country is always a gamble. Almost like playing a card game. Magkamali ka ng balasa, next thing you know, ikaw na ung nasa kahon. Minsan masarap din maging migrante dahil madalas we send balikbayan boxes for our families, pero minsan nakakatakot din, dahil minsan ang migrante na mismo ang laman ng box (One mistake, next thing you know you’re already the one inside the box. Sometimes it also feels good to be a migrant because most of the time we send balikbayan boxes, but sometimes it’s also scary, because sometimes migrants themselves are the ones inside the box). Just like what happened to many of our fellow kababayan in Middle East or different parts of the world.

It gets more difficult from a mother, migrant worker and victim’s point of view, is when you fight your battle without seeing your Government in the equation. These government representatives always forget the fact that the reason why they are here is to first, protect the migrant workers, to ensure that we are safe, to ensure that we are getting the assistance and help that we may be needing and most importantly, to ensure na tayo po ay makakabalik pa ng buhay sa bansang ating pinanggalingan (that we can return alive in the country where we came from). Migrant workers safety should be their top priority. Sending our ashes back to our country or sending our dead and cold bodies back to our families is the most painful price that migrant workers have to pay most of the times.

Kaya nga po, being a Migrant Worker is not as easy as what are families think. Being a Migrant Worker is as hard as putting yourself into quick sand and waiting for someone to pull you up or push you down. Pains, hardships, sacrifice and sufferings, they are all so real.

We, the Florida 15, would not be where we are now if it were not because of these community organizations and our lawyer who never cease to support us, if it wasn’t because we decided to engage ourselves with them, if it wasn’t because we decided to be united, maybe until now we are still hiding and waiting for nothing. Our collective effort and our decision to put our actions together brought us to where we are now. Brought us to be with our families. Brought us to be free and fearless. Brought us to stand up in front of you and tell you that, you, migrants are not alone. That all Migrants could make a difference and be a part of change!

Everyday, we are facing unseen battles. Don’t step back. Move forward and always think of the basic, that in fighting a battle you either win or lose. What’s important is, you tried and chose to stand up and fight for your rights. And this is why I joined Migrante New Jersey. As long as there are victims, we, the organizations should stand still. As long as there are people that are getting abused, in any other way, we should remain, and when everything gets fixed, we should still watch. And this is what this organization does. Migrante will stay, stand, support, educate, and fight with you. Let’s all contribute, build and mobilize.

To all the Migrant Workers out there, times have molded us. We have had enough pain and sufferings. This is the time that we need to put our actions together. This may not be an easy path, but things always get better if we are all together.

Muli, ako po si Cecil Delgado, a Mother, a survivor, and a Migrant Worker!
Ang migranteng militante in rising!
Marami pong salamat at mabuhay ang migranteng manggagawa! (Thank you and long live migrant workers!)

At past 8pm on February 13, he was allowed to eat on his own. His rice and viand were packed in what market retailers would call “1-kilo plastic bag.” He wrapped his right hand with one of those clear plastic bags so he could eat with his hand. He could probably have eaten with his bare hands, as Filipinos are wont to do, but not if he has not washed them after a grueling 30 hours. It was his first time to eat since 9pm the day before.

In a few hours from then, there would be an eruption of Valentine greetings, roses, chocolates, stuffed toys, dates and dinners. This would of course be far from his mind and none of his present surroundings could conjure up what is usually a celebratory, consumerist day.

Ferdinand Castillo, an activist illegally arrested on February 12 and detained inside the national police headquarters Camp Crame, ate a late dinner inside the facility of his jailers with the handcuff still attached on his right hand.

He would later sleep in the same room where he ate, without much trainings, his hands cuffed.

Matters of the heart

Castillo, 57, suffered from rheumatic fever in 1995. His body was paralyzed for two weeks and he had to take medication of Penadur for two years. He blamed this on his negligence of his health, for being consumed by and with his work in service of the people. Due this, he became afflicted with rheumatic heart disease as well.

A heart enlargement resulted from rheumatic heart disease. It was then found out that his heart had a left axis deviation. This then resulted to an irregular beating of his heart, or arrhythmia. This has caused him a condition of skip breathing that muddled his blood pressure. He would then suffer from hypertension, a type of hypertensive heart disease that may cause cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart failure, and renal disease.

He had survived two strokes. But he suffers also from transient ischemic attack, also known as mini strokes.

Castillo is on a diet of indigenous fruits and vegetables since 1995. It was what he and his family could do to prevent the fatal consequences of his various illnesses.

Castillo informed those who arrested him that he had several health conditions and was told while still in the vehicle that he would be brought to a hospital. But he spent a night not knowing where he was, an air-conditioned room on the third floor, barely slept through a night interrupted with interrogations, fingerprinting, photo taking etc.

The following day, he asked for a lawyer but they told him they would ask clearance for his request first. It was 10am when he was allowed to contact human rights group Karapatan and his group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and the National Union of People’s Lawyers. It was then that his friends and family found out where he was in the last 16 hours he had been without communication with them.

It could be said that Castillo had been unfortunate in his heart condition. But it could be said of his life that he has followed his heart.

Following the heart

For a man of his ailments, he should have chosen to rest. Instead, he continued to be an active fighter for workers’ rights and people’s welfare up to the day of his illegal arrest.

He came from a meeting on campaigning to end contractualization with Liga ng mga Manggagawa sa Central Caloocan (League of Workers in Central Caloocan) in Barangay Sta. Quiteria, Caloocan on February 12, 4pm, when he was nabbed by elements of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and military Intelligence Service Group-Philippine Army (ISG-PA) and the Intelligence Service of the Armed forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

(The ISG-PA was responsible for the abduction of activists Elizabeth Principe, who they made incommunicado for three days, and Jonas Burgos, still missing. The head of ISG-PA then was Eduardo Año, now AFP Chief-of-Staff.)

Castillo became a member of League of Filipino Students in his college days in the University of Philippines Diliman. He also became a member of the Gamma Sigma Fraternity. He soon answered the clarion call to the youth in those times of political strife and Martial Law.

Instead of a high-flying career, he went to the higher altitudes of Cagayan Valley to volunteer his skills and talents to the downtrodden in the region. He became co-founder of the Cagayan Valley Human Rights Organization, a member of the Northern Luzon Research Organization and a member of the Social Action Center in Ilagan, Isabela. He helped established the first chapter of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Isabela in 1985. He helped organized the Sakbayan (campaign of people travelling from Cagayan Valley) to Manila to support the opening of peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in 1986.

He went back to Metro Manila as his health declined. He became campaign officer for Bayan Manila in 1997, then Bayan Metro Manila since 2007. He worked to help improve the conditions of the urban poor and the workers by empowering them to know their rights and the courses of action they may take to preserve their homes, jobs and dignity.

Have a heart

Castillo’s wife, a breastfeeding advocate and lactation specialist, tried to knock on the hearts of his captors.

And on Valentine’s day, activists and human rights advocates took to Camp Crame to protest the detention of the sickly Castillo.

He was told in the Caloocan City Prosecutor’s Office 2pm on February 13 that a .45 caliber pistol and some ammunitions were taken from him, that felt inane to him as “the captors do not even bother to show you or other witnesses now how they pull out their planted evidence from you.” He was charged with trumped-up cases of double murder and multiple murder from an encounter of the AFP and the NPA on March 2014 in Lopez, Quezon—essentially happenings in a civil war in the country beyond the responsibility or blame of one person. His inquest was scheduled on March 7, with possibly a witness to identify Castillo in the crime.

But Castillo is no NPA, even if his health was not enough for state authorities to go figure that out. Bayan Metro Manila rejected the accusation of Castillo being NPA, since he has been with them in planning for campaigns in the region. Well, there is also no NPA in Metro Manila as the armed conflict takes place in the countryside, if that would give more sense to many nonsensical notions abound.  

The treatment of Castillo is a heartrending picture of, one would believe, how all other elderly or sickly prisoners have been treated by state authorities. One would also not forget easily, how an aging, emaciated political prisoner Bernabe Ocasla, fought for his life in the ICU of a hospital, died handcuffed to his hospital bed in December 2016.

READ: Release of political prisoners is a life and death matter

That the justice system in the Philippines serves to jail and treat inhumanly the best sons and daughters of the country and then free and rehabilitate plunderers and worst human rights violators is a heartbreak that would compete to top all heartbreaks on V-Day. A situation that we have seen and known for a long time, and one we should no longer agree to continue to suffer.

The peace talks between the Philippine government (the Government of the Philippines or GRP) and the communist revolutionary group represented by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have been on and off, albeit some back-channel talks. The peace talks are a part of the whole peace negotiation process, one that has taken three decades.

But the peace negotiations have not been totally unsuccessful. One of the four substantive agenda based on the agreed framework of the talks have reached an agreement—that is the agreement on human rights and international humanitarian law, or formally known as Comprehensive Agreement for the Respect on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). It was signed in 1998 or 12 years after the peace negotiations started.

In this peace talks reader, we answer the basic questions about the peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Know what is at stake and what is your stake.

Did we cover the basic stuff? Care to find out more? Send us questions on this topic that you want to be answered and maybe we will include it in this reader.