“We mobilized our membership to further the global campaign against corruption in the Philippines government,” a member of Anakbayan DC said. “This was recently highlighted by the misuse of funds for flood control projects. 180 billion pesos are unaccounted for and our kababayan [fellow Filipinos] are the ones that suffer, not the bureaucratic capitalists that run the country.”

The mood among attendees was high despite rain and near-freezing temperatures. After a short rally in DuPont Circle, protesters took to the streets, chanting slogans like “Imperyalismo — Ibagsak!” (Down with imperialism) and “Burukrata Kapitalismo — Ibagsak!” (Down with bureaucrat capitalism) as they marched to the Philippine embassy.

“It’s important for people in the U.S., both Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike, to stand up against injustice in the Philippines considering the colonial relationship and hegemony that the United States has over the Philippines,” said Jom Dolor, co-coordinator of BAYAN DMV and deputy secretary general of MIGRANTE USA.

“You should also see the role that the U.S. plays in both destabilizing the governments and peoples’ movements, all around the world, including the Philippines,” he continued. “It’s also important to see how it profits, both from the wars it instigates and perpetuates in the Philippines and also from the materiel and weapons industry it promotes to counter supposed ‘Chinese influence’ in the region.”

Speaking about her recent trip to the Philippines, a member of Anakbayan Montgomery County said, “I’ve witnessed the effects of the corruption firsthand, charging through the floodwaters in España, visiting barangay [neighborhood or village] heads and seeing what the community members needed. And what we learned is that the youth were actually the first people to visit these barangays and actually investigate and see what people needed.”

Towards the end of the action, organizers brought out a paper mache effigy of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, a leading figure in the massive corruption scandals which have rocked the Philippines in recent weeks. The action ended with activists, carrying the flags of various Filino liberation organizations, surrounding the effigy of Marcos Jr. and beating it with their flagpoles while the crowd chanted “Si Marcosmismo – Babagsak!” (Marcos will fall).

The action was organized by BAYAN DMV. During the action, BAYAN and its allies reaffirmed that they would continue to fight against corruption in the Philippines, as well as the exploitation and oppression of Filipinos both at home and overseas.

#WashingtonDC #International #Philippines #BAYAN #MIGRANTE #

Washington, D.C. — On April 30, over 30 Filipino and community activists gathered outside of the Embassy of the Philippines to celebrate International Workers Day and demand that the Philippine government stand up for Filipino workers in the US.

The action, which was one of many coordinated actions that day at Philippine consulates around the U.S., began with a small group of activists entering the embassy and attempting to deliver an open letter to Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez. When embassy staff refused to hear them out, the activists tried at the embassy annex across the street. Here, too, they were denied by staff, who shut the gate in their faces.

By this time a crowd of roughly 30 people had amassed outside the embassy, chanting “Romualdez! Do your job! Or! Step! Down!”

“The Philippine government has always bowed to the U.S.,” a member of Anakbayan DC, said in their speech. “The people in power have no problem ignoring the wellbeing of Filipinos if it means lining their pockets and making profit. The Filipino people are forced to migrate to the U.S. because of bureaucratic greed.”

A speaker from MIGRANTE noted, “Almost 10,000 Filipinos at this point leave the country to escape poverty and to make a living, however, we are here as proof that moving abroad is not the solution. Workers have no other choice than to stand together to unify their strength and change the system oppressing the ranks of our people. The oppressors built the chain, we will break it.”

This call for militant workers’ action was heard from other speakers as well. The speaker for the Justice for Jollibee Workers campaign said, “Just as workers before us fought for minimum wages, adequate hours, and occupational safety and health, we, even those non-workers, have a duty to continue the fight for workers’ rights everywhere, especially now when the new U.S. administration’s policies have a direct impact on workers.”

“We’ve witnessed firsthand the power of collective action,” they continued. “We must continue to educate and foster unity among our fellow workers to face the challenges ahead. We must take on the campaigns of our fellow workers, keep organizing more protests, keep speaking up, and keep calling out the matapobres or ruling class who continue to trample over our rights!”

In addition to general demands around migrant workers and other overseas Filipinos, the demonstrators made specific demands, that could be heard throughout the action and seen on signs including “Justice for Alma Bowman,” “Justice for Dhenmark and Jovi” and “Free Ligaya Jensen.”

#WashingtonDC #DC #ImmigrantRights #Labor #MIGRANTE #ILPS #Anakbayan #MayDay

San Francisco, CA – On July 22, more than 300 people packed the street in front of the Philippine consulate in San Francisco. Chants of “People power now!” and “No justice, no peace! Stop the killings in the Philippines!” rang out as protestors called for the ousting of Philippine President Duterte, who has killed thousands in his so-called ‘war on drugs.’ The occasion was the “Peoples’ SONA” on the occasion of the official State of the Nation Address given by the Philippine president each year.

Speakers from the BAYAN/Anakbayan of San Francisco, Migrante, and other organizations including the Arab Resource and Organizing Committee and the National Lawyers Guild spoke out against the Duterte and U.S. military aid to his regime. Included in the program was a professor from San Francisco State University, Reverends Sadie Stone and Michael Yoshi, and former elected official Rodel Rodis.

People waved flags reading “Oust Duterte” and “Stop the killing in the Philippines” along with banners representing PAWIS, MIGRANTE, Gabriella, BAYAN, and Anakbayan. In a daring action, activists hung a huge banner saying “Oust Duterte, stop the killing in the Philippines” above the door of the Philippine Consulate.

The Hip-hop artist Bambu fired up the crowd and ended by saying “Take it beyond social media – take it to the streets – that is how change is made!” to the roaring approval of the crowd.

After the action at the Philippine Consulate, the protest moved two blocks to Union Square, where it ended with organizers taking a group photo. The protest was organized by Malaya, and was one of eight protests in cities across the United States including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon; Houston and Washington, DC.

#SanFranciscoCA #OppressedNationalities #Philippines #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #AsianNationalities #ANAKBAYAN #RodrigoDuterte #Migrante

New York, NY – On the evening of Dec. 10, approximately 70 activists gathered at the Philippine Consulate on 5th Avenue to protest the regime of President Duterte and to demand an end to its state-sanctioned mass killings.

The rally was held on International Human Rights Day, a time to remember and reinforce the need for democracy and human rights, and to highlight the crimes against the people of the Philippines under the Duterte’s rule.

Since Rodrigo Duterte took power there has been a wave of human rights abuses. It began with the Drug Wars, which Duterte claimed was a way to cleanse the Philippines of crimes, but instead were used to murder over 13,000 civilians. Second, Duterte has reinstated martial law in Mindanao, hurting indigenous people. Most recently, Duterte forces have murdered militant fighters for democracy and named the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as a terrorist organization.

The escalation of human rights abuses against people supporting the National Democratic movement began shortly after President Donald Trump’s visit.

The rally aimed to stand in solidarity with those fighting the Philippines, remember the struggles of those who died at the hands of repression, and wage forward in the fight for liberation. The event was organized by Bayan USA and was attended by members of a multitude of different organizations such as: Migrante, Gabriella NY, Anakbayan NY and NJ, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine, Committee to Stop FBI Repression – NY, and the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network.

In between speeches, the chants rang out from the people, including “No justice, no peace! No more war in the Philippines,” and “U.S. imperialist, number one terrorist!”

Organizers used a projector to shine slogans onto the walls of the consulate with phrases such as, “Fight against the fascist U.S.-Duterte regime” throughout the night’s event.

Mike Legaspi, from Bayan USA, closed the rally saying, “Rodrigo Duterte, like all the other puppet presidents, will be relegated to the garbage bin of history. It's been a little of a year since he's been president and when he came in, people of the Philippines were so optimistic. A lot of people who organize for the National Democratic movement were also optimistic because they thought he would bring an end to the decades long civil war through peace talks. He did initially open up peace talks with the National Democratic movement of the Philippines and the CPP, but he has recently cancelled these peace talks. Now Duterte and his military supporters have deemed the CPP as terrorist. But Duterte has gone beyond this and said that the legal democratic mass movement is also terrorist. That means that he's looking for terrorists when all he has to do is look in the mirror.”

#NewYorkNY #Philippines #CommunistPartyOfThePhilippines #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine #SamidounPalestinianPrisonerSolidarityNetwork #RodrigoDuterte #Migrante #GabriellaNY #Anakyaban #Asia