About Migrante Partylist

 Posted  by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing                                                                                                                                Rome, Italy   12 February 2016

       

MIGRANTE Partylist is a sectoral party of overseas Filipinos, transcending professions, sectors, cultures and across countries around the world. We take heed to trace our roots and affirm our task in rebuilding the Motherland towards the pursuit of a government of integrity, justice and genuine service, and a new brand of politics that will realize a new brand of Philippine politics and usher in a society that never has to be torn apart just for the need to survive.

Together with its founding organization, Migrante International, and all its member organizations, chapters and networks in more than 23 countries around the world, Migrante Partylist has continued the decades-long track record of service to Filipino migrants and their families since its founding in 2004.
Migrante Partylist is committed to advance the rights and welfare of migrant Filipinos and their families as well as to work for a just and prosperous society that will eliminate the roots of forced migration and scrap the labor export policy.

Our vision is to build a society where families will not be torn apart by their urgent need for survival – a society where our citizens can live a decent and humane life. Our mission is to encourage the participation of overseas Filipinos in the active struggle to effectively and continuously uphold and defend the rights and welfare of the sector WE represent.

Our General Program of Action
Serbisyo, hindi negosyo! Proteksyon, hindi koleksyon!
It is the basic right of Filipino migrants and their families to be given sufficient services and protection, especially those in distress.
M akabayang pamamahala at mabilis na serbisyo!
I llegal recruitment at trafficking, wakasan!
G aling at husay ng migrante para sa bayan!
R espeto sa mga karapatan!
A busadong opisyal, tatanggalin!
N o kotong policy!
T apat na representante ng migrante sa Kongreso!
E nd labor export, trabaho sa Pinas, hindi sa labas!

Our Migrants’ Agenda

Migrante Partylist is committed to advance the rights and welfare of migrant Filipinos and their families as well as to work for a just and prosperous society that will eliminate the roots of forced migration and scrap labor export policy.

There are currently 15 million overseas Filipinos and an estimated 6,000 leaving the country daily to work abroad. Filipino people are being forced to migrate and be uprooted from their families because of desperation. The economy’s lack of development resulting in job loss at home is the primary push factor. It is a sad consequence when our labor force is uprooted from their families, forced to endure unfair labor policies and abuses, and in some cases, suffer death, in exchange for cheap labor because of government failure to address poverty and joblessness.

OFW remittances have kept the economy afloat amid fiscal deficit and the global economic crisis. Remittances reached $26 billion in 2014, amounting to nine percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But while the national economy benefits from OFW remittances in that they contribute greatly to compensate and finance fiscal deficits and debt, the surge in OFW remittances has unfortunately made it convenient for the government to skirt around the rightful demands to curb poverty and create decent jobs at home.

As it gears to participate in the 2016 elections, Migrante Partylist stands on the principle that to genuinely address the problem of forced migration, the government should decisively deviate from past administrations’ labor export policy and focus instead on developing the national economy through genuine national industrialization and genuine land reform programs.

Migrante Partylist’s electoral agenda:

1. Sustainable job generation and reintegration program.

• Increase local job generation by advancing local industries, agriculture and basic services;
• Enact measures that will increase wages and salaries for local and Filipino workers abroad to cope with the rising cost of living;
• Create support mechanisms that will gradually decrease the export of manpower and establish a comprehensive reintegration programs for returned workers.

2. End plunder and all forms of graft and corruption, especially the abuse and misuse of funds intended for OFWs.

• Investigate funds allotted to the P2-billion reintegration package inaugurated by the present administration;
• Full audit of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds. Investigate OWWA Funds sourced from the US$25 contributions and interest income of investments; the anomalous investment of the Smokey Mountain Participation Project Certificate (SMPP); unremitted OWWA collections and un-liquidated cash advances; and, loans extended to government and recruitment agencies, among others.

3. Provide basic social services for migrant workers and their families.

• Legislate P1 billion annual Legal Assistance Fund (LAF);
• Increase funds for repatriation of migrant workers and OFWs in distress through the General Appropriations Act as mandated by Republic Act 8042 or the Magna Carta for Overseas Filipinos and Migrant Workers Act of 1995, amended by RA 10022; and provide immediate provision of legal services upon arrest;
• Expand the coverage of services particularly the Emergency Repatriation Fund (ERF);
• Prioritize the enactment of an increased budget for social services particularly in education, health and housing;
• Enact changes in the educational system, particularly the scrapping ofthe K+12 and other policies aimed at reinforcing cheap semi-skilled youth labor for the global market;
• Create mechanisms for the speedy facilitation of the Emergency Repatriation Fund to OFWs in distress;
• Establish Philippine posts and labor and welfare posts in countries where there are none, additional posts in countries with large concentration of OFWs, and the re-institute posts that were closed down due to the present administration’s austerity measures;
• Increase funds for on-site services, OFW shelters here and abroad, and expand services and benefits to all migrant workers and OFWs in distress, regardless of status;
• Increase funds for on-site services and establish mechanisms for a more effective, efficient and swift on site protection for migrant workers abroad;
• Institutionalize the granting of financial relief assistance to OFWs repatriated due to war, crisis and calamities here and abroad and to OFWs in distress and their families;
• Increase the number of shelters in embassies with complete psycho-social services; and,
• Enact measures that will ensure that embassy officials and other concerned migrant organizations be allowed to pay regular visits to our kababayans in detention for close monitoring of their cases.

4. Scrap all state exactions and exorbitant fees.

• Scrap all excessive government fees, taxes and charges such as plans to tax balikbayan boxes, the P550 terminal fee, the documentary stamp tax, mandatory US$25 OWWA contribution, mandatory Pag-Ibig contribution, Philhealth premium rate hike, documentary stamp tax on remittances, mandatory Consular Sponsorship fees like the affidavit of support (AOS) requirement, consular fee hikes such as the e-Passport fee increases, Comelec certification fee, among others.

5. Enact a genuine and pro-migrant OWWA charter that will provide and expand benefits and

• Services for migrant workers and families. Ensure the adequate and not a token representation of the OFWs;
• Scrap the current OWWA Omnibus Policies and, in its place, create policies that will genuinely benefit its members such as lifetime membership for members;
• Ensure transparency in the use of OWWA Funds; and,
• Assert equal opportunities and benefits for returned migrants under the OWWA, regardless of status.

6. Protect all OFWs, especially women migrants and minors.

• Enact more accessible and fund-assured protective mechanisms for women and minors to include interventions, legal representation and litigation costs; and establish additional safe shelters for women and minors with in-house social workers, doctors, psychiatrists as support services to victims of rape and sexual abuse and maltreatment;
• Provide gender-sensitive trainings to all embassy officials; and,
• Protect the rights and welfare and uphold the dignity of the kasambahays, here and abroad, as stipulated in the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention (C189).

7. Protect the rights and welfare of seafarers.

• Establish on-site programs in concerned Philippine Embassies and Consulates;
• Conduct dialogues concerning mechanisms to ensure protection of seafarers with concerned governments and the International Transport Federation (ITF) where major destination seaports are located (Singapore, Rotterdam in The Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany, Hong Kong); work closely with existing church institutions with seafarer ministries and other ngos for easy access of social services including on-site visits in their ship carriers; and,
• Conduct an independent investigation of seafarers situation to be able to craft a genuine Magna Carta for Seafarers, in compliance with the newly ratified International Maritime Convention (2006).

8. Stop all forms of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

• Create an independent body to track down and investigate trafficking syndicates and erring recruitment agencies and push for their speedy prosecution and the imposition of stiffer penalties;
• Conduct extensive education information and dissemination on illegal recruitment and trafficking from the barangay-level and up, and;
• Conduct an independent investigation of the involvement, directly or indirectly, of government officials, especially those from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA);
• Legislate tougher penalties against recruitment agencies with unlawful activities, including overcharging of fees and connivance with lending agencies.

9. Repeal all anti-migrant laws and policies.

• Propose a genuine and more comprehensive Magna Carta for migrant workers and their families that will include the repeal of the mandatory insurance and the three-month cap to monetary claims, “Section 37-A – Compulsory Insurance Coverage for Agency-Hired Workers of the Republic Act No. 8042, as amended, Republic Act No. 10022”;
• Scrap the OWWA Omnibus Policies and ensure the reinstatement of the Legal Assistance Program, Medicare Program, General Financial Assistance Program and on-site services for migrant workers;
• Scrap Executive Order 247 re-focusing the functions of Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in its paradigm shift from regulation to full-blast market development efforts and job markets for Filipino expatriate workers. Scrap the POEA Standard Contract for Seafarers and all other circulars and guidelines that impose additional burden to migrant workers.;
• Review the Overseas Absentee Voting Act and the Partylist System Act and proposed amendments to address problem of massive disenfranchisement among overseas Filipinos;
• Repeal all one-sided, unequal and unilateral trade and labor treaties and agreements that merely promote the export of cheap labor;
• Facilitate bilateral agreements based on international standards and other instrumentalities;
• Implement the UN Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the ILO Convention 189 on Domestic Workers;
• Submit regular reports to the United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers and committees such as Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) and International Labor Organization (ILO);
• Review existing agreements or other diplomatic relations and foreign policies entered into by the Philippine government with the receiving governments;
• Include the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), international conventions and norms, obligations of states under international law to respect the rights of migrants and labor in school curricula; and,
• Facilitate the collection and critique of existing national policies of receiving governments vis-à-vis international conventions, norms and other related documents.

10. Justice and indemnification to victims of human and labor rights violations.

• Establish a special court for migrant workers;
• Create support mechanisms that will ensure easy access to justice for OFWs here and abroad;
• Provide additional labor arbiters, hearing officers and lawyers here and abroad;
• Indemnify victims and their families, and assist in the filing of cases against abusive and erring officials with the Ombudsman, the Committee on Human Rights and other legal remedies; and,
• Create a migrants’ desk at the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and establish additional POEA adjudication offices in provinces.

11. Accountability of the State and its erring officials.

• Investigate the alleged misuse and diversion of OWWA funds, anomalous investments, electoral fraud and corruption;
• Prosecute abusive DFA, POEA and OWWA officials;
• Investigate and prosecute abusive and erring officials in the exercise of their duties, particularly those directly or indirectly involved in activities victimizing migrant workers;
• Create a people’s monitoring system on the conduct of government officials as mandated by RA 8042.

12. Representation in government and decision-making bodies.

• Work closely with other sectors and lawmakers for the inclusion of the migrant’s agenda in the legislative agenda of Congress;
• Establish cooperation with the legislators of the sending and receiving countries and representation in pushing for improved protection mechanisms on-site; and,
• Strengthen consultancy/partnership with migrant organizations and other concerned sectors on issues and legislative agenda put forth in Congress.

Our Track Record

Led the global campaign to save the lives of Angelo dela Cruz (2004), Dondon Lanuza (2000-2013), Marilou Ranario (2007-2015), Mary Jane Veloso (2015), among others.

Led the global campaign and lobbying for overseas absentee voting resulting in the eventual passage of Republic Act 9189, or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act.

Led the global campaign and lobbying for dual citizenship of Filipinos overseas resulting in the eventual passage of Republic Act 9225, or the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003.

Helped in the drafting of Republic Act 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Campaigned against OFW budget cuts and for greater state subisidy for OFW services and welfare, especially the Legal Assistance Fund (LAF) and Assistance to Nationals (ATN).

Led the global campaign against illegal tax and other fee impositions on OFWs, such as, the random inspection of balikbayan boxes, the documentary stamp tax (DST), Philhealth premium increases, P500 terminal fee, mandatory Pag-Ibig contributions for OFWs, e-Passport fee increases, and other exorbitant consular fees.

Actively campaigned and lobbied for the repatriation of thousands of OFWs from conflict-ridden Iraq (2004), Libya (2011), Syria (2012) and Saudi Arabia (2013).

Spearheaded and facilitated global relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts from OFWs that assisted some 20,000 to 25,000 families devastated by typhoons Ondoy and Pablo, Habagat and Supertyphoon Yolanda, through Sagip Migrante.
Continues to lead the global campaign against the OWWA Omnibus Policies (OOP) that effectively made the $25 OWWA contributions mandatory per contract, revoked lifetime memberships of Filipino migrants and families and eroded OWWA’s major welfare programs.

Launched and participated in the global campaign against corruption on government, the fight to abolish the pork barrel system and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Our Nominees for 2016 elections

First Nominee – Garry Martinez

artinez hailed from Taytay, Rizal, the ninth of a brood of 15. His father Gregorio, a peasant, tilled a 10-hectare land, owned by six families. His parents never obliged them to work in the fields but they still helped to make ends meet. They planted rice during rainy season and vegetables during dry season.

The death of his father opened his eyes to a harsh reality – that if his mother Conchita gets sick, they would have no money to pay for her medication, that they would be asked to leave the hospital premises as soon as they entered.

He left for South Korea on June 26, 1991. At the airport just before leaving for South Korea, however, he was handed a passport that showed his photo but with different details. His first name was spelled “Gary,” he had a different birthday and it indicated that he hailed from the province of Zamboanga.

He was hired as a worker in a textile factory in South Korea, where they worked for 16 hours a day. When they were tired, workers would be given a capsule and, in less than 30 minutes, it would dramatically spike their energy. Until now, he never knew the content of that capsule. In the early days of his stay there, he said, he was afraid to leave the premises of the factory as police might question him.

Martinez said he could not afford to be deported as the debt he incurred was already $3,000.

He stayed in the South Korea for 13 years. But overall, he worked only for about eight years in nine different factories. In between, he was a full time organizer of what was then the swelling mass movement of Filipino migrant workers in South Korea.

n 1995, Martinez led the Filipino community into a vigil for Flor Contemplacion, a Filipina domestic helper sentenced to die in Singapore. This, he said, was one of the cases that politicized him and pushed him to know more about the roots of labor migration.

He helped found the Kalipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (Kasamma-Ko), an affiliate of the Migrante International, which he now chairs. Their collective struggle, he said, forced officials of the Philippine embassy to give them due services.

In 2004, he returned to the country to help Migrante Partylist campaign for the election. He was assigned to campaign in Southern Tagalog. At the height of the campaign, however, Martinez suffered a heart attack.

After that, he rested for a while in Ifugao province, in the hometown of his previous partner. But a few months later, he said it was impossible to resist not being part of the organizing work of Migrante International and so he returned to Manila. This time, he became the spokesperson of Migrante International.

During this period, he said, Migrante was in troubled waters. As they carried out a revamp, they also suffered financial problems. They could hardly provide allowances for the volunteers. In 2008, Martinez was elected chairperson of Migrante International
He is happily married to Vilma, his elementary classmate who he met again sometime in 2009 at a class reunion. In a voice message aired during Martinez’ birthday celebration, Vilma, who works as a domestic helper in London, said her husband is a truly sweet and caring person.

2nd Nominee – Connie Anduyan Bragas-Regalado

Connie is one of the most prominent faces of the migrants rights struggle in the Philippines and abroad, as well. Though petite, she speaks courageously during protest actions, press briefings and in various programs organized by Migrante International

Connie did not expect that she would able to enter college, given her family’s meager income. But an opportunity of a lifetime came and she grabbed it instantly.

When Connie was still in high school, a group of missionaries came to their place and gave a self-awareness forum. She was very active in their activities and was eventually offered a scholarship.

She went around Cebu looking for a good but an inexpensive university, adding that she did not want to study in an expensive school, in consideration for the missionaries who wanted to help her. Connie found the University of Southern Philippines – Cebu. “I wanted to take up medicine but my brain might not be able to take it,” Connie said. She choosed to study Social Aervices so as not to strain the finances of her sponsors.

It was 1971 and the Philippines was under former president Ferdinand Marcos. Activism was at its height in the University of Southern Philippines and its neighboring school Cebu Institute of Technology. She attended rallies and teach ins to better understand what was happening at that time. Connie became an activist.

Connie did not expect that she would able to enter college, given her family’s meager income. But an opportunity of a lifetime came and she grabbed it instantly.

When Connie was still in high school, a group of missionaries came to their place and gave a self-awareness forum. She was very active in their activities and was eventually offered a scholarship.

She went around Cebu looking for a good but an inexpensive university, adding that she did not want to study in an expensive school, in consideration for the missionaries who wanted to help her. Connie found the University of Southern Philippines – Cebu. “I wanted to take up medicine but my brain might not be able to take it,” Connie said. She choosed to study Social Aervices so as not to strain the finances of her sponsors.

It was 1971 and the Philippines was under former president Ferdinand Marcos. Activism was at its height in the University of Southern Philippines and its neighboring school Cebu Institute of Technology. She attended rallies and teach ins to better understand what was happening at that time. Connie became an activist.

Connie, during her first day off in Hongkong on March 7, 1991, went to the Church of All Nations, a protestant church. She joined Filipino Prayer and Care Group, a church fellowship program. This was where Connie later on had an opportunity to meet Jun Delles of the Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers – UNIFIL, who gave a paralegal training to their group.
Since then, she became very active in activities organized by Unifil, where she eventually became a member of their education committee.

As a member of Unifil, she learned more about what other Filipino women were going through. Their organization accommodated overseas Filipino workers who were either raped or accused of stealing from their employers. Those who were raped and impregnated were also taken cared of in their shelter.

Connie said that from 1998 to 2003, migrant rights organization also campaigned against the wage cut. From a mere 200 Filipinos who marched in 1998, over 12,000 joined their march in 2003. She added that they were also able to reach out to other nationalities who are also asking for the same demand.

Aside from Filipino organizations, Connie was also appointed as member of the Committee of the Promotion of Social Harmony in Hongkong from 2002-2004. She was also a member of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development.

Connie said that as OFW groups lobbied in Geneva against discrimination, the Philippine government did not lift a finger, not even issue a statement to support their cause.
Through Migrante International, they organized a party-list group called Migrante Sectoral Party to further educate Filipinos on the situation of those working abroad, push for their rights and welfare and bring the issues of OFWs at the national level. Connie returned home as its first nominee.

Migrante Sectoral Party did not win a seat in their first try in 2004. But, Connie said, running for the party-list elections remain as a “positive experience” for migrant rights advocates. “We were able to expand our organization. The elections opened new opportunities to promote migrant rights advocacies in other fields.”

Today, Connie is still actively involved in programs of Migrante International. She regularly visits its national office in Cubao, Quezon City, especially when they have a project to do. She dreams of establishing a migrants’ rights office in Central Visayas, which, she thinks is strategic because the area has been a main source of OFWs working either as sea farers or domestic helpers.

Today,Connie, once again is in the political frontlines. She was named as the 2nd nominee of the Migrante Partylist for the 2016 elections.

source 

Third Nominee – Caridad Bachiller

Caridad Bachiller, was a former Physics and Mathematics teacher in a private school in Abra. Her low salary, which was only around P600 to P800 a month back then, pushed her to work as a domestic helper in Saudi Arabia for six years. When she returned to the country, she again applied for work abroad and landed a job, again, as a domestic helper in Hongkong, where she worked for 26 years.

On her days off, Bachiller would attend gatherings along with other Filipino workers in Hongkong. She said that it was in these gatherings that she learned of harrowing tales of other Filipino domestic helpers – the worst were those who died under mysterious circumstances but were reported to have committed suicide. These cases had opened her eyes and made her become a migrant rights advocate. She served as president of Abra Tinguian Ilocano Society (ATIS Abra) in Hongkong for 20 years.

Last year, Baciller returned to the Philippines to “retire.” But soon she realized “retirement” is not an option for migrant rights advocates. She waas named as Migrante PL 3rd Nominee in Migrante PL 2015 Convention in Manila

“There are policies being implemented that are not pro-people and even anti-migrants. It worsens our situation and it must be stopped,”

 Our Founding Organizations

CANADA

• Philippine Women Centre
• Sulong, Itaguyod ang Karapatan ng Manggawang Pilipino sa Labas ng Bansa (SIKLAB)
• Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada (UKPC)
• Filipino Nurses Support Group (FNSG)
• Centre for Philippine Concerns (CPC)
• Filipino Workers Support Group (FWSG)
• Montreal Coalition of Filipino Students
• Kapisanan ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino sa Winnipeg

USA

• Philippine Forum
• Network in Solidarity     with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP)
• Filipino Community Support (FOCUS)
• Filipino Workers     Action Center-Seattle (FWAC)

HONGKONG

• United Filipinos in Hongkong (UNIFIL-HK)
• Asia Facific Mission for Migrants (APMM)
• Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers (FWMW HK)
• Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge

AUSTRALIA

• Migrante-Australia
• Ugnay Kabayan Inc.

MACAU

• Macau Cordillerans Association
• Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM-Macau)

EUROPE

• MIGRANTE Europe (Netherlands, Amsterdam)
• Phil. Development Forum (Amsterdam)
• Ecumenical Ministry for Filipinos Abroad

JAPAN

• Filipina Circle for Advancement & Progress (FICAP-Aichi)
• Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN)
• Harajuku International Friendship House
• Sentro ng Migrante sa Saitama
• Filipino Migrant Center (Japan)
• Philippine Society in Japan (PSJ)
• Filipino Migrants Union (FMU)
• League of Filipino Seniors (LFS)

KOREA

• Katipunan ng Samahang Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (KASAMMAKO)
• Federation of Filipino Workers in Korea
• New Era Foundation
• Association of Filipino Workers in Kwangju
• Pag-Iribang Bicolnon
• Quezon Association in Korea
• Southern Tagalog Organization
• Filipino Workers Association
• Sama-Sama sa Koalisyon
• Women on the Move

SAUDI ARABIA

• Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS)
• Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Silangang Probinsya (LMSP)
• Riyadh Overseas Filipino Workers’ Association (ROFWA)
• Kalipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino sa Industrial Area (KALMAPI)
• Kapatiran ng mga Migranteng Stranded sa Riyadh (KAMI-SR)

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

• Migrante-UAE
• KAIBIGAN ng OFW

ISRAEL

• Association of Igorot Migrant Workers in Israel (AIMWI)

ITALY

• Ugnayan ng Manggagawang Migrante Tungo sa Pag-unlad (UMANGAT)

PHILIPPINES

• Kalipunan ng Migranteng Pilipino at Pamilya (KMPP)
• Kabataan ng Migranteng Pilipino para sa Bayan (KAMIYAN)
• Worldwide Advocates for the Rights of the Migrants (WARM)
• Filipino Seafarers Movement (FSM)
• Solidarity and People’s Advocacy Network-Central Visayas (SPAN-CV)