164 RP* WORKERS LOSE THEIR JOBS DAILY UNDER 10 YEARS OF W.T.O.
* Republic of the Philippines
MEDIA RELEASE
IBON Foundation, Inc., 3/F SCC Bldg 4427 Interior Old Sta. Mesa, Manila, Philippines
Tel. (632) 713-2729 / 713-2737 | Fax (632) 716-0108 | E-mail: media@ibon.org | www.ibon.org
November 23, 2005
Workers face growing joblessness, job insecurity and worsening labor conditions under the country's trade liberalization regime and membership to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Says IBON senior researcher Sonny Africa, data from the labor department show that between 1995, when the country became a member of the WTO and 2004, 6 firms a day closed for "economic reasons," displacing some 164 workers. Of these, 58 lost their jobs due to the closure of their firms while 106 were retrenched when their companies reduced their workforce.
Reasons named by the reporting companies included lack of market/slump in demand; competition from imports; and downsizing/reorganization.
These figures were echoed by a survey of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) among its members, which showed that from 1995 to April 2001, 56 firms closed, displacing 80,319 workers while 29 firms were forced to downsize their workforce, resulting in 4,019 jobs lost. This means that during the first seven years of the country's WTO membership, 32 FPI workers a day lost their jobs because of trade liberalization.
The FPI survey cited too rapid tariff reduction and competition from imports and smuggled goods as reasons for the closures and retrenchments.
Aside from massive retrenchment, trade liberalization has also resulted in the surge of contractual workers. Local firms, already bankrupt from tight foreign competition, maintain contractual workers to cut their costs. Aside from threatening workers' job security, contractualization also denies them the right to organize to protect their rights and bargain collectively.
Trade liberalization also endangers what little industry the country has left. With the country totally opened to manufactured imports under the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations in the WTO, local industrialists may simply shift from manufacturing to trading, while others may just close down operations as many of them have already done.
IBON's Africa urges government negotiators to reject further liberalization of the domestic economy at the upcoming WTO Hong Kong Ministerial.
Further, government should reverse trade liberalization by increasing tariffs to protect local industries and the agriculture sector against cheap imports and smuggled goods.
Genuine industrial development is impossible under the corporate-led globalization framework promoted by the WTO, says Africa.
Lawmaker hits RP government’s continuing membership in WTO
News Release November 29,2005
Ref: Ina Alleco Silverio (09228123634), Tonyo Cruz (09178928277) email at resist_wto@yahoo.com
Ref: Ina Alleco Silverio (09228123634), Tonyo Cruz (09178928277) email at resist_wto@yahoo.com
Militant people’s organizations and progressive partylists allied with the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) and the International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS) today announced the formation of Resist WTO, a broad alliance of groups opposed to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Resist WTO is spearheading a series of activities against the upcoming WTO 6th Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong from December 11-15, 2005; but there will also be activities in Manila to coincide with the People’s Action Week (PAW) in Hong Kong. Among Resist WTO’s core organizations are Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Kilusang Magbubukid (KMP), Gabriela, Migrante International and Anakbayan.
Resist WTO spokesperson and Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casino said that the WTO trade talks in Hong Kong will be sure to be a venue for poor countries’ protests against the WTO’s exploitative policies. He said that the general consensus among the poor and developing countries in the world is that the WTO should be immediately dissolved. “What good has the Philippines gotten from being a member of the WTO? Ten years after the country joined the WTO, the economy remains in tatters and Filipinos are poorer than ever. The Philippines should get out of the WTO immediately. We’re aiding in our own destruction by continuing to obey its policies and economic dictates.”
“The WTO is not a government. It does not carry any political authority, yet it has appropriated the power to impose punishments against nations who dare to go against its trade impositions. It’s very existence is treason against the sovereign rights and political independence of nations, especially those whose people are already sunk deep in poverty,” he said.
The Resist WTO spokesperson said that developing countries such as the Philippines, the supposed negotiations that take place during the WTO’s ministerial conferences are bogus. “Who calls the shots during these ministerial conferences and meetings but the superpower governments? The policies they concoct are structured and formulated in such a way to ensure these continuing monopoly over the global economy, and to make sure that other poorer, weaker nations are nothing but sources of raw materials on the one hand, and open markets for finished goods on the other,” he pointed out.
“The WTO supposedly operates on a consensus basis, with equal decision-making power for all. In reality, many important decisions get made in a process whereby poor countries' negotiators are not even invited to closed door meetings -- and then 'agreements' are announced that poor countries didn't even know were being discussed. Many countries do not even have enough trade personnel to participate in all the negotiations or to even have a permanent representative at the WTO. This severely disadvantages poor countries from representing their interests. Likewise, many countries are too poor to defend themselves from WTO challenges from the rich countries, and change their laws rather than pay for their own defense,” he said.
Casino said that proof of the destructive impact of the WTO’s policies as adopted and implemented by the Philippine government can be seen in local economic indicators. “For instance, because of massive importation of cheap vegetables such as onions and garlic, local farmers are being driven to their knees by crashing market prices down. The country’s agricultural trade deficits have also ballooned: the deficit grew from $42 million in 1994 to $933 in 2004. As of 2003, more than 40% of the rural population is considered poor and conditions continue to worsen because of government’s neglect for agriculture and refusal to establishment support infrastructure for farmers.”
The flood of cheap imports such as the footwear, textiles and cement industries is also drowning local industries and causing unemployment rates to spike. A survey conducted by the Federation of Philippine Industries from 1995 to 2002 showed that 56 of its member-firms closed down due to liberalization, affecting some 80,319 workers. Employment in agriculture , in the meantime, has fallen from 11.4 million in 1995 to 11 million in 2005. Job creation in manufacturing has remained basically flat over the last decade. As of April 2005, there were 4.8 million unemployed and 8.4 million underemployed Filipinos, the most the country has ever seen.
Casino said that the upcoming Ministerial is an important venue for exploited countries of the world to stand up against their rich counterparts’ corporate-led globalization agenda. “Countries such as the Philippines should reject the WTO and uphold their right to economic sovereignty and genuine development. There can be genuine development under the WTO.”
Among the major issues that member-countries must reach consensus on are market access for manufactured goods, reviews of agreements on trade in services, agriculture and intellectual property rights, and the so-called Singapore issues (investment protection, competition policy, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation).
Resist WTO spokesperson and Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casino said that the WTO trade talks in Hong Kong will be sure to be a venue for poor countries’ protests against the WTO’s exploitative policies. He said that the general consensus among the poor and developing countries in the world is that the WTO should be immediately dissolved. “What good has the Philippines gotten from being a member of the WTO? Ten years after the country joined the WTO, the economy remains in tatters and Filipinos are poorer than ever. The Philippines should get out of the WTO immediately. We’re aiding in our own destruction by continuing to obey its policies and economic dictates.”
“The WTO is not a government. It does not carry any political authority, yet it has appropriated the power to impose punishments against nations who dare to go against its trade impositions. It’s very existence is treason against the sovereign rights and political independence of nations, especially those whose people are already sunk deep in poverty,” he said.
The Resist WTO spokesperson said that developing countries such as the Philippines, the supposed negotiations that take place during the WTO’s ministerial conferences are bogus. “Who calls the shots during these ministerial conferences and meetings but the superpower governments? The policies they concoct are structured and formulated in such a way to ensure these continuing monopoly over the global economy, and to make sure that other poorer, weaker nations are nothing but sources of raw materials on the one hand, and open markets for finished goods on the other,” he pointed out.
“The WTO supposedly operates on a consensus basis, with equal decision-making power for all. In reality, many important decisions get made in a process whereby poor countries' negotiators are not even invited to closed door meetings -- and then 'agreements' are announced that poor countries didn't even know were being discussed. Many countries do not even have enough trade personnel to participate in all the negotiations or to even have a permanent representative at the WTO. This severely disadvantages poor countries from representing their interests. Likewise, many countries are too poor to defend themselves from WTO challenges from the rich countries, and change their laws rather than pay for their own defense,” he said.
Casino said that proof of the destructive impact of the WTO’s policies as adopted and implemented by the Philippine government can be seen in local economic indicators. “For instance, because of massive importation of cheap vegetables such as onions and garlic, local farmers are being driven to their knees by crashing market prices down. The country’s agricultural trade deficits have also ballooned: the deficit grew from $42 million in 1994 to $933 in 2004. As of 2003, more than 40% of the rural population is considered poor and conditions continue to worsen because of government’s neglect for agriculture and refusal to establishment support infrastructure for farmers.”
The flood of cheap imports such as the footwear, textiles and cement industries is also drowning local industries and causing unemployment rates to spike. A survey conducted by the Federation of Philippine Industries from 1995 to 2002 showed that 56 of its member-firms closed down due to liberalization, affecting some 80,319 workers. Employment in agriculture , in the meantime, has fallen from 11.4 million in 1995 to 11 million in 2005. Job creation in manufacturing has remained basically flat over the last decade. As of April 2005, there were 4.8 million unemployed and 8.4 million underemployed Filipinos, the most the country has ever seen.
Casino said that the upcoming Ministerial is an important venue for exploited countries of the world to stand up against their rich counterparts’ corporate-led globalization agenda. “Countries such as the Philippines should reject the WTO and uphold their right to economic sovereignty and genuine development. There can be genuine development under the WTO.”
Among the major issues that member-countries must reach consensus on are market access for manufactured goods, reviews of agreements on trade in services, agriculture and intellectual property rights, and the so-called Singapore issues (investment protection, competition policy, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation).
You are invited to attend the Forum on Trade and War to be held on December 14, 2005
at 9:00am-5:00pm, at the Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
Organizers of the forum are the ILPS (International League of Peoples’ Struggles), RESIST! (Resist Imperialist Plunder and War Network)
and BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance).
Forum on Trade and War
at 9:00am-5:00pm, at the Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
Organizers of the forum are the ILPS (International League of Peoples’ Struggles), RESIST! (Resist Imperialist Plunder and War Network)
and BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance).
Forum on Trade and War
9:00am – 5:00pm,
14 December 2005
HKPA Center Stage, Victoria Park
Causeway Bay, Hongkong
Junk the WTO! Da dou sai mao!
Resist Imperialist Plunder and War!
Background
On December 11-18, 2005, protest actions against the World Trade Organization (WTO) and “free-trade” globalization will be staged by various people’s movements in Hong Kong, simultaneous with the WTO 6th Ministerial Conference.
Representatives of member-organizations of the International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS), who attended the preparatory conference of the International Coordinating Network (ICN) in Hong Kong last February, proposed to the ILPS ICC (International Coordinating Committee) that the ILPS initiate a forum on Trade and War which aims to draw and highlight the linkage between trade, development and war. The proposal was approved by the ICC.
Through this activity, the ILPS can put forward and articulate the sharpest anti-imperialist line in the week-long December peoples’ protest actions against the WTO and globalization. Since “trade” in the era of imperialism means inter-imperialist rivalry and collaboration in plundering the weak economies; and war is the sharpest form and expression of these inter-imperialist competition, aggression and domination of the weaker states, the Trade and War forum can serve as a platform for highlighting the linkage between trade and war, and for expounding on and opposing imperialist plunder and war.
Objectives
In particular, the forum, which will be in the nature of a teach-in or an education venue, will:
1. expose and oppose the WTO as an instrument of imperialist plunder of weaker economies;
2. demolish the myths of “free-trade” and neo-liberal globalization in the era of monopoly capital;
3. expose imperialism as the source of aggression, military intervention and war;
4. highlight the struggles of countries and peoples against imperialist plunder and war: share analysis, tactics, forms of organization and struggle; and help strengthen the broad anti-imperialist front that can sustain the struggle against imperialism
The forum will be a comprehensive critique of ten years of WTO. Such a critique, bolstered with empirical data and analysis, can present both a historical and theoretical critique of the WTO and imperialist globalization.
The speakers being invited were selected for their unrelenting efforts at opposing the WTO and its specific agreements and staunch advocacy against globalization. The speakers who might not be able to come to Hong Kong, like President Fidel Castro, President Hugo Chavez and ILPS Chairman Professor Jose Maria Sison will be requested to speak to the forum on video hook-up or video tape.
Proposed Forum Programme
and Invited Speakers
Forum on Trade and War
9:00am – 5:00pm, 14 December 2005
HKPA Center Stage, Victoria Park
Causeway Bay, Hongkong
09:00 a.m.
Welcome Address by:
Teddy Casino, Spokesperson, RESIST!
Apo Leung, HKPA (for confirmation)
09:20
Opening Address of the ILPS Chairman
Prof. Jose Maria Sison (on video)
09:50
Song: ILPS Hymn by the ILPS Philippine Chapter Chorale
09:55
Keynote Addresses
Historical Overview of Imperialist Globalization
(Fallacy of “Neo-Liberalism” and “Free Trade”
in the Era of Monopoly Capitalism)
by Dr. Jane Kelsey, New Zealand
10:30
Focus on the WTO and its Role in Imperialist Globalization
(Imperialist Collaboration and Competition
in Exploiting Weaker Economies Through the WTO)
by Antonio Tujan, Jr., APRN (Asia-Pacific Research Network)
and RESIST!
11:00
Globalized Financial Markets and the Resultant Dynamics of Imperialist Interventions
by Dr. Haluk Gerger, Turkey
11:30
The Military Face of Globalization
(US Aggression and Provocation Amid the Current Crisis of the World Capitalist System)
by Dr. Carol Araullo, Chairperson, BAYAN and
Vice-Chairperson for External Affairs, ILPS
12:00 p.m. Lunch Break
01:25 pm
Slogan Chanting
Song: Wanted Pinay by Sining Lila
01:30
US Aggression and Provocation:
the Case of Venezuela
by Manuel Perez Iturbe, Charge d’Affaires
Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
in the Philippines
02:00
the Case of Cuba
Invited: HE Jorge Jimenez, Ambassador
Embassy of Cuba in the Philippines
02:30
the Case of DPRK
by Pak Yong Gun, Esq.
DPRK
03:00
Where Do We Go From Here
(Advance the Peoples’ Struggle Against Imperialism)
by Luis Jalandoni, Head of the Peace Negotiating Panel,
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)
Song: What Makes a Hero by Tess Galapon and Ofel Cantor
03:35
Sharing: Peoples’ Campaigns and Struggles Against the WTO
and Imperialist Plunder and War (10 minutes each)
Dalits and Women of Tamil Nadu – Fatima Burnad (for confirmation)
Brazil – Gonzalo Berron
Japan – Enats Goro (for confirmation)
Turkey – Aliyah (for confirmation)
Indonesia – Erpan Faryadi
04:45
Announcement of other People’s Events
Closing Remarks
Closing Song: The Guerilla is Like a Poet
by the ILPS Philippine Chapter Chorale
Slogan Chanting
05:00
Adjournment
Forum Secretariat
The forum’s secretariat, composed of Carol Araullo, Tita Lubi and Norma Biñas, is based in the offices of the ILPS Philippine Chapter and BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance). Please send your e-mails to norbin_2001@yahoo.com cc titapl@tri-isys.com carola@tri-isys.com; and ilp515@runbox.com
Indonesian domestics score WTO for poverty in home country, wage cut and underpayment in HK
Press Release
19 November 2005
For reference: Eni Lestari
Chairperson
Tel. No.: 23147316, 96081405
The end of Ramadan or fasting month called Idul Fitri is an important religious occasion for all Muslims all over the world. For the millions of Muslim Indonesians, Idul Fitri this year is filled with uncertainty as prices of food and other basic commodities continue to rise in the country.
“We are the breadwinners of our families back home, with the worsening economic crisis in Indonesia; there is a demand for us to send more money for them to have a decent Idul Fitri celebration” says Eni Lestari of ATKI, an organisation of Indonesian migrant workers here in Hong Kong.
“With the opening-up of
This year’s celebration is different from the previous ones. This is in response to the upcoming WTO’s 6th Ministerial Conference which will be held in
The celebration kicks off with a mass praying at 10 am and will be followed by religious speeches and cultural performances. The morning festivities will culminate with a Public Forum on the WTO which will start at 3 pm until 6:00 in the evening.
These activities are expected to gather around 2,000 Indonesians, mostly domestic helpers from different parts of
“WTO promotes liberalization and it causes poverty back home. Our Public Forum aims to share information among Indonesian migrant workers of the impact of WTO on our lives as migrants and on our families in
This is further worsened by the attacks of the HK government on the wage of domestic workers.
“We suffered two wage cuts already because of the HK government’s adherence to neoliberal policies. Coupled with the widespread underpayment among Indonesian domestic workers, our situation has become even more unbearable,” Lestari adds.
The religious festivities are being organized by migrant groups including AKHWAT
Film exhibitions educate migrants on WTO
Alternative film documentaries became instruments for migrants’ education campaign against WTO.
In line with the preparations for the People’s Action Week against the WTO, the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) held screening of different film documentaries that featured themes from the impacts of globalization to workers to the privatization of the educational system last November 6, 13 and 20.
According to Dolores Balladares, UNIFIL-HK chairperson, the series of film showing was done as part of the Education for Mobilization campaign of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) for the month of November to rally thousands of migrant workers for the coming December protest actions
Films that were shown were Ang Kaaway (The Enemy), Daluyong, Sa Ngalan ng Tubo and Misedukasyon (Miseducation). These were produced by independent groups such as Ibon Foundation and SIPAT.
The film exhibitions were sponsored by the UNIFIL-HK, Cordillera Alliance, Association of Filipino Women Migrants in HK, and the Philippine Independent Church (PIC) Council.
Alternative film documentaries became instruments for migrants’ education campaign against WTO.
In line with the preparations for the People’s Action Week against the WTO, the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) held screening of different film documentaries that featured themes from the impacts of globalization to workers to the privatization of the educational system last November 6, 13 and 20.
According to Dolores Balladares, UNIFIL-HK chairperson, the series of film showing was done as part of the Education for Mobilization campaign of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) for the month of November to rally thousands of migrant workers for the coming December protest actions
Films that were shown were Ang Kaaway (The Enemy), Daluyong, Sa Ngalan ng Tubo and Misedukasyon (Miseducation). These were produced by independent groups such as Ibon Foundation and SIPAT.
The film exhibitions were sponsored by the UNIFIL-HK, Cordillera Alliance, Association of Filipino Women Migrants in HK, and the Philippine Independent Church (PIC) Council.
Indonesian Migrant Workers Rally to Junk WTO this December
On Sunday 13th November during Idul Fitri celebrations, as part of build up activities toward the campaign to Junk WTO and the upcoming MC6 meeting in Hong Kong, the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers (ATKI) held mobile cultural presentations around Victoria Park in Hong Kong.
The main objective of the activity was to raise awareness of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong on the destructive impacts of WTO to people worldwide and rally support for the peoples' action week this December. More than 30 members of ATKI including a Rebana cultural group (traditional music instrument of Indonesia) approached various groups of Indonesians who congregate in the area while singing progressive songs.
Accompanying the singing, other members discussed the issues surrounding the WTO and their impacts on Indonesian migrant workers. Aside from answering questions, thousands of copies of the ATKI news digest VOKAL, containing further evidence against the WTO, were also distributed throughout the campaign.
Parallel to the cultural event, Eni Lestari chairperson of ATKI, was invited by Al Istiqhomah International Moslem Society (AIMS) to give a speech to Indonesian migrant workers at Kowloon Park about the upcoming MC6. Her presentation was received well by the interested and interactive gathering of more than 30 members, who by the end, committed their support to join the People's Rally on the 11th and 18th December to Junk WTO.
Five Sundays to Go
Migrant cultural group serenades fellows to join protests vs. WTO
News Release
November 14, 2005
Reference: Dolores Balladares, UNIFIL Chairperson
Contact No. 28104379, 97472986
Filipino music becomes an effective instrument of the anti-WTO campaign.
Filipino migrant workers spending their day off in Central, Hong Kong yesterday were treated to a serenade of progressive songs by the LIKHA migrants cultural group, an ally of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK), as part of their 10-Week Countdown to the WTO.
The people's serenade, as how the event was called, was a first of its kind program in Hong Kong to enjoin migrant workers to participate in the People's Action Week Against the WTO. This initiative is coordinated and is part of the whole campaign design by the Hong Kong People's Alliance on the WTO.
UNIFIL chairperson Dolores Balladares stated that the serenade is one of the various forms their group is using to educate fellow migrant workers on the impacts of the WTO and the need to join in the campaign in December.
Accompanying the singers were migrant workers wearing mardi gras-like masks who distributed flyers about the WTO and an invitation to the Hong Kong People's Mardi Gras Against the WTO slated on November 27.
The People's Action Week is slated on December 10-18, 2005 in time for the 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held in the HK Convention and Exhibition Center.
The group sang to fellow migrant workers in Star Ferry, Chater Road, Ice House, Chater Garden and HSBC Building.
Migrant cultural group serenades fellows to join protests vs. WTO
News ReleaseNovember 14, 2005
Reference: Dolores Balladares, UNIFIL Chairperson
Contact No. 28104379, 97472986
Filipino music becomes an effective instrument of the anti-WTO campaign.
Filipino migrant workers spending their day off in Central, Hong Kong yesterday were treated to a serenade of progressive songs by the LIKHA migrants cultural group, an ally of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK), as part of their 10-Week Countdown to the WTO.
The people's serenade, as how the event was called, was a first of its kind program in Hong Kong to enjoin migrant workers to participate in the People's Action Week Against the WTO. This initiative is coordinated and is part of the whole campaign design by the Hong Kong People's Alliance on the WTO.
UNIFIL chairperson Dolores Balladares stated that the serenade is one of the various forms their group is using to educate fellow migrant workers on the impacts of the WTO and the need to join in the campaign in December.
Accompanying the singers were migrant workers wearing mardi gras-like masks who distributed flyers about the WTO and an invitation to the Hong Kong People's Mardi Gras Against the WTO slated on November 27.
The People's Action Week is slated on December 10-18, 2005 in time for the 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held in the HK Convention and Exhibition Center.
The group sang to fellow migrant workers in Star Ferry, Chater Road, Ice House, Chater Garden and HSBC Building.
Educating Filipino Muslim migrants the destructive realities of the WTO.
14-Nov-2005
Migrant organizations continue with their Education for Mobilization campaign with talks amoung local groups in Hong Kong.
In an event hosted in the Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre in Wanchai, the Helpers of Islam, an organization of Filipino Muslim migrant women who work as domestic helpers in Hong Kong, invited representatives from AMCB to talk about the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Women from the Helpers of Islam and MUSFILA (Muslim Filipino Association) attended the event despite the day being Idul Fitri, a Muslim holiday to celebrate Muslim New Year and the end of Ramadan.
Presenting was Eman Villanueva from UNIFIL - Hong Kong, who explained the destructive policies of the WTO. Regardless of race or religon, WTO policies have negative effects on majority of people including the Muslim migrant community in Hong Kong.
After the realities of the WTO are exposed, the women pledge to support the Junk WTO campaign and join the rallies to protest the WTO conference this December.
14-Nov-2005
Migrant organizations continue with their Education for Mobilization campaign with talks amoung local groups in Hong Kong.
In an event hosted in the Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre in Wanchai, the Helpers of Islam, an organization of Filipino Muslim migrant women who work as domestic helpers in Hong Kong, invited representatives from AMCB to talk about the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Women from the Helpers of Islam and MUSFILA (Muslim Filipino Association) attended the event despite the day being Idul Fitri, a Muslim holiday to celebrate Muslim New Year and the end of Ramadan. Presenting was Eman Villanueva from UNIFIL - Hong Kong, who explained the destructive policies of the WTO. Regardless of race or religon, WTO policies have negative effects on majority of people including the Muslim migrant community in Hong Kong.
After the realities of the WTO are exposed, the women pledge to support the Junk WTO campaign and join the rallies to protest the WTO conference this December.
Asian migrants say:
"Sweep out neoliberal globalization policies! Junk WTO!"
Press Statement
03 November 2005
For reference: Eni Lestari and Dolores Balladares
Spokespersons; Tel. No.: 96081475, 97472986
The Asian Migrants Coordinating Body shall rally thousands of migrant workers in the People's Action Week against the World Trade Organization (WTO) 6th Ministerial Conference in December. We shall join with our fellow workers, peasants, women and other anti-globalization and anti-WTO forces from all over the world who will flock to Hong Kong to once again defeat the agenda of neoliberal globalization that destroy our lives.
Why are we against globalization and its instrument for implementation - the WTO?
Globalization and the WTO attack the wage of workers, including migrant workers. With its firm adherence to maximum profit of big corporation, globalization and the WTO consider a just and decent wage as obstacles to investments and trade. Workers' wages are of no concern to globalization and the WTO.
Thus, the Hong Kong government - one of the most avid advocates of neoliberalism - has been shameless in attacking the wage of workers. It blatantly snubs petition of the working peoples of Hong Kong for wage increase. As what we have experienced with the two wage cuts in our Minimum Allowable Wage and the taxation charged to us disguised as a levy to our employers, the HK government also never hesitates in trampling on the wage of one of the lowest paid workers of Hong Kong, the foreign domestic workers.
The provision of public services is also not in the agenda of WTO. Instead, its main concern is on how public services can be used as a lucrative business for maximum profit. This is very much true especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, like our countries of origin - where public utilities such as water and electricity and social services such as education and health are offered for sale to multinational companies resulting to price increases and deterioration of services.
Even in Hong Kong, cuts in budget for social services have resulted to the worsening situation of the underclass and the underprivileged.
Employment protection has also been badly affected by globalization and the WTO. Neoliberal globalization policies aim to create a huge army of unemployed in order to insure corporations of never ending supply of cheap labor.
Finally, globalization and the WTO do not recognize the comprehensive rights of the people. From the economic, to the political, social, and cultural rights of the people, it has been very clear in our past experiences that our rights have no future with globalization and the WTO.
Thus, we fight. Globalization and the WTO have forced millions of people to seek employment abroad. The destruction that neoliberal policies have caused to our home countries have pushed us to work in other countries not to make our lives better but just so our families could survive the worsening crisis in our respective countries. Meanwhile, as migrants in host countries, we are faced with the same grave impacts of globalization and the WTO.
The WTO kills. It kills lives, families, wage, livelihood, rights, and countries. It kills our hope and dream of finally going back home to live a decent and humane life. Thus, we say: JUNK WTO!
Education for Mobilization
Migrants of HK shall be one of the biggest contingents in the December protests
Ten years of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are enough. Since October 2, we have been counting ten weeks before the December MC6 that will show the defeat of the WTO.
The 10-Week Countdown is the campaign launched by the AMCB in order to ensure the biggest and widest participation of the migrant workers in the People's Action Week.
As an active member of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on the WTO (HKPA), we are doing our utmost to significantly contribute to the movement that will defeat the WTO MC6.
Every Sunday, centralized and decentralized activities are being done foremost of which is the education campaign on globalization and the WTO. AMCB now have 65 migrant educators who go around hang out places of migrant workers - from Victoria Park to Central - to explain to our fellow migrants why we need to junk WTO.
We were also there when the HKPA rallied against the WTO council meeting. We were there when the HK people confronted WTO Director General Pascal. We will surely be there when the MC6 finally arrives.
This November, the countdown continues.
The AMCB shall spend this whole month to intensify our education and information drive on globalization and the WTO. We shall rally the most number of organizations of migrant workers to be a part of the anti-WTO actions.
Our education drive shall consist of widespread public teach-ins, seminars, mobile cultural presentations, seminars, forums and film showings. AMCB-trained migrant educators are all ready to lead discussion groups and go around in teams to reach the biggest number of migrant workers. Film showings for Filipinos and Indonesians are also set to be held.
On November 20, a big public forum on WTO will be organized by the Asosiasi Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (HK) at Victoria Park. At the same time, Thai migrants under the Thai Regional Alliance (TRA) and the Friends of Thai (FOT) shall mximize the Thai Father's Day celebration on December 4 to educate more Thai migrants on the WTO.
Our efforts will peak on November 26 in the big, colorful and creative "Hong Kong People's Mardi Gras Against the WTO". On this day we shall say, "Sweep out neoliberal globalization policies! Junk WTO!"
The Mardi Gras shall be participated in by no less than 3,000 migrant workers. It is a parade around Central where we shall feature in a creative way the grave impacts of the WTO on peoples lives as well as the people's aspirations. Local organizations are also expected to attend this big and historic event.
By December, migrant workers will be battle ready. By December, Hong Kong and the world shall hear from the migrant workers a resounding call to "JUNK WTO!".
In the fight against globalization and the WTO, we are never alone
Globalization and the WTO are global evils that impact on the people of the world. Thus we, the AMCB, shall march alongside with international, regional and national organizations of different sectors from various countries who will converge in Hong Kong to confront the WTO MC6.
Most important of those who will come to Hong Kong in December are the workers, peasants, women, migrants, youth, students and indigenous peoples who face the reality of globalization and WTO policies in their everyday lives. We the people are the concrete faces, the living reasons, why globalization must be stopped.
International and regional groups are all geared up to rally their members against the WTO MC6. They will ensure that protests against the WTO will not only happen in Hong Kong but all over the world where they are present.
The International League of People's Struggle - the biggest and most militant formation of grassroots and grassroot-based anti-imperialist organizations - shall bring its contingent of anti-imperialist activists to HK as well as coordinate anti-WTO activities in all regions of the world. It shall hold an International Conference on Trade and War in December 14 to discuss the current moves of imperialists led by the United States to intensify war and aggression in the world and its relations to the trade and economic policies of the WTO.
The Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN), a network of leading research groups and institutions in the region shall hold a People's Speak Out on December 10, International Human Rights Day, to hear concrete stories of the people on the WTO and globalization.
Peasant groups under the banners of the Pesticide Action Network - Asia Pacific (PANAP), the Asian Peasants Coalition and their networks of peasant groups shall show how WTO kills farmers and agriculture of developing and underdeveloped countries through the liberalization of agricultural. They hold a People's Camp on December 15 - 17.
Led by the Cordillera People's Alliance (CPA) from the Philippines, indigenous groups and other affected sectors shall hold a Mining Conference on December 10 that will focus on WTO policies that liberalize the mining industry and open up the world's resources to plunder of mining MNCs and TNCs.
Women's groups, meanwhile, shall put into trial the WTO on its crimes against women of world. Women workers, peasant women, young women, and our sisters from other sectors hold the WTO and globalization accountable to the worsened state of women. A Women's March and Women's Tribunal will be held on December 16 and 17.
The AMCB together with Migrante International in the Philippines and the ILPS Study Commission on Migrants, Homeless, Refugees and Displaced Peoples will lead migrants all over the world in the International Day of Action of Migrant Workers Against Globalization and the WTO in December 17. This day will consist of various types of mass actions that will show our strong protest with WTO's intensification of people's forced migration. Here in Hong Kong, the activities that will be held include a Workshop on GATS and Mode 4 and Embassy-hopping in foreign posts of major countries that export migrants to Hong Kong.
People's solidarity will show how united we are in defeating globalization and the WTO. Come December, there will be no more doubt that the people of the world are against globalization and the WTO.
By December, there will be no more doubt that the WTO will be defeated.
"Sweep out neoliberal globalization policies! Junk WTO!"
Press Statement
03 November 2005
For reference: Eni Lestari and Dolores Balladares
Spokespersons; Tel. No.: 96081475, 97472986
The Asian Migrants Coordinating Body shall rally thousands of migrant workers in the People's Action Week against the World Trade Organization (WTO) 6th Ministerial Conference in December. We shall join with our fellow workers, peasants, women and other anti-globalization and anti-WTO forces from all over the world who will flock to Hong Kong to once again defeat the agenda of neoliberal globalization that destroy our lives.
Why are we against globalization and its instrument for implementation - the WTO?Globalization and the WTO attack the wage of workers, including migrant workers. With its firm adherence to maximum profit of big corporation, globalization and the WTO consider a just and decent wage as obstacles to investments and trade. Workers' wages are of no concern to globalization and the WTO.
Thus, the Hong Kong government - one of the most avid advocates of neoliberalism - has been shameless in attacking the wage of workers. It blatantly snubs petition of the working peoples of Hong Kong for wage increase. As what we have experienced with the two wage cuts in our Minimum Allowable Wage and the taxation charged to us disguised as a levy to our employers, the HK government also never hesitates in trampling on the wage of one of the lowest paid workers of Hong Kong, the foreign domestic workers.
The provision of public services is also not in the agenda of WTO. Instead, its main concern is on how public services can be used as a lucrative business for maximum profit. This is very much true especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, like our countries of origin - where public utilities such as water and electricity and social services such as education and health are offered for sale to multinational companies resulting to price increases and deterioration of services.
Even in Hong Kong, cuts in budget for social services have resulted to the worsening situation of the underclass and the underprivileged.
Employment protection has also been badly affected by globalization and the WTO. Neoliberal globalization policies aim to create a huge army of unemployed in order to insure corporations of never ending supply of cheap labor.
Finally, globalization and the WTO do not recognize the comprehensive rights of the people. From the economic, to the political, social, and cultural rights of the people, it has been very clear in our past experiences that our rights have no future with globalization and the WTO.
Thus, we fight. Globalization and the WTO have forced millions of people to seek employment abroad. The destruction that neoliberal policies have caused to our home countries have pushed us to work in other countries not to make our lives better but just so our families could survive the worsening crisis in our respective countries. Meanwhile, as migrants in host countries, we are faced with the same grave impacts of globalization and the WTO.
The WTO kills. It kills lives, families, wage, livelihood, rights, and countries. It kills our hope and dream of finally going back home to live a decent and humane life. Thus, we say: JUNK WTO!
Education for Mobilization
Migrants of HK shall be one of the biggest contingents in the December protests
Ten years of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are enough. Since October 2, we have been counting ten weeks before the December MC6 that will show the defeat of the WTO.
The 10-Week Countdown is the campaign launched by the AMCB in order to ensure the biggest and widest participation of the migrant workers in the People's Action Week.
As an active member of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on the WTO (HKPA), we are doing our utmost to significantly contribute to the movement that will defeat the WTO MC6.
Every Sunday, centralized and decentralized activities are being done foremost of which is the education campaign on globalization and the WTO. AMCB now have 65 migrant educators who go around hang out places of migrant workers - from Victoria Park to Central - to explain to our fellow migrants why we need to junk WTO.
We were also there when the HKPA rallied against the WTO council meeting. We were there when the HK people confronted WTO Director General Pascal. We will surely be there when the MC6 finally arrives.
This November, the countdown continues.
The AMCB shall spend this whole month to intensify our education and information drive on globalization and the WTO. We shall rally the most number of organizations of migrant workers to be a part of the anti-WTO actions.
Our education drive shall consist of widespread public teach-ins, seminars, mobile cultural presentations, seminars, forums and film showings. AMCB-trained migrant educators are all ready to lead discussion groups and go around in teams to reach the biggest number of migrant workers. Film showings for Filipinos and Indonesians are also set to be held.
On November 20, a big public forum on WTO will be organized by the Asosiasi Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (HK) at Victoria Park. At the same time, Thai migrants under the Thai Regional Alliance (TRA) and the Friends of Thai (FOT) shall mximize the Thai Father's Day celebration on December 4 to educate more Thai migrants on the WTO.Our efforts will peak on November 26 in the big, colorful and creative "Hong Kong People's Mardi Gras Against the WTO". On this day we shall say, "Sweep out neoliberal globalization policies! Junk WTO!"
The Mardi Gras shall be participated in by no less than 3,000 migrant workers. It is a parade around Central where we shall feature in a creative way the grave impacts of the WTO on peoples lives as well as the people's aspirations. Local organizations are also expected to attend this big and historic event.
By December, migrant workers will be battle ready. By December, Hong Kong and the world shall hear from the migrant workers a resounding call to "JUNK WTO!".
In the fight against globalization and the WTO, we are never alone
Globalization and the WTO are global evils that impact on the people of the world. Thus we, the AMCB, shall march alongside with international, regional and national organizations of different sectors from various countries who will converge in Hong Kong to confront the WTO MC6.
Most important of those who will come to Hong Kong in December are the workers, peasants, women, migrants, youth, students and indigenous peoples who face the reality of globalization and WTO policies in their everyday lives. We the people are the concrete faces, the living reasons, why globalization must be stopped.
International and regional groups are all geared up to rally their members against the WTO MC6. They will ensure that protests against the WTO will not only happen in Hong Kong but all over the world where they are present.
The International League of People's Struggle - the biggest and most militant formation of grassroots and grassroot-based anti-imperialist organizations - shall bring its contingent of anti-imperialist activists to HK as well as coordinate anti-WTO activities in all regions of the world. It shall hold an International Conference on Trade and War in December 14 to discuss the current moves of imperialists led by the United States to intensify war and aggression in the world and its relations to the trade and economic policies of the WTO.
The Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN), a network of leading research groups and institutions in the region shall hold a People's Speak Out on December 10, International Human Rights Day, to hear concrete stories of the people on the WTO and globalization.
Peasant groups under the banners of the Pesticide Action Network - Asia Pacific (PANAP), the Asian Peasants Coalition and their networks of peasant groups shall show how WTO kills farmers and agriculture of developing and underdeveloped countries through the liberalization of agricultural. They hold a People's Camp on December 15 - 17.
Led by the Cordillera People's Alliance (CPA) from the Philippines, indigenous groups and other affected sectors shall hold a Mining Conference on December 10 that will focus on WTO policies that liberalize the mining industry and open up the world's resources to plunder of mining MNCs and TNCs.
Women's groups, meanwhile, shall put into trial the WTO on its crimes against women of world. Women workers, peasant women, young women, and our sisters from other sectors hold the WTO and globalization accountable to the worsened state of women. A Women's March and Women's Tribunal will be held on December 16 and 17.
The AMCB together with Migrante International in the Philippines and the ILPS Study Commission on Migrants, Homeless, Refugees and Displaced Peoples will lead migrants all over the world in the International Day of Action of Migrant Workers Against Globalization and the WTO in December 17. This day will consist of various types of mass actions that will show our strong protest with WTO's intensification of people's forced migration. Here in Hong Kong, the activities that will be held include a Workshop on GATS and Mode 4 and Embassy-hopping in foreign posts of major countries that export migrants to Hong Kong.
People's solidarity will show how united we are in defeating globalization and the WTO. Come December, there will be no more doubt that the people of the world are against globalization and the WTO.
By December, there will be no more doubt that the WTO will be defeated.
The Countdown Continues
Migrants celebrate Tribal Filipino Sunday; launch anti-WTO formation
Five weeks to go.
As the 6th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) draws near, migrants intensify their campaign to form the broadest and strongest movement of Overseas Filipino Workers against the WTO and neoliberal globalization.
Last Sunday, 30th of October, the fifth Sunday in the 10-week countdown which was launched on October 2, migrant workers held two simultaneous major activities which featured the impacts of the WTO on their life and strategies on how to fight these.
Around 1,000 OFWs gathered at the Chater Garden to join in the celebration of the Tribal Filipino Sunday 2005 (TFS) that was successfully carried out by the organizers composed of the Abra Tinguian Ilocano Society (ATIS), Cordillera Alliance (CORALL), Mindanao Federation (MINFED), and Palawan Migrants Association of Hong Kong (PMA),
Focusing on the theme “Kumilos at Lumaban para sa Karapatan, Kagalingan, Patrimonya at Kasarinlan! Tutulan, Labanan at Biguin ang Anti-Pilipinong Rehimeng Arroyo at WTO!” (Mobilize and Fight for Rights, Patrimony and Sovereignty! Oppose, Fight and Defeat the Anti-Filipino Arroyo Regime and WTO!), migrant workers from indigenous groups in the Philippines, through their songs, dances, poetry and speeches, expressed their disgust and opposition to WTO policies on globalization that have impoverished the indigenous peoples and plundered their natural wealth and resources.
The participating organizations also reiterated their stand to oust the Macapagal-Arroyo regime that has primarily implemented the unjust, immoral and inhuman WTO policies in the Philippines.
A parade was also held before the afternoon program that snaked through major meeting places of OFWs in Central.
The TFS is an annual celebration of the culture of the indigenous peoples in the Philippines in recognition of their strength as communities that continuously join the entire Filipino nation in the struggle for their rights, justice, democracy and freedom.
In the same venue, two photo exhibits were set up led by the UNIFIL. The first photo exhibit featured basic explanation on the WTO and its impacts to the people. Migrant WTO educators trained by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) went around the area to explain the WTO to OFWs as well as to encourage them to join the December mass actions.
The second exhibit on the other hand, showed the intensifying human rights violations in the Philippines. Viewers expressed their dismay at the wanton killings and harassments done against activists and progressives. Photos of the International Solidarity Mission held in the Philippines that declared Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo guilty of the crime of suppressing the rights of the Filipino people were also shown.
Meanwhile, at the Fanny Li Hall in St. John’s Cathedral, the All Presidents Meeting (APM) organized by the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) and Migrante Hong Kong gathered 50 presidents of various major organizations of OFWs in Hong Kong.
Primarily, the main purpose of the gathering was to unite the major organizations of OFWs in Hong Kong in the campaign to protest against the forthcoming WTO MC6 in December. Ultimately, the meeting ended with the formation of RESIST – Hong Kong, a broad formation against imperialist plunder and war.
Hong Kong legislator Lee Cheuk Yan, special guest speaker at the APM, enjoined the Filipino migrants to actively participate in the People’s Action Week that will be held simultaneously with the MC6.
At present, anti-WTO Filipino migrants’ groups as well as foreign workers from other nationalities under AMCB are engaged in massive information and education campaign on the issue of WTO and neoliberal globalization. Other activities in the 10-week countdown will continue in November, such as the HK People’s Mardi Gras Against the WTO to be held on the 27th November.
For migrants in HK, the countdown continues until the defeat of the WTO.
Migrants celebrate Tribal Filipino Sunday; launch anti-WTO formation
Five weeks to go.As the 6th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) draws near, migrants intensify their campaign to form the broadest and strongest movement of Overseas Filipino Workers against the WTO and neoliberal globalization.
Last Sunday, 30th of October, the fifth Sunday in the 10-week countdown which was launched on October 2, migrant workers held two simultaneous major activities which featured the impacts of the WTO on their life and strategies on how to fight these.
Around 1,000 OFWs gathered at the Chater Garden to join in the celebration of the Tribal Filipino Sunday 2005 (TFS) that was successfully carried out by the organizers composed of the Abra Tinguian Ilocano Society (ATIS), Cordillera Alliance (CORALL), Mindanao Federation (MINFED), and Palawan Migrants Association of Hong Kong (PMA),
Focusing on the theme “Kumilos at Lumaban para sa Karapatan, Kagalingan, Patrimonya at Kasarinlan! Tutulan, Labanan at Biguin ang Anti-Pilipinong Rehimeng Arroyo at WTO!” (Mobilize and Fight for Rights, Patrimony and Sovereignty! Oppose, Fight and Defeat the Anti-Filipino Arroyo Regime and WTO!), migrant workers from indigenous groups in the Philippines, through their songs, dances, poetry and speeches, expressed their disgust and opposition to WTO policies on globalization that have impoverished the indigenous peoples and plundered their natural wealth and resources.
The participating organizations also reiterated their stand to oust the Macapagal-Arroyo regime that has primarily implemented the unjust, immoral and inhuman WTO policies in the Philippines.A parade was also held before the afternoon program that snaked through major meeting places of OFWs in Central.
The TFS is an annual celebration of the culture of the indigenous peoples in the Philippines in recognition of their strength as communities that continuously join the entire Filipino nation in the struggle for their rights, justice, democracy and freedom.
In the same venue, two photo exhibits were set up led by the UNIFIL. The first photo exhibit featured basic explanation on the WTO and its impacts to the people. Migrant WTO educators trained by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) went around the area to explain the WTO to OFWs as well as to encourage them to join the December mass actions.
The second exhibit on the other hand, showed the intensifying human rights violations in the Philippines. Viewers expressed their dismay at the wanton killings and harassments done against activists and progressives. Photos of the International Solidarity Mission held in the Philippines that declared Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo guilty of the crime of suppressing the rights of the Filipino people were also shown.
Meanwhile, at the Fanny Li Hall in St. John’s Cathedral, the All Presidents Meeting (APM) organized by the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) and Migrante Hong Kong gathered 50 presidents of various major organizations of OFWs in Hong Kong.
Primarily, the main purpose of the gathering was to unite the major organizations of OFWs in Hong Kong in the campaign to protest against the forthcoming WTO MC6 in December. Ultimately, the meeting ended with the formation of RESIST – Hong Kong, a broad formation against imperialist plunder and war.Hong Kong legislator Lee Cheuk Yan, special guest speaker at the APM, enjoined the Filipino migrants to actively participate in the People’s Action Week that will be held simultaneously with the MC6.
At present, anti-WTO Filipino migrants’ groups as well as foreign workers from other nationalities under AMCB are engaged in massive information and education campaign on the issue of WTO and neoliberal globalization. Other activities in the 10-week countdown will continue in November, such as the HK People’s Mardi Gras Against the WTO to be held on the 27th November.
For migrants in HK, the countdown continues until the defeat of the WTO.
About Us
We say "Junk WTO!" and we unite with everyone who opposes the WTO for various reasons. We encourage you to participate in the People's Action Week spearheaded by the HK Peoples' Alliance on WTO (HKPA) of which we are a part. We hope that this blog continues even after MC6 in Hong Kong.
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