Monday, March 10, 2008 Arroyo is women's enemy no.1' - Gabriela
"As WE commemorate the 100 years of the International Women's Day, we urge Filipino women around the world to fight the Filipinos' 'Women's Enemy No. 1' - Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."
This was declared Sunday by Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, chairperson of Gabriela Women's Party - Hong Kong chapter, in a statement released to Sun.Star Bacolod.
Tellez said that, Arroyo has become "the biggest disgrace to Filipino womankind.
She has brought Filipino women nothing but economic hardships and grave violations of our civil and political rights.
The campaign for a No Remittance Day is one that we gladly embrace to see GMA out of office."
Tellez said that GMA's government has done nothing concrete to uplift the status of Filipino women, especially women migrant workers, and instead has even instituted policies that worsen the "commodification and exploitation of overseas Filipino women workers".
"The Philippines' labor export program intensifies the global sale of Filipino women to the world's labor market. Last year, the POEA has even implemented a 'training' scheme for Filipino domestic workers that shall supposedly address the serious violation of their rights but has, instead, led to the worsening of overcharging of recruitment agencies, more fees to the government and has not made a dent in the number of cases of abused women migrants," she remarked.
The said POEA order was met by massive protests by Filipino domestic workers that forced the government to make exemptions to the rule.
The same opposition was met by the ban on direct hiring through POEA Memorandum Circular No. 4 that also forced the GMA government to immediately suspend the order.
Aside from these policies, Tellez also criticized the lack of services and assistance that the government provides to overseas Filipino women. She said that the government only acts on welfare cases if concerned organizations drumbeat the issues.
"However, the actions are oftentimes too little or too late such as on the cases of Marilou Ranario and Jocelyn Dulnuan," she relayed.
Tellez also scored the much-touted strengthening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar that, according to her, has lost Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong as much as P6,000 per month of their wage.
"Either as mothers or wives who budget for the family, or as the family's main breadwinners, we now find it next to impossible to meet our basic needs with the continuous soaring of prices of commodities, school fees, transportation, gas, water and electricity," Tellez lamented.
Tellez declared that the women who strive for her family's survival contribute to keep the ailing economy of the Philippines afloat through their remittances, are the ones suffering the brunt of poverty and oppression because of unjust policies and government neglect. She said that their No Remittance Day campaign will have the full support of their families.
"The revelations on the anomalous NBN-ZTE deal just show the depth of greed of GMA and her camp. Us and our families have already made the sacrifice of forced separation and we are prepared to again sacrifice just so this government will not have the funds anymore to plunder. No Remittance Day is our protest against this irresponsible administration who has always sabotaged the nation's economy and our lives," she remarked.
Finally, Tellez reiterated the call for Filipino women worldwide to join the actions for the ouster of GMA.
"Filipino women - in the Philippines and abroad - stand with the whole nation in demanding for truth, the prosecution of those accountable and the immediate resignation or ouster of GMA," she concluded.
