On Mayo Uno, Migrante USA demands justice for Overseas Filipinos who lost their lives, and an end to the Philippines’ system of forced migration.
Sigaw ng migranteng Pilipino: Labor export program, ibasura! Trabaho sa Pinas, hindi sa labas! Baguhin ang sistema!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2026
Contact: Jom Dolor / migranteusa@pm.me / +1 (202) 596-5816
This May Day, Migrante USA demands justice for all overseas Filipino workers that have fallen victim to the failures of the Philippine state to provide livelihood for its people at home. We strongly condemn the self-promotion of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, celebrating his own leadership in pushing for "safe, orderly and regular migration” despite the suffering that this creates for migrant workers.
Kai Marie, Migrante USA Chair stated: "People like Cacdac and Marcos Jr are negotiating for workers to keep working in foreign countries, and even war zones in the Middle East. But what about creating jobs at home? What about using the talents of the Filipino people to build up the national industries in the Philippines? Cacdac boasts about 'full cycle' migration. We say, end the cycle!"
Migrante USA grieves the deaths of overseas Filipinos around the world who have lost their lives from overwork, from violence at the hands of their employers, and from working in areas affected by US wars of aggression:
We grieve for Kuya Rodel - a Filipino migrant caregiver in San Jose, California who spent decades separated from his loved ones and sent 80% of his income back home. He often worked long periods without a day off, despite his own deteriorating health. He passed away after working 7 days straight.
We grieve for Mary Ann - a 32-year old Filipino Caregiver killed in Tel Aviv while helping her client reach safety - the first Filipino casualty of the US-provoked conflict in the Middle East.
We grieve for the 2 Filipino domestic workers killed by their employer in Lebanon in April, and the countless other Overseas Filipino Workers who have lost their lives while working in precarious conditions abroad.
We grieve for Lyle Prijoles, Kai Sorem, and the rest of the Negros 19 who sought to address the problems of hunger and lack of livelihood at the root of why Filipinos are forced to migrate abroad to begin with. Their lives were cruelly taken by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a massacre from April 19-20, the same time the Philippines was kicking off its largest-ever Balikatan war exercises with the US and other nations.
"The only thing kept 'safe' by 'safe migration' is the profit that bureaucrat-capitalists and their agencies extract from workers through fees at every step of the way. From the Middle East to the US and around the world, there is no real safety for migrant workers until we build a self-reliant and robust economy that can provide us with jobs and livelihoods." added Jom Dolor, deputy secretary-general of Migrante USA and Amerigrante Northern Virginia.
Based on the DFA’s own estimates, nearly 10% of the country’s population lives and/or works abroad (over 10.8 million in 2024 alone). The Philippines is rich in resources, but through various neoliberal trade agreements, our government complies with the dictates of the US to privatize and deregulate national industries and serve mainly as a source of cheap raw materials. These are then exported to other countries, leaving our country with limited productive capacity to sustain our own national industries. Thus, the Philippines remains dependent on imports and reliant on migration to provide livelihood rather than creating opportunities at home.
Migrante USA demands for the Philippine government to take these immediate steps be taken to address the crisis and rising prices that put even more strain on migrant workers, including: 1) Removal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Excise Tax, 2) Repeal of the Oil Deregulation Act that allows companies to raise oil prices with no checks and balances, 3) Implementation of a Wealth Tax on Billionaires to generate funds for immediate subsidies to the poorest families in the Philippines, and 4) Implementation of a PhP1,200 (~20 USD) national daily minimum wage.
Migrante USA is even more determined to fight for justice for all Filipinos continuing to work overseas. Recent reports indicate more Filipino Seafarers, including those docked in San Diego, California, are being targeted by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for detention and blacklisting, in order to meet quotas for detention and deportation set by Trump. Meanwhile, more caregivers across the U.S. have launched campaigns to demand payment of wages they are owed and an end to overwork and unsafe working conditions.
Mimi Cawayan, Migrante USA secretary-general, stated: “We join the global clamor to ‘Free the Migrants.’ We demand freedom to work, freedom to reside, and freedom to fight for all migrants! Under the current system, migrant workers are an underclass of the working class, concentrated in the most precarious and low-wage sectors such as caregiving. We need to unite as kababayan, together with migrant workers of all nationalities, and work together to change this system that destroys our home country economies and sells out our labor overseas.
We must defy the policy of forced migration, ang labor export policy na ipagmamalaki nila sa UN itong darating na linggo. Instead, let us return back home to help tackle the root problems directly. Umuwi na tayo at maglingkod sa ating bayan!”
Migrante USA will join migrant workers across the country for a week of protest demand “Kabuhayan, Hindi Bala! [Livelihood, Not Bullets!]" in New York, during the United Nations’ proceedings of the 2nd International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) where the Philippines is positioning its Labor Export Policy as a model for migration worldwide.
For more information: https://www.bayanusa.org/blog/woa-migrants-fight
