May 6th

On the morning of May 6th BAYAN and Migrante Members mobilized to the conclusion of a side event hosted by the Permanent Mission to Indonesia. The presentation, titled Beyond Protection: Origin Country Approaches to Migrant Empowerment and Sustainable Development included the Assistant Secretary for International Policy under the DMW, Levinson Alcantara and his staffers. We raised concerns about the situation for Filipino caregivers and the workers demands for transparency and concrete action.

From this confrontation, we pushed for a follow up meeting with migrant workers in the evening of the same day. Kuya Eric from Migrante New York asserted that the Philippine government representatives should listen to the workers and release resources for migrant Filipino workers. It was here we asserted three demands:

1. The confirmation that former MWO Labor Attache, Macy Maglanque has been removed from and no longer holds public office.

2. To address the discriminatory policies that affect Filipinos who are documented versus undocumented migrants (i.e. Kuya Rodel and the process of his repatriation)

3. A public apology from Secretary of Department of Migrant Workers, Hans Leo Cacdac, and a meeting with migrant workers and their organizations, not just groups approved by the Philippine Consulate.

We intend to follow up with these demands and encourage more workers to raise their voices to challenge what the Philippine government claims are part of their efforts to help the people. In reality, throughout the International Migration Review Forum, migrant workers and families voices were left out of the conversation.