Speech delivered by Riya Ortiz
Mass Campaigns Officer, Ugnayan
December 14, 2007
When I say “KABA”, you say “TAAN”! KABA… TAAN!
At this point in our program, we’ve heard about what Ugnayan is, what our programs are, what we’ve achieved in 2007, and how it has impacted the youth through Clara's testimony. Now, we want to show what we can look forward to in the future. True to promoting and upholding the rights and welfare of Filipino youth in New York and New Jersey, Ugnayan has taken on the Justice for Adriane Campaign.
How many of you know Adriane? Please raise your hands. For those of you who don’t know Adriane, she’s a young Filipina restaurant worker who’s seeking compensation from her former employers, Sonny Manlapaz and Lilia Reyes, owners of the restaurant and bar formerly known as Barrio Fiesta. She worked there as a waitress for three years, and she wasn’t paid for the last eight months that she worked there.Actually, we’re honored to have Adriane here to speak about her experience. If you really want to know what a brave woman is like, then please listen to what Adriane has to say. Everyone, please welcome, Adriane Padilla.
(After Adriane’s speech)
Thank you, Adriane, for sharing. Nakakaantig no? It’s heart-wrenching. If we multiply Adriane’s story hundreds of thousands of times, then we would see the experience of an entire generation of immigrant Filipino youth in the US.
How many of us were born and raised in the US? How many of us are immigrants who had to work as soon as we arrived here? How many of us had to work while going to school?
It’s a known fact that from our middle-class upbringing in the Philippines, we end up as low-wage workers in this country. Yung edukasyon natin sa Pilipinas ay binabasura lang sa Amerika! The education we received in the Philippines is trashed when we arrive here in the US! We have youth who graduated from private colleges and universities back home who are now working in fast-food restaurants, remittance centers, etc.
Why did we leave our motherland in the first place? For economic survival. There is widespread poverty and unemployment back home, and we couldn’t land decent jobs due to the lack of industrialization. In the provinces, the peasants don’t own the land they till and many cannot afford to send their children to school. A recent report by the Alliance for Concerned Teachers showed that only three to five percent of those who can afford to go to school and graduate in the Philippines are able to land jobs as call center agents there. With increasing unemployment and underemployment, more graduates are forced to migrate. During last May’s Philippine National Elections, Kabataan Partylist refuted claims of the Philippine government, stating that only a few of 400,000 plus student graduates this year would land a job within the next two years.
When we arrive in foreign countries such as the US, this is what happens to us. We are subjected to sub-humane conditions that rob us of our rights and dignity as human beings. We end up as a source of cheap immigrant labor, and a system directly benefits from it. It is our labor that supports the service and restaurant industries.
BUT we can do something about it!
We have a responsibility and a duty not just to ourselves but to our community. Only through collective action can we effect change. Kaya sigaw ng Ugnayan: Kabataang makabayan, Lumalaban!
Kailangang mag-aral. We have to educate ourselves about our conditions.
Kalaingang mag-organisa. We have to organize our ranks.
At kailangang magmobilisa. We have to mobilize the broadest majority for our cause.
We also have to stand in solidarity with other working class communities of color in the US who are fighting for justice and equal rights. And as we struggle for our people, we must not forget our brothers and sisters fighting for liberation in our motherland so that future generations will not have to migrate in order to survive.
Sulong, kabataan! Onward, youth!
