UGNAYAN ENDS YEAR WITH CULTURAL EVENT AND CAMPAIGN LAUNCH FOR IMMIGRANT FILIPINA YOUTH RESTAURANT WORKER

For Immediate Release
Contact: Joana Palomar, Spokesperson, Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, 212.564.6057, ugnayan.nynj@gmail.com

New York City—Last Friday, December 14, Filipino youth organization Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Linking the Children of the Motherland) held the cultural event MAGDIWANG to celebrate the organization’s 3rd anniversary and its victories of 2007, and to launch an unpaid wages campaign for Filipina youth worker Adriane Padilla.

Adriane, a 23-year old Filipina immigrant, is seeking compensation from her former employers, Santiago Manlapaz and Lilia Reyes, owners of the restaurant and bar formerly known as Barrio Fiesta in Woodside, Queens. Throughout her employment, Manlapaz and Reyes failed to pay Adriane minimum wage, overtime compensation, and additional spread of hours pay. They also engaged in tip stealing and withheld her wage for approximately eight months, threatening to terminate her when she complained.

Manlapaz also created and perpetuated a hostile work environment by regularly making explicit and lewd comments about the bodies, sex lives and personal relationships of Adriane and the other female waitresses.

Adriane, with the support of Ugnayan and allied organizations, is demanding from her former employers her unpaid wages, a formal apology, and respect for the rights and dignity of all workers.

"Hopefully this campaign will help other young people to stand up and not be scared,” said Adriane. “I know other youth are experiencing what I did. And I hope other Filipino restaurant owners will not do the same thing as Sonny [Manlapaz].”

Adriane’s speech was one of the highlights of MAGDIWANG which was attended by about 100 youth, supporters and allies. The event had an all-Filipino youth line-up of poets and musicians who shared their experiences using various creative means such as spoken word, hiphop and acoustic rock. It also featured an immigrant youth testimony by Aby Pinon, as well as performances by YanYon, Ugnayan’s all-female band; musician Myke Christian; poets Marvin Kwong and Feliza Mirasol; and hip hop acts New York’s Finest Pinoys (NYFP) and ML.

There were also speeches and letters of solidarity from allied organizations CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association, Kabataang maka-Bayan (Pro-People Youth, USA), and Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines. Ugnayan honored these and other allies and supporters with certificates of appreciation.

The performances and speeches exposed the true experiences of Filipino youth and the larger Filipino community, especially the domestic workers and low-wage workers. They included performances by US-born Filipinos and children of immigrants expressing dislocation from the homeland and erasure of our people’s history. Other parts of the program, especially the testimonies of Pinon and Padilla, revealed the experiences of educated, skilled immigrant youth who were forced to migrate because of the lack of opportunities in the Philippines, then upon arrival in the US were pushed into low-wage service work and made vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, sexual harassment, and racism.

“My father was an engineer in the Philippines, but was downgraded when he came here to the US,” said Aaron Rigodon, 21-year old student, 2nd-generation Filipino and member of Ugnayan. “My parents came to the US because of the American Dream, but we know now that the American Dream doesn’t exist. I learned from Adriane that if we don’t fight, we are allowing slavery to continue in this country.”

The enthusiasm and commitment of the youth to effect change both locally and in the homeland, where the roots of our community’s migration lie, follows the tradition of Andres Bonifacio, leader of the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain, whose birthday, November 30, Ugnayan celebrates as its anniversary. Bonifacio led the Katipunan (Movement) that fought the Spanish colonizers and eventually formed Magdiwang which asserted the leadership of the Katipunan. Magdiwang is also a Filipino word meaning “celebrate”.

“I was honored to have been part of MAGDIWANG,” said Adriane, “And to have the support of community organizations like Ugnayan and Damayan. I’m very hopeful and looking forward to this campaign.”

Ugnayan with its allied organizations vow to continue the Justice for Adriane Campaign in 2008, and launch various creative forms of action such as petition-signing, education forums, and street actions to gather support for Adriane and raise awareness about the situation of Filipino youth restaurant workers. ###

Ugnayan turned 3 on November 30. Belated 3rd year anniversary!


Kabataang makabayan, lumalaban!
The patriotic youth are struggling!

Adriane Padilla during the launching of the Justice for Adriane Campaign


Hiphop artist ML


Yan Yon, Ugnayan's all-female band


Myke Christian

Hiphop group New York's Finest Pinoyz (NYFP)


The crowd enjoying the performances and speeches

To view more photos, please visit www.flickr.com/ugnayannynj.

Testimony from a Young Immigrant Queer Pinay

My senior year was coming to an end and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. After those rigorous exams, I finally packed my summer clothes and headed off to the island of Boracay. That was pure fun! All I cared about was my nine full days on the beach under the blazing sun and nothing else.

Then August came.

I was scheduled to fly to the United States on the 22nd. I was thinking, “Hey, I could take a little break, relax, and look for potential colleges while I’m here.” I wasn’t so worried because I knew that I was going to come back after a few months. My friends were crying their eyes out the night before I was scheduled to leave and all I said was: “Ano ba yan?! Todo naman and drama ng mga ‘to! Babalik naman ako after a few months ‘no! Tama na ang iyak!”

I never came back.

Separated from my family and friends, I found myself living in a foreign land full of roaming monsters I never knew existed--in the streets, in encounters, in the media, and in the system. Given my limited options, I began to work for minimum wage. I had to force myself to understand everything that was foreign to me. My belief was: “If I just go with the flow, I would be ok. I would survive.”

I almost didn’t.

A couple of months later, I was working as a domestic worker, a nanny. I never ever thought I would end up with a job like this, but I had no other choice. Being in a country where racism and discrimination exists and occurs every damn day, would make me, a queer Filipina, experience this every damn day. Working for a white family with a daughter and a son, I felt my true potential as a human being shrink. So small it shrank, it could fit the tiniest box ever created. I was expected to take care of her, bathe her, feed her, make her bed, clean up after her, and help her with her homework. Sound’s easy right? But that doesn’t include the not-so-subtle racist remarks that I got from that community: “Oh you speak really good English! Did you just learn that for the past months that you’ve been here?” “Do you have AC’s in the Philippines? It must be really hot there during the summer.” “Oh you read books?” The first few were like rocks swallowed slowly, scraping my skin, making it bleed. I never thought something like that would be said to me. After work, I would go home and cry myself to sleep.

Recently, I just came out as a queer daughter and sister to my family and a “lesbiana” to my friends. All of a sudden, I was treated with so much indifference because I didn’t fit into the norm anymore. It’s as if I morphed into another person: the Clara they knew before was replaced with some sinner, some stranger. They claimed this wasn’t who I was supposed to be because I am a woman, and women are supposed to go out there and find the man of their dreams, get married, have kids, and be ever-obedient wives. For them, I could not be queer. A question started to swim in my head: “Is this who I really am?” I found my answer:

“Yes, this is who I really am.”

Facing these struggles here in the United States, as a twenty-year-old, queer, Filipina, was not a choice I made. It has been made for me by the current government in the Philippines—a government tainted by U.S imperialism. And so I left my motherland to seek a quote-unquote better life in the United States—a country that has done nothing, so far, but oppress me because of the color of my skin, my gender, and my sexual orientation. But I choose not to remain silent and be stereotyped as a youth using activism as an outlet for my anger. Activism is not just about holding a big sign while marching down the streets, crying for liberation. It is about speaking up and fighting for change in a world that forbids it. To speak and not lose hope--that is what I’m all about!!


"Clara Santos" is a 20-year old young immigrant Filipina who is actively involved with Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan. She delivered the testimony above during Ugnayan's third year anniversary and year-ender celebration called MAGDIWANG which was held on December 14, 2007 in the Five Points, Chinatown, NYC.

Call to Action: Join the Fight to Seek Justice for Adriane!

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!

"My Philippines" by Feliza Mirasol

MY PHILIPPINES





I have never carried water up from a well

I have never seen that hut, holding 20 of a family strong

I haven’t scraped by in the poverty that gowns you

I have never taken that walk stretching 10 years long

Down a dusty road in a town that I don’t know

Down a dark hole in the ground I’m supposed to call home

Down into Pacific waters deep and blue

Down into an identity I am still struggling to know

I bask in the waters of the Atlantic

I face east to search the latitudes for you

I face west thinking this is a shorter distance

I am looking, I am finding, I am searching to grow

Into shoes that won’t fit my feet exactly right

Into a culture that still gives me a shock

Into a legacy that I can only begin to imagine

Into a race of ancestors who are my beginning stock

That had its own pride at a time of learning

That was stolen in due course on an endless night

That had its own set of centuries over which to burn

That is today running at a pace to recover its own light

In a children that have scattered the world far and wide

In this America that has become our one and only pride

In this society where we struggle to discover ourselves

In a melting pot where we are blended and quelled

I have never faced an approaching conquistador

I have learned how to say the Spanish word for “door”

I have never suffered the day through under that paradise sun

I have never stared down the barrel of a Japanese gun


Their lessons taught me to be quiet and unseen

Their lessons showed me what it meant to be mean

Their lessons filled me up with heavy self doubt

Their lessons paved the way for me to finally break out

Learn first how to find the sound of your voice

Learn fast how to use it to make known your choice

Learn soon how to shout it out hoarse and raw

Learn then to join it with others and sumisigaw*

My home lies here in the mean streets of Jersey City

My home lies there in a land named after a Spanish King

My home lies in me like a broken down clock

My home goes with me wherever I take wing

I will one day learn how to carry water from the well

I have seen our family grow into many strong

I didn’t have to scrape by in the poverty that owned you

I am taking my own journey down these many miles long


©2004 Feliza Mirasol


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


THAT BEING SAID


But that being said, if I ever find the bullies who jumped my brother and beat him up when he was a little kid

I’m going to rip them up the middle and keep them alive only long enough to let them watch the whole length of their intestines spill out their bodies.


No

I am not a violent person.

I am only, as the white man says it,

a savage.


Tribes of savages.

That’s what they called us, right?

That’s what they called us right.

Well, they weren’t wrong.

I remember now

I’d forgotten it for a long time

my whole life.

But I remember now.

A dreamland somewhere. A faraway paradise.

Paradise on earth they would have called it.

Those who came from the outside and landed on our shores.

They who came to steal our paradise and sell it to their own kind.

The men with the muskets and steel and ships big enough to sit on the ocean and make us think they were Gods.

We were too innocent and naïve.

We were too happy and carefree a people.

We were savages

Too smart to ever believe that possessing it all was the meaning of life

The meaning of existence

Our meaning in existence was to laugh and play,

to love and make love in the balmy wind and tropical heat,

to punish the guilty,

and to explore the great wide expanse of blue that surrounded us on all sides

Because we never felt trapped, not back then

Surrounded by water didn’t mean we had no place to go

It meant we could go anywhere

Everywhere we could imagine

And so we built boats and canoes and riggers and sails and kayaks and paddles

We learned how to get around.

We were free and we were happy

And now we learn we are called savages and barbarians

that our bare skin is not good enough clothing behind which to hide

But why do we need to hide?

Because you rape our women and dominate our men

Because you raise our children in awe of you

Because you are bigger, fatter, stronger, more intelligent and have more guns at your side?

Because in your world “love” means sleeping in separate rooms and sleeping around

Just because we would mate for life

does not give you the entitlement to take away what is ours.

We can speak many of your words in our language. Can you speak one of our words in yours?


I have not the heart to offend because we are a people of tribes,

and tribes are peoples of families,

and families are people of blood and sometimes not of blood,

who tie themselves willingly to our village.


You gave us firewater and opium

You gave us fear and violence

We open our arms and our hearts to you

You take without ever saying “please” and “thank you”

We submit because you showed us your strength and authority,

and we once honored those things.

Now because we submit you call us weak and stupid.

But tell me, when did you finish high school?

Did you ever finish high school?

When did you graduate college? Did you ever survive through college?

My mother did. My father did.

So?

Why do you believe they should serve you.

They amazed at our savage wear and barbarian style

and then told us we are moving too slow.

I have learned

to be punctual within a 5-minute timeframe

to make up for the gross negligence of my people

always arriving 2 hours late.

Now we are a country of corrupt officials,

a nation that pledges allegiance not to our flag,

a place where streets fill up with gangs and your guns and our violence

mingled the day you laid your hands on the women of my people.

And now our men have forgotten how to love us;

now they speak to us in harsh words that they learned from you

And now our men are

choking on their own filth having lost the purity of their soul

to you

and your money

and your greed

and your ambitions.

My men follow you now, because they think you are the leader.

My women choke back tears they have shed, remembering who the true leaders of our people were.

Kasama lahat!

I will make friends with you and smoke the peace pipe.

I will eat your strange and foreign dishes.

I will speak to you in the language you know

but will ever listen for the day that you speak to me

in a language that I know.

I once had a grandmother, the mother of my mother’s mother

Great Grandmother you call her in this tongue.

She was a faith healer, so my mother told me the story

Loved and beloved, to husband, daughters, neighbors around

Disappearing one day

In the hands of men who would say

Nothing

but what their greed could tell them

To steal land not theirs, and now there is no way to know

whatever happened to our ninúnò

So my mother told me the story

Their two daughters were taken and raised by others. One of those daughters, the eldest,

became a faith healer too. She died a virgin, never married, so my mother told me.

The other daughter, the youngest one, became my mother’s mother.

And so here I am.

We don’t know whatever happened to those land deeds hidden away somewhere.

We will never know what happened to my great grandmother and my great grandfather.

And this story will mean nothing to anyone anywhere.

But it will mean something to me here and now.

We owned land as if land can be owned because you told us land makes us wealthy.

We may not have understood before what being wealthy meant, but by now you’ve managed to show us and convince us that

it

must really be something important; important enough to destroy a family for it.

To you that is not a crime,

and for us that is a gravest sin.

Because families make up tribes and we are a people of tribes and tribes join each other in family and the bonds are made stronger by blood.

Blood will always be blood and blood will always call to blood

That being said,

if I ever find the bullies who jumped my brother and beat him up when he was just a little kid,

I will rip them up the front and let them live only long enough to watch their guts spill out of them

I will hope they are man enough to not pass out before their punishment has been administered

Because my people expect it of me,

and I am

my people.


©2005 Feliza Mirasol

Solidarity Statements for Ugnayan's 3rd Year Anniversary

From Kabataang maka-Bayan USA (KmB Pro-People Youth):

Kabataang maka-Bayan USA Pro-People Youth commend Ugnayan ng Mga Anak ng Bayan on their 3rd anniversary of service to the people. As you assess the year’s struggles and triumphs, KmB is proud of our sister organization’s humility in the face of both adversity and victory.

We here in KmB would like to share just a few accomplishments that Ugnayan was a driving force in 2007. During the electorate process, Ugnayan was instrumental in spearheading and co-coordinating an alliance in support of Kabataan Partylist Philippines. With Kabataan USA, Ugnayan brought together the youth and student sector here in the United States alongside KmB to raise awareness of the dire need for a youth voice within the legislative branch of the Government Republic of the Philippines. A voice that can and must shed light to the injustices perpetuated by the GRP within the confines of it’s own walls of authority.

To do that, Ugnayan worked diligently in releasing timely press statements, disseminating information regarding progressive partylists like Kabataan Partylists, organizing forums and concerts, and producing (with KmB) an English translation of the KPL commercial featured on Youtube. During the election campaign the KPL English commercial received 25,000 hits from around the world and has garnered over 36,000 views to date.

Although the KPL was unsuccessful in achieving the necessary votes to place a progressive youth in the Congressional House of Representatives, the strides and achievements made in the process will lead to further victories in the oppressed sectors of Philippine society, particularly the Y/S. Ugnayan is a leading factor in this process by arousing, organizing, and mobilizing the youth and students here in the United States and connecting them with their peers in our beloved motherland.

Magdiwang is a fitting theme for your solidarity night. Magdiwang as a joyous celebration of Ugnayan’s commitment to move the people towards a society that meets the masses basic needs. And Magdiwang, in honor of the Katipunan force led by our honored forefather Andres Bonifacio who fought and died to establish a progressive system of governance that utilizes the talents and drive of its nation’s inhabitants.

Your our sisters and brothers in KmB praise Ugnayan’s accomplishments this year. We look forward to your continued strides and look ahead to our future work together.

Further the efforts of the people’s drive to complete the unfinished revolution of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan.
Strengthen the capacity of the Youth and Students to participate in effective systemic change.

Build the bridges between our communities in the Philippines, here in the United States, and around the world.

Mabuhay Ugnayan ng Mga Anak ng Bayan!


Kabataang maka-Bayan
KmB Pro-People Youth USA
www.propeopleyouth.com
December 14, 2007

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From The Allliance for A Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP):

The Allliance for A Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) or the Alliance is proud to give its warmest and militant felicitations to UGNAYAN in celebrating its organization's third-year anniversary and its victories of 2007 on December 14, 2007.

It is also historical that MAGDIWANG will be held at The Five Points, 30 Mott Street, at the street level. This area saw the migrant struggle of the Irish migrants in America.

We are proud that you chose Magdiwang as a themea slogan for the celebration. Magdiwang is a Filipino word that means " to celebrate".. Bonifacio led the Katipunan (Movement) that fought the Spanish colonizers and eventually formed Magdiwang which asserted the leadership of the Katipunan. Magdalo was the faction led by Aguinaldo named after his patron saint-Santa Magdalena. Now it is being used by romantic adventurist military rebels.

Since its inception in Magdiwang continued to fight even after Agunaldo exiled himself in Hongkong in 1897 under Emilio Jacinto until his death in 1899. They continued on under General Macario Sakay against the American colonizers until his martyrdom in 1907. You are carrying the great banner of MAGDIWANG today for anti-imperialism and national liberation.
We are happy that the event will also launch a campaign to demand justice and unpaid wages for a Filipina youth restaurant worker. The campaign is a just cause to support a Filipina youth restaurant worker in her fight for justice and unpaid wages.

We are glad that one of the focuses of Ugnayan's work in the coming months. MAGDIWANG will give youth an opportunity to learn about and relate to the experience of this youth worker, and to join the youth and larger Filipino and American community in taking action on the campaign.

UGNAYAN is good and is effective in using various means of cultural expression, multimedia and youth testimonies, MAGDIWANG will highlight the local Filipino youth experiences with systemic racism, forced migration, education and employment in 2007.

You made good in connecting your work to major events in the Philippines and in the United States that also occurred this year, such as the May Philippine national elections, undeclared martial law, the arrest of International League of Peoples' Struggles Chairperson Jose Maria Sison, and the targeting of international support for the Filipino people's struggle for life and liberation.

AJLPP is happy that Ugnayan has followed this militant tradition through its work educating, organizing and mobilizing for the rights and welfare of the Filipino youth in New York and New Jersey and eventually, the whole east coast.

More power to you in serving the people!


AJLPP National Committee
Secretariat
December 14, 2007

JUSTICE FOR ADRIANE! JUSTICE FOR ALL FILIPINO YOUTH WORKERS!

PRESS ADVISORY Contact: Riya Ortiz, 212-564-6057
Friday, December 14, 2007 ugnayan.nynj@gmail.com


WHAT: Campaign Launch for Filipina Youth Restaurant Worker
WHEN: Friday, December 14, 2007
TIME: 7:45 pm to 10:30 pm
WHERE: The Five Points, 30 Mott Street, street level
DIRECTIONS: Q/W/R/J/Z/6 train to Canal Street; walk east on Canal; right on Mott Street


BACKGROUND

Adriane is a young Filipina worker who seeks compensation from her former employers, Santiago Manlapaz and Lilia Reyes, owners of the restaurant and bar formerly known as Barrio Fiesta in Woodside, Queens. Adriane worked in the restaurant as a waitress for approximately three years (October 2003 to May 2006). She was 19 at the time she was hired. When she was hired, she did not receive any formal training and was not informed of what her wage would be.

From 2003 to 2004, Adriane worked two weekday evenings for 9 hours, and grueling Friday and Saturday shifts for over 12 hours. Throughout her employment, Manlapaz and Reyes paid Adriane $3 per hour, well below the prescribed federal and state minimum wage, and she was not given overtime compensation and additional spread of hours pay. Manlapaz and Reyes also engaged tip stealing. From November 2005 through May 2006, they withheld her entire wage with the exception of $30 flat wage for her weekend buffet shifts, and threatened to terminate her when she complained.

Manlapaz created and perpetuated a hostile work environment by regularly making explicit and lewd comments about the bodies, sex lives and personal relationships of Adriane and the other female waitresses.

Santiago Manlapaz and Lilia Reyes are responsible for their failure to pay Adriane sufficiently and treat her with respect. Adriane, with the support of other Filipino youth and organizations, demands Manlapaz and Reyes to: (1) Pay Adriane in unpaid wages, overtime pay and wage violations; (2) Issue an apology letter to Adriane; and (3) Respect the rights and dignity of all workers.

Adriane’s story is not unique. She is part of a community of educated, skilled youth from the Philippines who are forced to migrate because of a lack of opportunities in the country, and upon arrival in the US are pushed into low-wage service work. This marginalization makes them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, where young Filipino women are additionally vulnerable to sexual harassment. Unfortunately, even more established Filipino employers seeking to find better economic opportunities in the US can take advantage of and abuse low-wage women service workers.

The US government is complicit. The US benefits from the marginalization and exploitation of Filipino youth working as cheap labor to support the restaurant and service industries, while denying the youth adequate legal protections and avenues to seek justice.

Join the launch for the Justice for Adriane Campaign at Ugnayan’s Third Anniversary Year-End Celebration Magdiwang. Help win the unpaid wages and other damages for Adriane. Expose the working conditions of Filipino youth workers. Uphold the rights and dignity of Filipino youth workers. Struggle for justice, dignity, basic human rights and liberation.
#

"Adriane" (Poem)

its not enough to say how

exploitation craves on youthful innocense...

But more baffling to realize that

entrusted individuals become

its ardent abusers...

as she realize her own people preyed

on that trust and abused it unconditionally...

Youthful trusts, misguided contempt.

Shed tears, inconceivable toil.

Unpaid sweat, intolerable humiliation.

Sexual harassment, verbal repudiation...

What becomes that soulful youth

a kindred spirit of trust,

when exploitation strikes...

Ashamed and embarass we shall never be,

for the people hear her troubled soul.

Steadfast and vibrant is our hope,

as it shouts to Adriane's call,

Refuse Injustice!

and justify our trust in others!



By RZ Flandez

PROGRESSIVE FILIPINO YOUTH CELEBRATE THREE YEARS OF EDUCATING, ORGANIZING AND MOBILIZING WITH A CULTURAL EVENT AND CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

For Immediate Release
December 11, 2007
Contact: Joana Palomar, Spokesperson-Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, 212.564.6057, ugnayan.nynj@gmail.com


New York City – This Friday, December 14, the year-end cultural event MAGDIWANG will bring together progressive Filipino youth, allies and supporters of the youth organization Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Linking the Children of the Motherland) to celebrate the organization's third-year anniversary and its victories of 2007.

The event will also launch a campaign to demand justice and unpaid wages for a Filipina youth restaurant worker.

Using various means of cultural expression, multimedia and youth testimonies, MAGDIWANG will highlight the local Filipino youth experiences with systemic racism, forced migration, education and employment in 2007, and connect to major events in the Philippines that also occurred this year, such as the May Philippine national elections, undeclared martial law, the arrest of International League of Peoples' Struggles Chairperson Jose Maria Sison, and the targeting of international support for the Filipino people's struggle for life and liberation.

Magdiwang is a Filipino word that means "celebrate". November 30, the date Ugnayan celebrates each year as its anniversary, marks the birthday of Andres Bonifacio, leader of the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain. Bonifacio led the Katipunan (Movement) that fought the Spanish colonizers and eventually formed Magdiwang which asserted the leadership of the Katipunan. Since its inception in 2004, Ugnayan has followed this militant tradition through its work educating, organizing and mobilizing for the rights and welfare of the Filipino youth in New York and New Jersey and demanding genuine change in the homefront.

The campaign to support a Filipina youth restaurant worker in her fight for justice and unpaid wages will be one of the focuses of Ugnayan's work in the coming months. MAGDIWANG will give youth an opportunity to learn about and relate to the experience of this youth worker, and to join the youth and larger community in taking action on the campaign.

MAGDIWANG will feature Sining Pandayan, the cultural group of Ugnayan and DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association; musician Myke Christian; poets Marvin Kwong and Feliza Mirasol; and hip hop acts New York's Finest Pinoys (NYFP) and ML.

MAGDIWANG will be held at The Five Points, 30 Mott Street, at the street level. Doors will open at 7:30 pm and the show will start at 7:45 pm. Advance sale tickets are $8; tickets sold at the door are $10. Proceeds will go towards Ugnayan's local youth organizing work. All ages are welcome.

For more information on MAGDIWANG or Ugnayan, call 212.564.6057, or email ugnayan.nynj@gmail.com. ###

THIS FRIDAY -- Celebrate with us at Magdiwang! (12/14)

Ugnayan turned three on November 30! Join us for one last time in 2007 for our anniversary and year-ender party called...

MAGDIWANG!

Friday, December 14
Doors open 7:30 pm, show starts 7:45 pm

Donation: $8 (advance sale; $10 at the door)
All ages welcome!

NYC Five Points
30 Mott Street, Street level
(rear performance area)
4/5/6/N/R/W train to Canal St.


FEATURING:

Sining Pandayan, multi-media cultural collective
Feliza Mirasol, poet
Marvin Kwong, poet/singer
Myke Christian, singer-songwriter
ML, hiphop MC
NYFP, hiphop group
and more special guests!

Remember the best and worst of the year and look towards another year of serving the people!

Come together and accept our humble thanks for your time, energy and talent in building and advancing our community!

Magdiwang is a Filipino word that means “celebrate”, and November 30 marks the birthday of Andres Bonifacio, leader of the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain. He led the Katipunan (Movement) that fought the Spanish colonizers and eventually formed Magdiwang which asserted the leadership of the Katipunan.

For tickets or more info, contact Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (www.ugnayan.blogspot.com) or NYC Five Points (www.nycfivepoints.com).


Reclaim our history of struggle!
Reroot in our culture of resistance!
Resurge and advance our role in effecting change!

Pesante-USA Marks International Human Rights Day

by Philippine Peasant Support Network (Peasant)- Monday, Dec. 10, 2007 at 7:58 AM
magsasakapil@hotmail.com 213-241-0906 537 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 900261


Los Angeles-- The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante)-USA a human rights, Filipino peasant advocacy and environmental network in the United States, is one with all well meaning people in marking International Human Rights Day, December 10,2007.

The Filipino peasant bear the brunt of repression under the corrupt and fascist US- Arroyo regime. Of the recorded 887 victims from 2001 until this year, 516 victims came from the downtrodden Filipino peasantry. The US-Arroyo regime had been so callous and brazen in its fascist acts that it can be compared to the US-Marcos Dictatorship for its cruelty.

Not counting the more than 200 victims of forced disappearances, we thank international pressure mass actions, lobbying and continued mass protest that there was a light let-up of human rights violations this year.

The human rights campaign and advocacy of several human rights advocates, legislators and clergy and the different solidarity groups both in United States, Europe and the United Nations made such efforts happen.

Today we honor the more than thousands of martyrs for human rights, thousands of disappeared, those who were tortured for their beliefs and for those who are under detention and who stood up for their rights and for the welfare and the interest of others.

We vow not only to continue our advocacy but also redouble our effort to serve the people most especially the Filipino peasantry.

Militant vigilance, raising consciousness and active work is the price of freedom!


Philippine Peasant Support Network (Peasante)-USA
Los Angeles,CA
December 10,2007

Message of Solidarity to Kabataang Maka-Bayan on the Occasion of Its 8th Founding Anniversary

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples' Struggle
November 30, 2007

On behalf of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), I wish to express warmest greetings of solidarity to Kabataang Maka-Bayan on the occasion of its 8th founding anniversary. We are proud of the development and achievements of KmB, especially because it is a founding member-organization of the ILPS and is active in the anti-imperialist and democratic struggle of the youth and the people.

We share your joy in celebrating your founding anniversary and holding the Cultural Solidarity Night under the theme: Uniting the Youth and Students for Community Action and Empowerment. We congratulate you for successfully holding the 3rd Congress of the KmB. We are aware that you were able to convene members from Los Angeles, Long Beach, Carson, the Bay Area and other places to assess the work done in 2006-2007, reevaluate governing documents, elect officers and set your General Program of Action.

We commend you for having engaged in a wide range of activities, including studies on Philippine society and revolution, the struggle for national democracy, human rights, the struggle for a just peace, the US educational system, art for the people, the US wars of aggression and the anti-war movement, the struggle for immigrant rights, the conditions that have led to the Filipino diaspora and the political persecution that that has been inflicted on the ILPS chairperson.

We commend you for the statements, educational forums, print and electronic propaganda, organizational meetings, cultural performances, pickets and mobilizations that you have carried out in connection with the burning Philippine economic and political issues, condemnation of human rights violations, protests against imperialist war, defense of immigrant rights, the rights of Filipino veterans, support for the Kabataan Party and the defense of the ILPS chairperson. We appreciate that you have engaged in alliance work and solidarity cooperation with various Filipino and American organizations.

We congratulate the newly-elected officers of KmB. We admire you and the entire membership of KmB for renewing the commitment to work in support of the movement for national liberation and democracy in the Philippines, while addressing the needs of your local community in the US and contributing what you can to international solidarity. We look forward to your greater successes by carrying out your General Program of Action. ###


Kabataang Maka-Bayan (Pro-People Youth) is Ugnayan's sister organization based in California. We did a joint campaign last spring to raise awareness about the Philippine national elections and the Kabataan (Youth) Partylist.

View Photos from KASAULUGAN, Damayan's 5th Year Anniversary Celebration!

Thank you to all the the youth who came and volunteered last Saturday for Damayan’s 5th year anniversary celebration, KASAULUGAN!!!

It was so great to see the workers and allies enjoying the program, food and music, and it wouldn’t have been possible if not for all the seen and unseen labor that the workers and youth put in in planning and preparing for this big night.

Props to the Damayan Board of Directors and members for leading the struggle of Filipino domestic workers in NY and NJ! We're proud that Damayan is one of the very few Filipino DW orgs in the US that is led and composed by domestic workers and continues to uphold and promote their rights and welfare. Ang tapang ninyo ay aming lakas. Your courage is our strength!

To the youth who helped with the overall coordination, shopped for food, drove all over the city, got discounted/free supplies, participated in the cultural performance, helped set-up the night before, and those who were constantly on their feet throughout the program...y’all did such a great job!!!

To the Ugnayan OGs who came through... it’s always great to see the old and new Ugnayan members in the same space cos that it shows that our organization is constantly evolving and growing.

And to the Ugnayan babies/kiddies... it’s so inspiring to see the next generation being nurtured in an environment that promotes justice and equality for our people.

See you in our own third year anniversary / year-ender party on Saturday, December 14th!

MAGDIWANG! CELEBRATE!



Damayan members and allies celebrating its 5th year of serving the Filipino community, especially the domestic workers, in NY and NJ!


Damayan's birthday cake donated by a member =)


Ugsters Karen & Anang on the registration table


Sining Pandayan (Forging Art) members preparing for the street theater


Sining Pandayan after their breathtaking performance


The youth celebrating the victory of the domestic workers


Whut?


Ugnayan old and new!

For more photos from Kasaulugan, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/ugnayannynj.