Fil-Am Activists Support Filipino Eviction Resister in CA

Published on October 30, 2008

BY BULATLAT

An organization of US-based Filipino activists has expressed its support for a Filipino homeowner in San Diego, California who has chained herself to her home of 20 years after being issued an eviction order by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department.

Like many property owners in the United States, June Reyno is part of a growing section of the US population facing displacement from their homes as the global financial crisis hits the middle class hard and workers even harder.

In 2008 alone, there were over 3.2 million filings for foreclosures and over 750,000 jobs lost in the United States, making Reyno’s predicament very common.

“Reyno, like many Filipinos in the United States, aspired to live the American dream of owning a home and having a career,” read a statement by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance)-USA. “But market instabilities eventually led to her losing both. Presently unemployed, Reyno is being evicted because she no longer has the income to keep up with the skyrocketing mortgage rates, and even though she has been approved for another loan to purchase back her home, the greedy bank is not willing to re-negotiate but instead is taking steps to kick her family out of the house.”

“(The) intentional relaxation of mortgage rates by the greedy banks duped many, including Filipinos, into believing their American dreams were possible,” Bayan-USA stated. “Little did they know that one day, the financial shenanigans of the deregulated banks would cost them their dreams with the current mortgage meltdown. In 2008 alone, there were over 3.2 million filings for foreclosures and over 750,000 jobs lost in the United States, making Reyno’s predicament very common.”

The group supported Reyno’s demand that the US Congress bail out homeowners like herself instead of the giant financial institutions.

Bayan-USA noted that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was one of the first leaders to support the $700-billion bailout plan passed by the US Congress last month.

“Reyno’s militant actions are needed at this particular time in our history, as the looming financial depression around the world will certainly carry grave political implications,” Bayan-USA stated. “As evictions, foreclosures, and mass job lay-offs are on the rise, resistance must step up against all other forms of repression against justifiable dissent from the people. Filipinos in the US and around the world must be amongst the decisive forces opposing the financial oligarchs and accelerating the fall of greed and financial tyranny!” (Bulatlat)