Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Volume 3,  Number 38              October 26 - November 1, 2003            Quezon City, Philippines


 





Outstanding, insightful, honest coverage...

 

Join the Bulatlat.com mailing list!

Powered by groups.yahoo.com

MIGRANT WATCH

HK OFWs Score Philippine Consul’s Martial Rule

Migrante Sectoral Party-Hong Kong (MSP-HK) denounced Oct. 22 the protest ban around the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) imposed by acting Head of Post Consul Domingo D. Lucenario 10 days after a migrant workers protest inside the compound. MSP-HK compared Lucenario to former President Ferdinand Marcos and the ban to martial rule.

By Bulatlat.com  

Filipino workers in Hong Kong storm Philippine consulate 

Migrante Sectoral Party-Hong Kong (MSP-HK) denounced Oct. 22 the protest ban around the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) imposed by acting Head of Post Consul Domingo D. Lucenario 10 days after a migrant workers protest inside the compound.

In a statement, MSP-HK compared Lucenario to former President Ferdinand Marcos and the ban to martial rule. The ban is “a grave violation of migrant’s democratic rights,” such as their right to expression and assembly, the group said.

The group also denied Lucenario’s allegations that the Oct. 12 protest over the Electronic-card controversy was “rowdy, prone to violence” or that they “destroyed government property.”

These accusations of “security threat,” MSP-HK said, only aim to “discredit and slander migrant organizations which have proven their rationality, professionalism, discipline and organization in the holding of various forms of mass actions for years.” 

MSP-HK also said that the Oct. 12 mass application for Electronic-card only heated up when the Consulate personnel deceived them through the forced collection of HK$200 (U.S.$25) Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) fund—which was made voluntary in Hong Kong after OFWs fought for it in 1996—for the supposedly free E-card.

Incompetence

In the same statement, MSP-HK questioned Lucenario’s competence as a public official.

“In the face of the mounting opposition to the forced collection for the supposedly free e-card, Consul Lucenario has shown his true self—a defender of a deceitful policy on OFWs, a migrant rights violator, and an officer incapable of handling the post he has been temporarily given.”

“Repression is the last resort of an official incapable of handling grievances of his or her community,” the statement said. “This was true for Marcos, this is true with (Labor Secretary Patricia) Sto. Tomas with her attack on the workers, this is true of Arroyo with her anti-terror hysteria, and this is now true for Consul Lucenario.”

‘Traditional politician, not a public servant’

MSP-HK said that Lucenario “has the making of a traditional politician, not a public servant.”

The group recalled that the acting consul presented himself as “smiling, easy to approach consul” yet he has “never publicly sided with the sentiments of the Filipino community” even before.

The migrant group also believes that this move only means Lucenario’s all-out support for the imposition of the mandatory collection of OWWA contribution they have already fought and won.

MSP-HK argued that Lucenario is a “dependable advocate for the government’s exaction business on migrants” and not just a “bystander” who implements government policies on E-card as he claimed.

“This explains why he chose to ignore four petitions to discuss the anomalous E-card matter since July,” the statement said.  Bulatlat.com

Back to top


We want to know what you think of this article.