By The SUN
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| The trophies won by the top 3 winners: FMWU, SJMW & DWC |
The Filipino Migrant Workers Union (FMWU-CRC) won the
top prize in the second annual essay-writing contest of the Mission Movers Hong
Kong, which this year focused on the need for solidarity and unity in combating
the coronavirus pandemic.
The FMWU tackled how migrant workers have been helping
each other despite the lack of adequate government support for overseas
Filipino workers in its entry to the contest which had as its theme, “Pakikipagkapatiran
sa Panahon ng Pandemya,Bakit ito Mahalaga?”.
“Ang hindi
pagtugon at kakulangan ng ating gobyerno na magbigay ng ayuda at tulong…ay
hindi dahilan upang tayo ay mawalan ng pag-asa.
Napunuan ang pagkukulang na ito ng magagandang puso ng ating mga lokal
na kilala, organisasyon at mga kapwa migranteng manggagawa,” said FMWU in
its winning entry.
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FMWU received a trophy, a certificate and $600 cash
for taking the top slot during the online awarding ceremony held live on
Facebook on Nov 29.
Coming in close as second-prize winner was Social
Justice for Migrant Workers, which received a trophy, certificate and $400
cash.
SJMW, a new organization represented by Marites Palma,
gave a global perspective to the topic, citing instances when countries and big
organizations have helped each other in responding to the pandemic.
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But she gave the biggest emphasis on how her group has
been helping newly arrived overseas Filipino workers who are in quarantine and are
not given enough food, water, and other needs, despite laws making employers
and agencies responsible for looking after them.
“Mula Hunyo
hanggang sa araw na ito ay umaabot na sa 500 ang nakatanggap ng ayuda, 35 katao
ang nabigyan ng cash para sa extension ng visa at karamihan ay nasa bagong amo na… Nagawa natin ang lahat
ng ito sa pamamagitan ng pakikipagkapatiran ngayong panahon ng pandemya,”
said SJMW in its entry.
The four other groups that sent their entries had
nearly matching scores, save for a few points’ difference. But among them,
Domestic Workers Corner, emerged as the third prize winner.
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DWC, which was represented by Baby Jean de Leon, won a
trophy, certificate, and $200 cash.
The other contestants were Migrante Pier Chapter,
Migrante Macau, Filipino Lesbians Organization, and Zumba Feels.
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| Valino (right) with co-organizers Annie Dichoson and Tess Aquino |
This year’s judges were Cynthia Tellez of the Mission for Migrant Workers, who was also the guest speaker; Daisy CL Mandap, editor of The SUN Hong Kong; and Aaron Ceradoy of Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants.
The judges were all praises for the quality of the
entries, but advised the contestants to read up more to broaden their outlook,
and also to stick to the contest rules, noting that some of the groups did not
conform to the stipulated word limit.
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| Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love |
The contest was opened to entries from Nov 1 to 8,
after which those that made the cut were posted on the Movers’ Facebook account.
The competing groups were then encouraged to share their published entries to earn
“hearts”, which was added up to their final scores.
Social Justice won the hearts contest, which, however,
made up only 10% of the final scores. The other 90% was based on the entries’
content.
The Movers, which is headed by Nancy Valino, is a volunteer
group of the Mission for Migrant Workers. It provides assistance to migrant
workers who need help with employment-related concerns, and even police
matters.
They can be contacted at 2522 8264 during office hours, and 2721 3119 during non-office hours.
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