The SUN HK : Balladares re-elected as Unifil chair as Villanueva bows out after 25 years

Unifil's new ExeCom led by Balladares take oath before Migrante International's Ramon Bultron

After five years, United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-Migrante HK) held its annual congress again, and re-elected Dolores Balladares as chairperson for the 19^th straight year.

At the same time, Eman Villanueva, who was first elected as Unifil’s secretary-general in 1998, begged off from serving another term, thus ending 25 years of serving as a leader of one of the oldest migrant workers’ groups in Hong Kong.

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However, Villanueva will still head Bayan Hong Kong and Macau, an equally militant migrant workers’ organization in Hong Kong.

Villanueva served as Unifil's SecGen from 1998 to 2023

The changing of the guards at the biggest and most active Filipino community groups in Hong Kong took place yesterday, Nov. 26, at Wesleyan House in Wanchai, with about 200 members from 34 affiliate organizations in attendance.

Balladares was elected unopposed, along with current vice-chair Shiela Tebia from Gabriela Hong Kong.

The three other members of Unifil’s executive committee were also unopposed and will serve as officers for the first time: Lia Quirante of Mission Movers, who replaced Villanueva; Mimi Ysulat of Filipino Migrants Association as deputy secretary general, and Ivy Alamid of Filipino Lesbian Organization as treasurer.

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The new officers will serve for the next three years, or until 2026. They took their oath before Ramon Bultron, deputy secretary general of Migrante International and general manager of Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants.

Unifil last held its annual general assembly in 2018, in the wake of massive pro-democracy protests across Hong Kong, and shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic wrought havoc all over the world.

But despite the severe pandemic restrictions and a slowdown in most outdoor activities, Unifil continued many of its activities, albeit in smaller numbers, including the yearly demand for an increase in the minimum wage of migrant domestic workers.

About 200 representatives of 34 affiliate organizations took part in the 17th Congress

In her five-year report, Balladares noted that Unifil continued to wage a campaign against exactions by the Philippine government on MDWs; the illegal collection of fees, illegal recruitment and trafficking by employment agencies; and such national issues as human rights violations, corruption, and opposition to the return to power of the Marcos family.

Together with other migrant-serving organizations like the Mission for Migrant Workers and Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge, Unifil also extended help to Covid-stricken Filipinos during the most severe pandemic-related restrictions imposed by the HK government.

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Balladares also listed among Unifil’s accomplishments in the past five years its successful campaign to stop the collection of higher government fees such as Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth contributions in the Philippines as well as its stringent opposition to allegations of job-hopping of MDWs in Hong Kong.

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With membership fees being suspended during the past five years, Unifil incurred a slight deficit, with a big part of its funds being used for Covid-related assistance and relief operations for victims of typhoons and other natural disasters in the Philippines.

However, due to its savings from past years, the organization has managed to retain some funds in the bank.