By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Christmas joy should come with real justice and peace, says Villanueva |
Christmastime’s message of peace, joy and love is more
meaningful if there is justice and peace at home where Filipino workers have
better-paying jobs so they don’t have to work abroad, a militant community
leader has said.
Eman Villanueva, chairman of the Bayan Hong Kong & Macau
chapter, said in his keynote speech at the 19th Parol-making Contest
of Filipino Friends in Hong Kong on Dec 22 at City Hall, that Filipinos do not
work overseas by choice but by necessity.
“Sa totoo lang, yung pagkawalay natin sa ating pamilya ay
hindi natin ginusto kundi tayo ay kinailangan na magpasya ng isang mabigat at
mahirap na desisyon nang sa ganoon ay maiahon natin o mabuhay natin ang ating
pamilya,” Villanueva said.
“Kaya nga ang tawag natin sa ganitong migration ay forced
migration, hindi ito kusang-loob,” he added.
If the new arrivals suffer intense homesickness this time of
the year, what more with those who have been working here for 20 years,
Villanueva said.
“Ang mensahe ng Kapaskuhan ay peace, joy, love. Kung nasa Pilipinas
ka ba ay talagang may peace, joy, love?” he asked.
Villanueva said perhaps in the Philippines there is love, but when
a family has nothing to eat or doesn’t eat regularly, then love gives way to
irritability and intense pressure.
He said a worker can’t have peace if he is jobless or his salary
can’t support his family. In the same vein, a farmer whose harvest is not
enough to pay for his debt has no real peace.
In a jab at the Duterte government’s failure to fulfill its
promise to end labor’s bane of contractualization, the Bayan HK & Macau
leader said there is no real peace for workers who have no regular job, those
forced to change employers every five or six months, or those who have been on
the job for 10 years but are still contractual.
Likewise, workers can’t have real peace if they don’t have
the means to take their sick family members to a doctor or send their children
to school, he said.
“Walang kapayapaan kung walang katarungan para sa ating mga
mamamayan,” said Villanueva. The only peace everyone knows is that of “tokhang”
victims, alluding to the 27,000 extrajudicial killings since Duterte began his anti-drug
campaign in 2016.
He said the Filipino people are seeking genuine peace where
they enjoy better lives and exist peacefully without exploiters and earn enough
for their families’ daily needs.
He said the irony is, if one calls for higher wages, jobs,
land for farmers, free education, or complains against government services, he
is called a New People’s Army rebel.
Villanueva said there are people who are fighting against
injustices by the government, by the rich and powerful, and by foreign
interests who exploit the country’s natural resources for a small fee to make
costly products that they sell back to the people.
He said there would be genuine peace if the country uses its
natural resources to make and export goods that would create more, better-paying
jobs so Filipinos won’t need to work abroad.
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| FMWU and Bus 13 chapters won the top prize in the parol contest |
Eight participating workers’ groups made Christmas lanterns
from discarded recyclable materials that they said symbolized their lives,
struggle and hopes as migrant workers.
The top prizes were won by Filipino Migrant Workers Union
Chapter and Bus 13 chapters.
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