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News Release
September 30, 2007
Reference: Valerie Francisco, secretary general, Filipinas for Rights and
Empowerment, 925-726-5768
Filipino American History
Month with a "HER" twist
New York, NY--The women of Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment brought in
October, Filipino American History month, with a bit of a twist. The
organization's public introduction was an Open House, aptly called "Pinay
HERstories."
Due to the trends in Filipino American immigration, much of the early
communities set up in the US were largely bachelor communities. The
history of our earlier American generations are reflected in the often
male-dominated accounts of Filipino American lives.
Filipina-American poets and perfomance artists Lisa Ascalon, Marie Avetria,
Kimmie David and Tamara Llosa-Sandor shared their stories of womanhood and
being Filipino in the US. Their artwork re-writing the history of Filipino
Americans in the US. Organizations doing work with the Filipino community
in New York also came to speak in solidarity. Filipino American Health
Services, Inc, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, and Domestic Workers
United expounded on their resilient and imperative work with Filipino
women.
On the same night, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was at the
Waldorf-Astoria attending the 3rd meeting of the Women Leaders Working
Group. The theme of the night was "Progress on Women's Empowerment."
Ironically, the woman president of the Philippines addressed the crowd
with statistics of billion dollar remittances and solicitations for more
business investments in the Philippines without the even batting a lash at
exploitative conditions that Filipino migrants, especially women,
experience outside of the country.
"GMA is a poor example of Filipino women's empowerment and progress. She
has made sure that Filipino women are the largest export out of the
Philippines and maintains no accountability to their suffering when
Filipino women are out of the country," stated Valerie Francisco,
secretary general of FiRE.
September 2007 promises the 14 billion dollars in remittances from migrant
workers. Simultaneously, the human rights crisis in the Philippines is
still at a staggering slow.
"As a woman, she must be held responsible for the depraved Martial
Law-like conditions of Filipino women in the Philippines," Francisco
added.
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http://www.firenyc.org
Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) is a mass-based women's
organization serving New York City and its surrounding areas. We connect
the Filipino diaspora to the women's struggle in the Philippines. By
bringing woman-born and woman-identified people together, we challenge
pervading stereotypes and create self-defined Filipina identities. For
more information, please visit http://www.firenyc.org
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