Genuine Protection for Migrant Workers!

Scrap amendments to the TFW program

We, in Migrante Alberta Chapter in Canada, join the Coalition for Change, a broad community organization representing a diverse cross section of national, regional, and local organizations fighting for migrant workers rights, in its campaign for the scrapping of the proposed amendments to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The regulatory changes would limit migrant workers’ time in Canada to four years and bar them from reentering Canada for the next six years.

It is undeniable that migrant workers have been and are among the significant pillars in building a nation, be it a superpower like Canada. In this light, it is only just to give the rights due them. In order to do this, we call for genuine laws or changes to Canada`s laws that genuinely address the issues of temporary foreign workers.

Thus, we echo the calls of the Coalition for Change:

``Real protection means enforcing standards on employers and agencies hiring migrant workers.
Real protection means allowing migrant workers to bargain collectively, with full coverage under labour legislation.
Real protection means access to citizenship benefits and responsibilities.
Real protection means permanent residence on arrival.
Real protection means regularization for all.
Real protection means prohibiting fees migrant workers are forced to pay to find work, a fair appeals process for repatriations and an end to deportation.``

Thus, we call for the scrapping of the said amendments to the TFW program.#

Statement
MIGRANTE ALBERTA
Dec. 2, 2009

Hard to Resist

There are those who say they would never swim in Manila’s Pasig River – not even for the life of them. They say what deters them is all the garbage that floats in its waters. There are people though who can’t resist taking the dip there, especially with the scorching heat these days. Just like these children from one of the nearby communities – who even appear to be enjoying the swim immensely.

Taft Life

A man takes a nap on a contraption that he seems to consider home—a kariton hardly able to fit him in—somewhere near De La Salle University on Taft Avenue, Manila—from where many students come out in air-conditioned cars after their classes, usually straight to lavish houses in posh subdivisions. Life is indeed tough for such people as this man, who has a multitude of counterparts in other urban areas in the country.

Floating Car

Who says only James Bond and superheroes from the Justice League can have cars that float on water? Apparently this man proved them wrong. A closer look at the man sailing in the river near Quezon Avenue would reveal that he is using a car’s hood to cross to his home. It’s a man’s improvised conveyance in an urban environ of slum dwellings where simple things matter a lot.

Bulatlat Photo of the Week

No Shield from the Storm

Generally, having an umbrella is assurance enough that one would not risk catching a fever or, at least, a cold by getting wet in the rain. There are, however, extreme cases where it turns out to be better to have not brought umbrellas at all as one would get wet anyway. The super-typhoon “Milenyo” which hit Luzon last week, for instance, was of such violence as to fell even decades-old trees and gigantic billboards. These ladies’ umbrellas were no match for the storm’s fury and they ended up getting drenched in the storm.

Bulatlat Photo of the Week

Acupuncture vs. Dengue

Fear of dengue now hounds many homes all over the country, and even some other countries.

In the Philippines, there have been reports of 13,468 dengue cases with 167 dead from January to August this year alone. The Department of Health (DoH) named some barangays (villages) in Metro Manila where the cases of dengue are high: Caloocan, Malabon, Manila, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasig, Quezon City, Valenzuela and Taguig.

The best protection against dengue, which is a clean environment, has yet to be realized. Meanwhile, some wear long-sleeved shirts to protect themselves.Others apply insect-repellant lotion on the skin. It wears off quickly, however, and it would not take long for insects to feast again on the skin.

If one could not maintain the surroundings free of mosquitoes, if the insect-repellant lotion could not ensure that no mosquito could transfer its virus to one’s body – what, then, should be done?

ACUPUNCTURE!!! (read whole article)

Justice for IFI Bishop Ramento

Iglesia Filipina Independiente bishops, priests, and other militants
in a symbolic funeral march for slain Bp. Alberto Ramento, Taft, Manila, Oct. 12

Blocked by the police in Lawton, Manila

A poster showing the brutal killing of Bp. Ramento on Oct. 2

Living on wheels

Caught by the camera in one of the more prosperous parts of Quezon City is this family, literally living on wheels. They have apparently made this dumping ground of used tires their “home,” as the improvised cart containing what look like their belongings indicates. The tires on which they have placed the piece of plywood they rest upon serve as their only protection from the heat or cold that would emanate from the pavement, depending on the time of the day. All over Metro Manila, considered the country’s most prosperous region, are multitudes of families in circumstances similar to those faced by this mother and her three children – bitter indictments of a society where poverty can sink to such low levels amid abundant wealth.

Bulatlat Photo of the Week

MMDA's young nemesis

ATEEEE! A surprise morning raid by MMDA chair Bayani Fernando's police sends a young vendor to his feet as he calls for help from his sister. The siblings' tray of cigarettes and other items is later confiscated and crushed to pieces by Fernando's men as the new MMDA chief continues with his drive to rid Metro Manila's sidewalks of vendors and other obstructions.

Bulatlat Photo of the Week

Business as usual

Floods or no floods, ordinary Filipino folk eke out a living to make ends meet. A small flea market in San Fernando City, Pampanga, a two-hour bus ride north of Manila, finds these vendors selling fruits and tinapa (smoked fish) on a street inundated by a 15-minute downpour. There was no storm the day this photo was taken, and the city’s streets were perfectly dry before the rain fell. San Fernando residents say that even brief rainshowers can spawn a flood like this in their city because of its bad drainage system, and because the rivers are silted due to lahar (volcanic mudflow) from Mount Pinatubo in nearby Zambales province.

Bulatlat Photo of the Week

Wish

May blog na ako (aubreymakilan.blogdrive.com) pero di ko naman naaupdate.

Sana this time, maupdate ko na!

I mean regularly.

go aubrey!