Time: 6-8:30pm

Date: Monday, February 13
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Location: 35 San Juan Ave. SF, CA 94112

Reference: Mario De Mira, Filipino Community Center, (415) 333-6267

Caregiver Research Project Launches in San Francisco

San Francisco, CA–On December 14, 2011, the first of six research training sessions for the “CARE Project,” short for Caregiver Research Project, began at the Filipino Community Center in the Excelsior District, San Francisco. In this predominantly Filipino neighborhood of San Francisco, many of the caregivers in attendance were Filipino immigrants working in the surrounding tri-city area. Some of the caregivers have been working in the industry for 10 or more years, and some entered the industry as recent as 8 months ago. And new caregivers arrive to San Francisco everyday.

The CARE Project, sponsored by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, Northern California (NAFCON-NorCal) in collaboration with GABRIELA USA, will study the living and working conditions of caregivers in the San Francisco and San Mateo counties. Instead of university researchers at the helm of the project, the CARE Project relies on the leadership and direction of caregivers themselves to identify the important issues that need to be changed in their workplace and the caregiver industry. Caregivers will learn how to interview one another and their fellow caregivers to pinpoint critical issues to organize around.

The recent announcement of the US Department of Labor to include 2 million home care workers in the Fair Labor Standards Act will impact many home care workers’ ability to receive minimum wage and overtime pay. The timely launch of the CARE Project coinciding with this exciting development will surely expose the need of caregivers to be protected under labor standards. “The grassroots work of the Caring Across Generations campaign helped to push this legislation forward, and we take inspiration from these advances to mobilize our Filipino community for fair treatment and rights of caregivers,” said Mario De Mira, an organizer and Program Coordinator at the Filipino Community Center.

The CARE Project research team also includes volunteers from local Filipino community organizations such as Babae San Francisco, Active Leadership to Advance the Youth (ALAY), University of San Francisco’s Kasamahan, San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP), and individuals who are concerned about the plight of caregivers. Additionally, Dr. Robyn Rodriguez from UC Davis and Professor Valerie Francisco from USF are assisting the research process for the project. “The community is clearly behind our caregivers and with this multi-generational team, the CARE Project will surely be a success!” De Mira stated.

The next research training for caregivers will be on Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 6:00 pm at the Filipino Community Center, 4681 Mission St, San Francisco. The CARE Project welcomes caregivers who are interested in joining the training series. Please contact Mario De Mira at 415-333-6267 for more information.

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December 20, 2011

Contact: Jun Cruz NAFCON Public Info Officer

info@nafconusa.org 650 580 7382

NAFCON Activates Bayanihan Relief for Victims of Disastrous Calamity in Mindanao

On the quiet night of December 17th, the Philippines was struck by another calamity in the Southern Islands of Mindanao identified as tropical storm ‘Sendong’.

Cagayan de Oro, Negros Oriental and Iligan were amongst the worst cities hit by flash floods and landslides leaving 650 confirmed dead, with more reported fatalities expected, and nearly 100,000 victims homeless.

The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), with member organizations throughout the U.S., is activating its Bayanihan Relief  program for the victims of ‘Sendong’ in Mindanao.

NAFCON is collecting exclusively monetary relief (not material goods) and ensures that your donations go directly to the communities of the Philippines who are deeply and adversely affected by ‘Sendong’.

“As we near Christmas, we urge our kababayan to ease the suffering of children, families, and loved ones back home who were hit hard by ‘Sendong’ by making immediate monetary donations in the true spirit of the holidays,” said Terry Valen, NAFCON President.

NAFCON has established collections centers throughout the U.S and has a Paypal account. For Paypal go to:

Cash or checks go to locations listed below. On memo please write: NAFCON Bayanihan Relief

North East: Checks Payable to “Philippine Forum”

mail to 40-21 69th St. Woodside, NY

Regional Coordinator: Michelle Saulon, ne@nafconusa.org, (347) 867 – 1550

Mid West: Checks Payable to “Good Shepherd Congregation”

mail to 4707 W. Pratt Ave Lincolnwood, Il 60712

Regional Coordinator: Lorena Nabua, mw@nafconusa.org, (224) 678 – 3415

Nor Cal: Checks Payable to “FOCUS-Filipino Community Support”

mail to 4681 Mission St. San Francisco, Ca 94112

Regional Coordinator: Angelica Cabande nc@nafconusa.org, (415) 946 – 9904

So Cal:  Checks Payable to “Tulong Sa Bayan (TSB)”

mail to: 519 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013

Regional Coordinator: Alex Montances, sc@nafconusa.org, (253) 381 – 7444

North West: Checks Payable to “Pinay Sa Seattle”

mail to 5740 Martin Luther King Junior Way  Seattle, WA 98118

Regional Coordinator: Freedom Siyam, nw@nafconusa.org, (206) 659 – 1130

For more information on fundraising and relief activities in your area please contact NAFCON regional coordinators nearest you. ###

December 18, 2011

Contact: Terry Valen NAFCON President

415.333.6267 / info@nafconusa.org

NAFCON Affirms its Commitment to Stand With All Filipino Migrants on International Migrants Day

More than four thousand Filipinos leave the Philippines everyday in search of work to support themselves and their families. Most often, the costs of emigrating totals over several thousands of dollars including airfare, government fees, and at times, payments to recruiters who promise assistance in finding work, training and obtaining the appropriate legal documentation.

Many Filipinos leave the Philippines, arrive in the U.S. and consider themselves lucky believing in the promise of greater opportunity and better work conditions associated with the mystique of the “American Dream.” Yet day by day, stories of Filipinos encountering horrifying experiences chasing this “American Dream” surface, highlighting a major problem facing migrants.

One example is the story of the Florida 15, a group of Filipino workers recruited by Sun Villa Ship Management Co. in Manila to work as hotel housekeepers in Florida. After paying exorbitant fees up to $300,000, they arrived in Florida where no jobs were available for them. In addition their visa and extensions were kept from them making them unable to renew their immigration papers on time resulting in their loss of legal status.

Migrants Struggle Throughout the U.S. and the World

Tragic experiences of Filipino migrants like the Florida 15, that are victims of scams, exploitation, and/or mistreatment are widespread throughout the world and particularly in the U.S. Many of them also end up undocumented, unemployed, indebted and desperately seeking ways to support their families back home.

Examples of these experiences include many who the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) support in their struggles for justice such as the Sentosa 27++ in New York, the Adman 11 in Los Angeles, the Arizona 34, the hundreds of teachers in Prince George County, Maryland, the over 12,000 workers in the Northern Marianas Islands and the countless Filipino caregivers and domestic workers facing slave-like work conditions and wage theft whose stories are still left untold.

Root Causes of the Migrants Struggle

“At the root of the problem is the Philippine Government and its continuation of the Labor Export Program (LEP) which generates millions in remittances that band aid a bleeding economy. There is also the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), a department under the Philippine government, allowing recruitment agencies to actively participate in trafficking Filipino people,” says Terry Valen, NAFCON President.

A particular example that substantiates Valen’s implication of the POEA’s role in human trafficking is the case of the Los Angeles Adman 11 where the agency involved was a government-registered and authorized recruitment entity. One obvious motive for government officials to look the other way or act in collusion is of course the profitability and payback of providing low cost and easily exploitable labor to U.S. based businesses.

NAFCON Stands With Migrants

To combat the widespread issues that face Filipino migrants both in the U.S. and throughout the world, NAFCON actively organizes migrants and campaigns to expose the failure of the Philippine government to deal with the root causes of the migrant workers’ problems.

On one hand NAFCON calls on the government to scrap the LEP and instead focus on creating jobs at home through genuine industrialization by harnessing the vast abundance of natural resources in the Philippines.

On the other hand NAFCON calls on Aquino to crackdown on the POEA’s role in fostering human trafficking as well as increase the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) resources to better enable them to assist the hundreds of thousands of migrants in distress.

For Filipino migrants residing in the U.S., NAFCON affirms the basic human right of all people to keep their families united, earn a decent living, and work hard to support their loved ones regardless of immigration status. NAFCON stands behind the over one million undocumented migrant Filipinos in the U.S. and calls on the American government to provide “Legalization for All!”

“America should stop investing its efforts in breaking up families and criminalizing hard working Filipinos. Instead it should focus its attention on stopping the real criminals, both in the Philippines and in the U.S., who participate in human trafficking and wage exploitation,” continued Valen.

To honor and celebrate Filipino migrants on International Migrants Day, NAFCON will be hosting activities throughout the U.S. For more information on these activities please contact the various regional coordinators listed below.

Southern California      Alex Montances      sc@nafconusa.org

Northern California      Angelica Cabande   nc@nafconusa.org

North East                      Michelle Saulon      ne@nafconusa.org

Midwest                          Lorena Nabua         mw@nafconusa.org

North West                    Freedom Siyam       nw@nafconusa.org

Mabuhay ang Manggagawang Pilipino at Mabuhay ang Migranteng Pilipino!###

Contact: Annie Sayo
NAFCON Nor Cal Regional Coordinator
(408) 637–0547

San Francisco, CA- Following a week of community actions in support of JB, he was unsure whether or not he would be in San Francisco watching the Pacquiao-Marquez fight with family and friends, or on a long plane ride back to the Philippines; a place he hasn’t called home in over 15 years.

Upon hearing about JB’s case, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) coordinated intense advocacy efforts in partnership with JB’s friends, family, and many other community groups like Student Advocates for Higher Education (SAHE) and Justice and Immigrants in San Jose urging Senator Feinstein and other government officials to act on his behalf.

NAFCON hosted a press conference, made hundreds of phone calls and faxes to government officials, offered services through Migrant Heritage Center’s Atty. Arnedo Valera, and sent out online petitions to stop his deportation, which led to Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Dianne Feinstein writing letters of support for JB to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Finally, while at the airport ready to check in for his flight to the Philippines, JB was notified at the very last moment that he would be allowed to stay in the U.S.

“I’d like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart, especially NAFCON, and Change.org, because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have this exposure,” JB said. The publicity and mobilization around JB’s case proved to be the difference, especially after all his legal battles and an employer petition were exhausted.

“We were very fortunate in JB’s case that coordinated community mobilization turned the tide for one California Dreamer,” said Terrence Valen, NAFCON President. “Unfortunately, with no action from the Philippine government, including the local Philippine consulate, over 1 million Filipinos in the U.S. suffer the indignity of being here without status, many driven out of the Philippines by a Labor Export Policy that exploits the vulnerability of migrants like JB and their families.”

Valen called for sustained action in JB’s case and those of other Dreamers and undocumented migrants, saying, “All of us who supported JB should continue to work together for comprehensive immigration reform so that all hard working Filipinos and other immigrants like JB can stay in the U.S. legally and not be treated inhumanely.”

NAFCON urges the entire community to continue calling DHS, Senator Feinstein, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and ICE to allow JB to stay indefinitely, and implement the June 17 Morton Memorandum immediately for all similar cases.

With this victory, NAFCON reiterates its call for “Full Legalization for All,” affirming that laws in this country must not criminalize nor persecute immigrants, but instead protect them as they seek better lives for themselves and their families and contribute positively to this country.

For more info on NAFCON or JB’s case please contact Annie Sayo, NAFCON NorCal Regional Coordinator at (408) 637-0547 or go to www.nafconusa.org.

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