Photos by: Filipino Migrant Workers' Union - Hong Kong (FMWU-HK)@

Sympathy for the victims poured, reflections on the tragedy were expressed, the call for justice ruled, and people’s solidarity resounded.

It was supposed to be the 12th anniversary celebration of the Filipino Migrant Workers’ Union (FMWU). But as tragedy struck more than 20 Hong Kong Chinese tourists in what is now known as the Quirino Bloodbath, the FMWU decided to offer the day for the hostage-taking victims and for the Filipino migrant workers and Hong Kong Chinese people to express their sentiments on the condemnable conduct of the Philippine police and government that led to the death of eight hostages and serious trauma to the survivors.

Together with Filipino organizations such as United Filipinos in Hong Kong – MIGRANTE, BAYAN-HK, and the women’s group GABRIELA-HK, the whole-day program was designed in order to extend the Filipino migrant workers’ condolences to the victims, give an opportunity for the migrant workers to ponder on how and why the tragedy occurred, highlight the  overwhelming call for justice and show that people’s solidarity is paramount at this time when both Filipinos and the Hong Kong people are in grief and indignant.

Local Hong Kong organizations and regional groups such as the HK Justice and Peace Commission of the HK Catholic Diocese (HKJP), HK Catholic Commission for Labour Affairs (HKCCLA), HK Christian Council (HKCC), Association for the Advancement of Feminism (AAF), World Student Christian Federation – Asia Pacific (WSCF-AP)and the Asia-Pacific Students and Youth Association (ASA) readily expressed their support to co-organize the People’s Vigil for Justice and Solidarity that shall be the culminating event of the day.

A Day of Sympathy and Reflection

In the morning, Filipino religious leaders from Christian churches and the Moslem community led more than a thousand Filipino migrants for an Interfaith Gathering to offer solemn and heartfelt prayers for the victims. This was then followed by a Public Speak Out where Filipino migrant workers freely expressed their views on the August 23 tragedy, what they felt as they saw, read and heard of the events, and why justice and solidarity should be advanced.

The scorching heat of the noonday sun did not stop ordinary Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from expressing their dismay and anger at the ineptitude of the Philippine authorities in handling the crisis. Their testimonies on how their employers and the Hong Kong public took offense on the actions and statements of President Noynoy Aquino himself during and after the crisis fueled their grave disappointment at how insensitive the government was to the plight of migrants who were equally incensed but also, at the same time, anxious at how the anger of the Hong Kong people could impact them.

Speakers in the program delivered clear messages that Filipino migrants reflected on.

The tragedy did not only show the inability of Philippine authorities to resolve such crisis. Running even deeper was the systemic issue of how the Philippine Police and even the whole Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) do not put protecting lives and upholding human rights as topmost concerns in their actions. The orientation and training of these institutions of the Philippine government were not directed towards service to the people but towards repression and wanton disregard of people’s rights. As one migrant worker succinctly quipped, “they were ready and equipped to massacre peasants and farm workers in Hacienda Luisita but were incapable of saving hostages.”

The state of human rights in the country was further highlighted by the poems written and read by poet-peasant activist Axel Pinpin who was himself a victim of police brutality and repression. Renowned late labour leader Crispin Beltran – whose life of fighting against injustices and for human rights was narrated in the book simply titled “Ka Bel” – was also commemorated. Meanwhile, Filipino migrant workers also expressed their views on various human rights themes through their own poems they made that day.

The Public Speak Out then proceeded with more testimonies and messages. A Filipino lawyer and human rights activist said that another tragedy that the recent events showed was that the system that exists in the Philippines is one where the people are forced to extreme actions just so their grievances can be heard by the government who supposedly has a duty to listen and act when the people speak. An ordinary migrant worker also lambasted the “To Serve and Protect” slogan of the Philippine Police as an empty rhetoric given the various crimes police officers have been implicated in. As what another OFW said, “if this is really true, why do we cringe when we see them?”

In between testimonies and messages, cultural presentations further impressed the messages that the program wished to convey. LIKHA Filipino Migrants Cultural Organization interpreted the songs Manggagawa (Workers) and Pahayagan (Newspaper) that showed the oppression against workers and repression against the people. A mix of progressive and popular songs appropriate for the day’s theme were rendered and taught to the migrant workers present.

Even before the People’s Vigil started, some Hong Kong Chinese already joined the program and expressed their views. A group of former university students, who heard of Filipinos receiving the unfortunate backlash of the tragedy and decided to rove around Central to express their love and support for Filipinos through songs, also took part in the program and sang The Beatles popular hit “Imagine”.

A Day for Solidarity and Justice

At around 5:00pm, the crowd already swelled to a couple of thousands. By the time the People’s Vigil started at 6:00pm, a sea of more than 10,000 people – mostly in black, wearing white ribbons, sitting on the road or standing on the pavements - covered the stretch of Chater Road where the program was held. Many Hong Kong Chinese who joined the 80,000-strong march led by members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) earlier that day proceeded to join the vigil and sat and stood side-by-side with the OFWs.

The vigil, conducted in English and Chinese, started with a song of tribute to the victims. Local Hong Kong Chinese took turns in condemning the tragedy and President Aquino’s leadership and inactions actions in such a time of crisis. Doris Lee of the Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC), Elizabeth But from HKCCLA, Eric Lai of the Chinese University Students Union (CUSU) and Mabel Au of the AAF all spoke against the handling of the hostage crisis but also raised their concerns to the spate of human rights violations committed by the Philippine government, the police and the AFP against the people in the Philippines. They hit the prevailing culture of impunity also shown by the lack of accountability and responsibility by Philippine authorities over the botched rescue operation.

In their message, LegCo members Hon. Lee Cheuk-Yan and Hon. Cyd Ho stressed to their compatriots that migrant Filipinos should not be the target of the people’s anger but the system and governance that led to such a tragedy. They said that Filipino migrants are also victims of the system of corruption and low regard for human rights in the Philippines. They called for the Hong Kong people to spare Filipino migrants from actions that they deem express their sentiments. This was warmly welcomed by the audience while OFW leaders also pledged to stand guard against such actions.

The community prayer was led by Rev. Phyllis Wong of the Kowloon Union Church, Sr. Maria Salome Moe from the Catholic Church and Ptr. Joram Calimutan of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

To show their grief and drumbeat the call for justice, Filipino and Hong Kong Chinese who joined the vigil signed the huge banner bearing the message of condolence and for justice with their own messages and names. Lit candles and flowers were put around the banner while the songs Let There Be Peace and Bridge Over Troubled Water were sang in the background. A rousing rendition of “We Shall Overcome” closed the historic event.

The show of solidarity between the Filipinos and the Hong Kong Chinese people was astounding.

Leaders and members of the HK Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) thanked the organizing groups for the event as it overwhelmingly showed the solidarity of the Filipino people to the people of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong workers signed the condolence banner en masse as they expressed the uplifting of their spirits at the show of support and solidarity by the Filipino community.

Filipinos present shook the hands and also thanked speakers from the Hong Kong Chinese groups for their messages. One OFW said that what they said and the solidarity shown banished her fears of racial backlash against Filipinos that many others shared because of irresponsible rumors. Another Filipino worker relayed that her employer, upon seeing her presence in the vigil, even called her up in the middle of the program to express his appreciation and urged her to finish the program. Still another OFW relayed that she was allowed by her employer to go to the People’s Vigil even if it was not supposed to be her day off.

One OFW also said that after the August 23 tragedy, her employer stopped talking to her. But after her employer saw the huge OFW turnout at the People’s Vigil on the television, their warm relationship resumed. Truly the message that the People’s Vigil aimed to relay reached the Hong Kong public.

A Day to Remember, A Day of Hope

The day’s events showed that Filipinos do share the grief of the Hong Kong people over the death of their compatriots.

It also showed that Filipino migrant workers also do question the system that paved the way for such a tragedy to occur.

Filipino workers also share the call for justice – justice to the victims of the hostage-taking crisis and justice to those who have been victimized by a system that breeds human rights violations. It is on this call that Filipino migrant workers are in solidarity with the Hong Kong people and shall continue to push until achieved by the victims, the Hong Kong people, the OFWs and the Filipino people.

The August 29 program carried the theme A Day of Sympathy and Reflections, A Day for Justice and Solidarity. Indeed, it was.

For Filipino migrant workers and the Hong Kong Chinese people, it was a day to remember. It was also a day filled with hopes to live by in the future.

For more info: E-mail: fmwu.hk@gmail.com Hint: Click at any image above to display it in its full size. Hover your mouse pointer over the full-size image and then click at any side arrow that appears or rotate your mousewheel to scroll to the next full-size image.

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