Damayan and Students of Barnard College Successfully Launch Pandemic Tales Report With 150 Attendees

To kick off the tenth year anniversary of its anti-trafficking campaign, Baklas: Break Free From Labor Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery, Damayan launched the report, Pandemic Tales: Uplifting the Voices and Organizing of Filipino Migrant Workers, last weekend. Damayan members and labor trafficking survivors, Board members, organizers, and Barnard College professor of history Premilla Nadasen and her students presented the report through an online event attended by more than 150 participants, amplifying the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Damayan members and Filipino migrant workers in NY and NJ.

Damayan Board Chair Rose Alovera shared the importance of the collaboration between Damayan and Barnard, and Premilla Nadasen explained how the collaboration came to be. Barnard students shared their reflections about the collaboration and presented the impact of the pandemic on Filipino migrant workers, specifically the worsened physical, mental and emotional health, increased unemployment and labor exploitation, reduced remittances, transnational support, and changed family life. Damayan members and labor trafficking survivors Alfred, Joyce and Bainie delivered testimonies about their hardships during the pandemic and how Damayan supported them.

“It was February 22, 2020, when the owner of the (hotel) emailed all of us that we will be closed until further notice. Everyone was shocked...The first thing I was so worried about was how can I buy food and pay rent. Good thing Damayan had the care package project at that time,” said Joyce.

Damayan lead organizer Riya Ortiz presented how, through organizing, Damayan provided life saving food and financial assistance to compensate for the government’s failure to provide Filipino migrant workers, especially the undocumented, pandemic relief and unemployment insurance. Damayan worker leader Jhean Basco, who was integral to delivering critical services during the pandemic, shared, “Each time, I made sure people feel they are not alone. I listen carefully and put myself into their shoes.”

Damayan executive director Linda Oalican delivered Damayan’s demands towards the City and State of New York to allocate tax dollars to meet basic needs of undocumented folks, implement hazard pay for domestic workers, and regularize an Excluded Workers Fund in the budget. Oalican also made specific policy demands toward the US Departments of State and Labor, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the Philippine Consulate in New York to use this moment in history to make systemic change in the fight against labor trafficking and modern slavery.

The presentations were followed by a lively question and answer and capped by an online community karaoke and line dancing.

Many thanks to Premilla Nadasen and the Barnard students for collaborating on this report. Thank you, also, to Damayan’s friends, supporters, coalition partners, and funders, and Barnard and Columbia faculty, students, family, and friends for attending.

Please read the full report on the Damayan website: damayanmigrants.org/reports

As part of Baklas’ tenth year anniversary, please also join us for the online premiere of the film about Sherile, a Damayan member and domestic worker trafficked by her German diplomat employers, on Saturday, May 8, 6:00-8:30pm ET. Please click this link to register: bit.ly/Baklas-Film-Series-Sherile.