Hundreds Flock to Support Nurses at Philippine Independence Day Parade; Actions Set for San Francisco, Chicago
News Release
June 7, 2007
New York-- The Filipino health workers campaigning for justice known as the Sentosa 27++ marched down the Philippine Independence Day Parade along Madison Avenue last Sunday in a colorful hundreds-strong contingent of Filipino families well-received by loud applause by parade watchers from the sidewalks.
The Sentosa 27++ Nurses are campaigning for justice against their illegal recruitment by Sentosa Care LLC, a major healthcare management company in New York that recruits health workers from the Philippines. The health workers, along with the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) launched a national week of action in pursuit of their demands last Sunday in New York City during the Philippine Independence Day Celebration (PIDC). Solidarity events for the Sentosa nurses are also set to take place this same week in San Francisco, Chicago, and elsewhere.
Under the banner of NAFCON, a nationwide coalition of Filipino-American organizations spanning 23 US cities, the campaign calling attention to the reality of fraudulent contractualization of Filipino labor and the plight of Filipino healthcare professionals abused and maltreated took center stage with a Justice for Sentosa 27++ parade contingent that marched down during the largest annual gathering of Filipinos in the entire East Coast.
"We are here to support our nurses, to call attention to their reality of their abuse and victimization, and to demand justice and protection from companies such as the Sentosa Recruitment Agency," stated Rico Foz, Executive Vice President of NAFCON.
Supporting organizations that marched with the nurses include the Philippine Forum, Anakbayan Filipino Youth Collective, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FIRE), Lakas Diwa Filipino Community Alliance of New Jersey, Movement for a Free Philippines, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Migrante International, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) . The contingent was also marked by the presence of two giant puppets-- one a Filipina nurse, and the other a personification of Inang Bayan (the Motherland).
Other calls and chants of various social concerns projected by the NAFCON contingent included a call for legalization of all undocumented Filipino immigrants, a call to continue with a second investigation for Filipino domestic worker Felisa "Fely" Garcia, and even Philippine-based social concerns, such as "No to Election Fraud and Violence" and "Stop the Political Killings".
Culminating in a halt in front of the main grandstand, the contingent was met with a standing ovation and applause by community members and even by members of the Philippine Independence Day Committee and representatives from the Philippine Consulate. The Philippine Forum-NAFCON contingent, which was the biggest group that marched was judged as the most spirited parade participant by parade organizers.
Upon the conclusion of the parade, participants flocked to the endpoint - a Filipino community festival along Madison Square Park in lower Manhattan. The Justice for Sentosa 27++ contingent set up a table where they gathered hundreds more signatures in support of their campaign. An online petition available at www.petitiononline.com/j4s27 has already garnered over 1100 signatures worldwide. Among the community supporters that stopped by the table to signify their support were leaders of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), who also came to signify their support of the nurses' cause.
"The outpour of support for our campaign has been overwhelming and keeps growing nationwide and worldwide. It is clearly a deep issue not only the Filipino community can keep silent about," stated Alipio Esguerra, a former Sentosa nurse from the Philippines who marched with his young children during the PIDC.
The Sentosa 27++ gained recognition for speaking out against their plight of illegal recruitment by the Sentosa Recruitment Agency in Manila last year. After suffering from false contracts, abuse, and withholding of wages, the 27 individually resigned from their posts. Sentosa, and its owner Bent Philipson, retaliated by filing civil and criminal charges for patient abandonment and endangerment, despite claims by the 27 that they did not walk-out on their patients or threaten their security.
After hiring a lawyer, the original Sentosa 27 came forward with their stories after initial legal paths to justice were obstructed by political interference by elected officials in New York and the Philippines. Among the demands of the campaign are immediate dropping of all criminal and civil charges against the nurses, immediate compensation of all backwages, and an investigation of Sentosa against laws outlawing human trafficking and involuntary servitude.
"It is with mixed emotions that I join the Filipino-American community in commemorating Philippine Independence Day today," stated Sentosa 27++ lawyer Felix Vinluan, also faced with charges by Philipson after assisting the nurses in their class suit for on the basis of anti-immigrant workplace discrimination. "Look at our children, waving our Philippine flag. At the same time, look at their t-shirts emblazoned with the words: Justice for Sentosa 27+", and listen to their shouts of "Shut down Sentosa!". Our own children demand that our Philippine government be independent and not kowtow to the foreign masters of Sentosa Recruitment Agency. In this light, I join the call for the POEA to reinstate Sentosa's suspension order. In the same vein, I call on our fellow Filipinos to come out into the open, and emulate the nurses from the NY State Nurses Association and the American Nurses Association who have joined us in this march and have come out openly with their statement of support for the victims of Sentosa's fraudulent and discriminatory employment practices.
"The original Sentosa 27 quickly expanded in number as more former Sentosa contract workers are coming forward with their stories of abuse and maltreatment at the hands of the large healthcare company.
A public information campaign with basic facts is accessible at www.justiceforsentosa27.blogspot.com
A march for justice for the Sentosa 27++ in New York City is also scheduled for Tuesday, July 3rd, 5pm. It is being organized by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns.
For more information, contact the Philippine Forum at 718-565-8862 or email philforum96@yahoo.com. ###
Friday, June 8, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Fil-Am Groups Laud Sentosa 27 for Fighting Injustice
News Release
May 8, 2007
International Campaign, Online Petition Launches on National Nurses Week
New York - At the end of an intensely emotional town hall meeting at the Philippine Forum headquarters last Sunday evening, individuals and groups officially kicked off National Nurses week in the United States with vows to clear the 27 former Sentosa-employed health workers, including one of their lawyers, Atty. Felix Vinluan, from all criminal and civil charges filed against them by the former, officially registered as Sentosa Care LLC and its various health care facilities in New York.
The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), a national alliance of Filipino organizations in the US with international networks, is spearheading the "Justice for the Sentosa 27" campaign along with said healthworkers that also aims to collect unpaid overtime and back wages due the Sentosa refused to release, have the State of New York investigate the agency's overseas hiring and work operations, and have US Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat of New York and Philippine senatorial candidate Michael Defensor to explain their roles in the lifting of the suspension of the Sentosa license in Philippines two weeks after it was ordered by the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency (POEA).
An online petition outlining these demands can be found at www.petitiononline.com/j4s27/.
"We arrived in New York in November, in the cold season. We were brought to the staff house where we were stay for two months for free and save money we need when we move to an apartment. When we got there, Dr. Jacinto (the famous top notcher doctor-turned-top notcher nurse) and I shared the room with other Filipino nurses. We took turns sleeping on the bed and on the floor. It wasn't comfortable, but I didn't complain. I told myself, if Dr. Jacinto who topped the board exams is not complaining, I shouldn't be complaining," said Mark dela Cruz, also a nurse-turned-doctor who revealed that he was assigned to handle 100 patients by himself throughout his shift.
NAFCON hailed the "Sentosa 27", as the health workers are now called, for "standing up to Goliath" in the defense of their rights as immigrant workers and as Filipinos. Stories of how Filipino workers, particularly health professionals, suffer in the hands of their employers in the United States circulate from time to time.
"For the first time, health professionals bravely came out to fight for what is right. To defend not only their dignity but that of the Filipino people in the US," community lawyer Merit Salud said in his statement of support to the Sentosa 27.
The World Health Organization has cited the Philippines as the "largest source of registered nurses working overseas". They also cite that there are about 15,000 nurses who leave the Philippines annually to be farmed in 30 different countries. The United States remains to top destination for Filipino nurses, who train aggressively under the Philippine government's Labor Export Policy (LEP).
"We are launching this campaign with our international friends to expose failures in the US government's domestic policies on immigration and labor and the Philippine government's domestic policies in outmigration and protecting the basic rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers," stated Berna Ellorin, Special Commissioner on Philippine Affairs for NAFCON and secretary-general of BAYAN USA.
International carriers of the "Justice for the Sentosa 27" campaign include the Philippine-based Alliance of Health Workers, Migrante International, Health Alliance for Democracy, and BAYAN Philippines. US-based carriers include labor groups as well as Filipino-American groups spanning over 23 cities under NAFCON.
Philippine Forum conferred the "Gawad Bulosan (Bulosan Award)" to the Sentosa 27 "for their bravery and courage" to fight for their rights as immigrant workers. The award is given annually in honor of Filipino immigrant worker Carlos Bulosan who became a celebrated writer/activist in the United States in the 1930s and 40s.
Sen. Schumer wrote the Philippines Government after the Order for Preventive Suspension was given to the Sentosa Recruitment Agency, the Philippine branch of Sentosa Care Group. Acting on the US senator's letter, the aspiring Philippine senator Defensor called POEA administrator Rosalinda Baldoz. The "Sentosa 27" acquired copies/records of said correspondences.
"We came to America, like most Filipinos, in search of the better life," Maricelle Dealo said to stress that what they found out as soon as they arrived in New York to work for the Sentosa facilities was exactly the opposite.
The next public campaign meeting for the Sentosa 27 is this Sunday, May 13th, 5pm at the Philippine Forum office at 54-05 Seabury Street, in Elmhurst. (Take V/G/R to Grand Ave/Newtown).
For more information on the Justice for the Sentosa 27 campaign, email: justice4sentosanurses@yahoo.com or call 718-565-8862. ###
May 8, 2007
International Campaign, Online Petition Launches on National Nurses Week
New York - At the end of an intensely emotional town hall meeting at the Philippine Forum headquarters last Sunday evening, individuals and groups officially kicked off National Nurses week in the United States with vows to clear the 27 former Sentosa-employed health workers, including one of their lawyers, Atty. Felix Vinluan, from all criminal and civil charges filed against them by the former, officially registered as Sentosa Care LLC and its various health care facilities in New York.
The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), a national alliance of Filipino organizations in the US with international networks, is spearheading the "Justice for the Sentosa 27" campaign along with said healthworkers that also aims to collect unpaid overtime and back wages due the Sentosa refused to release, have the State of New York investigate the agency's overseas hiring and work operations, and have US Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat of New York and Philippine senatorial candidate Michael Defensor to explain their roles in the lifting of the suspension of the Sentosa license in Philippines two weeks after it was ordered by the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency (POEA).
An online petition outlining these demands can be found at www.petitiononline.com/j4s27/.
"We arrived in New York in November, in the cold season. We were brought to the staff house where we were stay for two months for free and save money we need when we move to an apartment. When we got there, Dr. Jacinto (the famous top notcher doctor-turned-top notcher nurse) and I shared the room with other Filipino nurses. We took turns sleeping on the bed and on the floor. It wasn't comfortable, but I didn't complain. I told myself, if Dr. Jacinto who topped the board exams is not complaining, I shouldn't be complaining," said Mark dela Cruz, also a nurse-turned-doctor who revealed that he was assigned to handle 100 patients by himself throughout his shift.
NAFCON hailed the "Sentosa 27", as the health workers are now called, for "standing up to Goliath" in the defense of their rights as immigrant workers and as Filipinos. Stories of how Filipino workers, particularly health professionals, suffer in the hands of their employers in the United States circulate from time to time.
"For the first time, health professionals bravely came out to fight for what is right. To defend not only their dignity but that of the Filipino people in the US," community lawyer Merit Salud said in his statement of support to the Sentosa 27.
The World Health Organization has cited the Philippines as the "largest source of registered nurses working overseas". They also cite that there are about 15,000 nurses who leave the Philippines annually to be farmed in 30 different countries. The United States remains to top destination for Filipino nurses, who train aggressively under the Philippine government's Labor Export Policy (LEP).
"We are launching this campaign with our international friends to expose failures in the US government's domestic policies on immigration and labor and the Philippine government's domestic policies in outmigration and protecting the basic rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers," stated Berna Ellorin, Special Commissioner on Philippine Affairs for NAFCON and secretary-general of BAYAN USA.
International carriers of the "Justice for the Sentosa 27" campaign include the Philippine-based Alliance of Health Workers, Migrante International, Health Alliance for Democracy, and BAYAN Philippines. US-based carriers include labor groups as well as Filipino-American groups spanning over 23 cities under NAFCON.
Philippine Forum conferred the "Gawad Bulosan (Bulosan Award)" to the Sentosa 27 "for their bravery and courage" to fight for their rights as immigrant workers. The award is given annually in honor of Filipino immigrant worker Carlos Bulosan who became a celebrated writer/activist in the United States in the 1930s and 40s.
Sen. Schumer wrote the Philippines Government after the Order for Preventive Suspension was given to the Sentosa Recruitment Agency, the Philippine branch of Sentosa Care Group. Acting on the US senator's letter, the aspiring Philippine senator Defensor called POEA administrator Rosalinda Baldoz. The "Sentosa 27" acquired copies/records of said correspondences.
"We came to America, like most Filipinos, in search of the better life," Maricelle Dealo said to stress that what they found out as soon as they arrived in New York to work for the Sentosa facilities was exactly the opposite.
The next public campaign meeting for the Sentosa 27 is this Sunday, May 13th, 5pm at the Philippine Forum office at 54-05 Seabury Street, in Elmhurst. (Take V/G/R to Grand Ave/Newtown).
For more information on the Justice for the Sentosa 27 campaign, email: justice4sentosanurses@yahoo
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