Photo Essay: India’s Rural Health Workers Fell Ill As Workload Spiked During Pandemic

Sanket Jain April 19, 2022 Sanket Jain Admin, Archives, Asia

More than 3,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) protested in the city of Kolhapur India's Maharashtra state on October 26 after several of their demands, such as the legal status of full-time workers, better working conditions, adequate pay, medical insurance, and others, weren’t met / credit: Sanket Jain — More than 3,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) protested in the city of Kolhapur in India’s Maharashtra state on October 26 after several of their demands, such as the legal status of full-time workers, better working conditions, adequate pay, medical insurance, and others, weren’t met / credit: Sanket Jain

Prajakta Khade walked into a public health center daily for three months in early 2021, without ever receiving medical care. The healthcare worker’s 26 notebooks—containing more than 3,000 pages of community health records—point to why she couldn’t seek treatment for her ailments. She was simply too busy.

In March 2020, India’s health ministry tasked 1 million Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) like Khade with COVID-19 duty in rural areas. This, in a country where 65 percent of its 1.38 billion people live outside cities. Suddenly, ASHAs’ workload increased exponentially. Yet, they remain underpaid and now suffer stress-related chronic ailments.

“If a positive case was found in the area, we had to visit the patient, contact trace, arrange medical facilities, measure their oxygen and temperature levels daily, and ensure they complete quarantine,” Khade explained about the added duties to treat the infectious respiratory disease. But all Khade was given to do her job in the assigned area in India’s Maharashtra state was a single N95 mask and 200 milliliters of sanitizer.

ASHAs, an all-women healthcare cadre, remain the foot soldiers of India’s rural healthcare. One worker is appointed for every 1,000 citizens under India’s 2005 National Rural Health Mission. ASHAs are responsible for more than 70 tasks, including providing first-contact healthcare, counsel regarding birth preparedness, and pre- and post-natal care. Plus, they help the population access public healthcare and ensure universal immunization, among other things.

The World Health Organization announced a pandemic in March 2020. But in many countries, lack of adequate healthcare and no social safety nets amid lockdowns wrecked the lives of ordinary people. In India, for example, an additional 150 million to 199 million people are expected to enter poverty in 2021 and 2022.

Chronic Illnesses Spike

One day about a year ago, while surveying people in her village of Vhannur in India’s Maharashtra state, 40-year-old Khade felt dizzy. But she couldn’t take a break. “At one point, my face was swollen, and I could barely see anything.” It turned out her blood pressure level had surged to 252/180 mmHg (millimeter of Mercury), much higher than the standard limit of 120/80. That is how she got diagnosed with hypertension.

However, a month’s worth of medications didn’t help because she continued to experience stress as her workload increased. Senior officials at the health center had early on issued an order to submit patient records daily by noon.

ASHAs, who aren’t considered full-time workers, receive performance-based incentives paid on the number of tasks completed. “For COVID duty, the government decided our worth as merely 33 Indian Rupees per day (43 U.S. cents),” she said. “We received this amount only for three months in the past two years.”

Moreover, during the peak of COVID-19 cases in 2021, salaries for Maharashtra’s ASHAs were delayed by five months, according to Khade. Netradipa Patil, an ASHA from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district and leader of a union that represents more than 3,000 ASHAs, confirmed this.

One day last year, Khade’s supervisor asked for a list of hypertension and diabetes patients from her village of about 1,200 people—at 10 o’clock at night.

“How could I survey the entire community in the night?” she asked.

Often, such orders meant skipping lunch and staying hungry for 11 hours at a stretch. ASHAs worked four hours prior to the pandemic. Now, 12-hour days are normal.

When medications didn’t help, Khade consulted two private doctors. “After six months of hassle, the doctor doubled my dose to 50 milligrams.” Khade lost over 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of weight and was placed on medications to address anxiety. Even today, she suffers from fatigue.

“I was never this weak,” she asserted.

Chronic diseases among ASHAs are rising rapidly because of the workload, says Patil. “We protect the entire community, but there’s no one to look after our health.” ASHAs in Maharashtra, she says, average a monthly income of Rs 3,500 to 5,000 ($45 to $66 USD).

This reporter spoke to ASHAs’ senior officials from Maharashtra’s Kagal block. (In India, a cluster of villages form a block and several blocks form a district. Vhannur village is in the Kagal block of Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district.) Senior officials said they are not responsible for ASHAs’ deteriorating mental and physical health, and pointed to the Indian government’s order to submit data. The officials didn’t want to be named. Instead, they relayed that they also are overworked.

“ASHAs do the majority of the health department’s work, and they are massively underpaid for their duty,” said Dr. Jessica Andrews, a medical officer at Kolhapur’s Shiroli Primary Health Center. She has been handling mental health cases. “Without them, the health system will collapse.”

‘Not Treated As Humans’

Several ASHAs across India have worked for over a year without a break. One of them is Pushpavati Sutar, 46, diagnosed with hypotension (low blood pressure) and diabetes within seven months of COVID-19 duty in November 2020. Like Khade, she experienced constant spells of dizziness.

“Often, there was fake news of community COVID transmission in my area,” she said.

Every day, senior officials at the health center hounded her to find more details about such instances.

An ASHA for 13 years, she’s never made an error in her surveys and was sure of no community transmission. “After investigating, I found that the accused was COVID negative. Instead, two of his relatives were positive.”

She had to clear such misconceptions almost every day, answer senior officials’ questions, collect records and perform her regular duty. “For several days, I couldn’t sleep,” she remembered.

Further, fearing COVID-19 guidelines and quarantine rules, community members began demanding ASHAs hide COVID-19 cases. “People even accused us of spreading COVID as we would survey the entire village,” Sutar recounted. Moreover, she said senior officials asked ASHAs to visit the families of COVID-19 patients—instead of allowing data collection over the phone—putting them at risk of infection.

“At several places, there have been instances of community violence, where ASHAs were beaten up,” said Patil, who has filed legal complaints on behalf of the assaulted workers and is helping them mentally recover.

Kolhapur’s ASHA union has written to several government authorities, including Maharashtra’s chief minister and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the mental toll of COVID-19 duty. Still, none of their letters have garnered a helpful response.

“Forget adequate pay,” said Khade, as she continued surveying, juggling between completing her task and trying to keep her mind at ease. “We are not even treated as humans.”

ASHA Rehana Mujawar from Maharashtra’s Tardal village shows the COVID records she has to fill every day by visiting her community of over 1000 members / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA Rehana Mujawar, of Maharashtra’s Tardal village, shows COVID-19 records she is required to fill out every day by visiting her community of more than 1,000 members / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA workers Rekha Dorugade and Mandakini Kodak trekking the Dhangarwada hill to complete their survey, a steep patch of five kilometers in Kolhapur’s Pernoli village / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA workers Rekha Dorugade and Mandakini Kodak trekking the Dhangarwada hill to complete their survey, a steep patch of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) in Kolhapur’s Pernoli village / credit: Sanket Jain

An ASHA worker took a selfie as part of their protest on 21 July 2021 in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur city / credit: Sanket Jain — An ASHA worker took a selfie as part of their protest on July 21 in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur city / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA workers protesting outside the district collector’s office in Kolhapur city with placards mentioning their workload. In the center with a red saree is ASHA union leader Netradipa Patil, who has been fighting for better working conditions for over a decade / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA workers protest outside the district collector’s office in Kolhapur city with placards mentioning their workload. In the center, wearing a red saree, is ASHA union leader Netradipa Patil, who has been fighting for better working conditions for over a decade / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHAs across India have been protesting for better pay, the status of full-time workers, and proper working conditions. However, their protests haven’t seen concrete results yet / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHAs across India have been protesting for better pay, full-time worker status and proper working conditions / credit: Sanket Jain

India merely has 810 district hospitals for 833 million rural people. In mountainous regions like Kolhapur’s Masai Pathar, ASHAs often trek, risking their lives to save pregnant women and make healthcare facilities accessible / credit: Sanket Jain — India has 810 district hospitals for 833 million rural people. In mountainous regions like Kolhapur’s Masai Pathar, ASHAs often trek, risking their lives to save pregnant women and make healthcare facilities accessible / credit: Sanket Jain

An ASHA worker explains breastfeeding and taking care of the newborn to a community woman in Maharashtra’s Khutwad village / credit: Sanket Jain — An ASHA worker explains breastfeeding and taking care of a newborn to a community woman in Maharashtra’s Khutwad village / credit: Sanket Jain

In Kolhapur’s Khutwad village, ASHA Maya Patil informs a migrant sugarcane cutter whose relative gave birth to a child a month ago about postnatal care and how they can avail of the public healthcare facilities / credit: Sanket Jain — In Kolhapur’s Khutwad village, ASHA Maya Patil informs a migrant sugarcane cutter, whose relative gave birth to a child a month prior, about post-natal care and how they can access public healthcare facilities / credit: Sanket Jain

To inspire fellow ASHAs, Netradipa Patil shares a WhatsApp status quoting lyricist and poet Gulzar, “Milta To Bahut Kuch Hai Is Zindagi Me, Bas Ham Ginti Usi Ki Karte Hain, Jo Hasil Na Ho Saka. (We get many things in life, but we only count the things we couldn’t achieve) / credit: Sanket Jain — To inspire fellow ASHAs, Netradipa Patil shares a WhatsApp status quoting lyricist and poet Gulzar: “Milta To Bahut Kuch Hai Is Zindagi Me, Bas Ham Ginti Usi Ki Karte Hain, Jo Hasil Na Ho Saka. (We get many things in life, but we only count the things we couldn’t achieve) / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHAs also distribute iron, calcium, and vitamin tablets, among others, to the community women and children every month. “For distributing these medicines, we’re merely paid Rs 100 (USD 1.3),” says ASHA Netradipa Patil / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHAs also distribute iron, calcium, and vitamin tablets, among others, to community women and children every month. “For distributing these medicines, we’re merely paid Rs 100 ($1.30 USD),” says ASHA Netradipa Patil / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA Prajakta Khade collected the sputum of a patient she suspects to be a Tuberculosis patient / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA Prajakta Khade collected the sputum of a patient she suspects to be a tuberculosis patient / credit: Sanket Jain

“Be it any health record, the health department relies on our surveys and fieldwork,” says Prajakta Khade, who has been an ASHA since 2009 / credit: Sanket Jain — “Be it any health record, the health department relies on our surveys and fieldwork,” says Khade, who has been an ASHA since 2009 / credit: Sanket Jain

Women often share their health and mental issues with ASHA workers as they have built a safe bond over the past decade / credit: Sanket Jain — Women often share their health and mental issues with ASHA workers, as they have built a safe bond over the past decade / credit: Sanket Jain

As part of the Health Ministry’s program of alleviating Non-communicable diseases, ASHAs across Maharashtra are tasked with surveying communities by asking them over 60 questions. “We will merely be paid Rs 5 (0.06 USD) per form for collecting and filling in all the details,” says Khade / credit: Sanket Jain — As part of the Health Ministry’s program of reducing non-communicable diseases, ASHAs across Maharashtra are tasked with surveying communities by asking them more than 60 questions. “We will merely be paid Rs 5 (6 U.S. cents) per form for collecting and filling in all the details,” says Khade / credit: Sanket Jain

A significant part of ASHA Prajakta Khade’s time goes into writing the medical records. “If any record is incomplete, our seniors immediately probe an inquiry, and even the pay is deducted,” she says / credit: Sanket Jain — A significant part of Khade’s time goes into filling out by hand medical records. “If any record is incomplete, our seniors immediately probe an inquiry, and even the pay is deducted,” she says / credit: Sanket Jain

So far, Prajakta Khade has spent over Rs 10000 (USD 131) on doctors, medical tests, and medicines, an equivalent of three months of her salary. “ASHAs don’t receive any health support system from the Government, nor any medical insurance,” she says / credit: Sanket Jain — So far, Khade has spent over Rs 10000 ($131 USD) on doctors, medical tests, and medications, an equivalent of three months of her salary. “ASHAs don’t receive any health support system from the government, nor any medical insurance,” she says / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA Jayashree Khade from Kolhapur’s Vhannur village tested positive for COVID in May 2021. “None of my seniors even once asked about my health. It was only the fellow ASHAs who helped me,” she says / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA Jayashree Khade from Kolhapur’s Vhannur village tested positive for COVID-19 in May 2021. “None of my seniors even once asked about my health. It was only the fellow ASHAs who helped me,” she says / credit: Sanket Jain

Prajakta Khade gives a plastic bottle to a community woman asking her to submit the sputum for tuberculosis detection / credit: Sanket Jain — Prajakta Khade gives a plastic bottle to a community woman asking her to submit sputum for tuberculosis detection / credit: Sanket Jain

Pushpavati Sutar, as part of postnatal visits, often counsels the women on breastfeeding, seeks constant updates on the mother and newborn’s health, and provides them the required medicines / credit: Sanket Jain — Pushpavati Sutar, as part of postnatal visits, often counsels women on breastfeeding, seeks regular updates on the health of both the mother and the newborn, and provides the required medications / credit: Sanket Jain

An ASHA worker filling the health records of a newborn in Kolhapur’s Shirol region, noting down important details / credit: Sanket Jain — An ASHA worker filling out health records of a newborn in Kolhapur’s Shirol region, noting important details / credit: Sanket Jain

Pushpavati distributes iron and folic acid tablets to her community members / credit: Sanket Jain — Sutar distributes iron and folic acid tablets to her community members / credit: Sanket Jain

To make sure the community members take medicines as per the schedule, ASHAs often write instructions on the box / credit: Sanket Jain — To ensure community members take medications and supplements on a schedule, ASHAs often write instructions in the native language on the box / credit: Sanket Jain

Pushpatai ignored her hypotension symptoms for several months and continued the survey because of the tremendous workload / credit: Sanket Jain — Sutar ignored her hypotension symptoms for several months and continued the survey because of the tremendous workload / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA workers always counsel the community members on proper healthcare. Here Pushpatai is talking to a woman about early childhood health in Kolhapur’s Shirol region / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA workers always counsel community members on proper healthcare. Here, she is talking to a woman in Kolhapur’s Shirol region about early childhood health / credit: Sanket Jain

As part of the health ministry’s Anemia free India program, ASHAs are given a long notebook to maintain the records of 6-51 week old infants and 5-10-year-old children from their community. ASHAs regularly provide them with adequate medicines to prevent Anemia / credit: Sanket Jain — As part of the health ministry’s Anemia Free India program, ASHAs are given a long notebook to maintain the records of 6- to 51-week-old children and 5- to 10-year-old children from their community. ASHAs regularly provide tablets to prevent anemia / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHAs’ role doesn’t end with distributing medicines. People ask them several doubts about medicines, and they patiently answer all of them / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHAs’ role doesn’t end with distributing medications. They answer questions people raise / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA Rani Koli from Kolhapur’s flood-affected Bhendavade village surveying her community after the July 2021 floods. “Even my house was ravaged by the 2019 and 2021 floods, but we keep working to make sure everyone remains safe,” she said / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA Rani Koli, from Kolhapur’s flood-affected Bhendavade village, surveying her community after the July floods. “Even my house was ravaged by the 2019 and 2021 floods, but we keep working to make sure everyone remains safe,” she said / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA Kavita Patil talking to senior citizens in Kolhapur’s Bhendavade village to understand the mental toll of two floods / credit: Sanket Jain — ASHA Kavita Patil talking to senior citizens in Kolhapur’s Bhendavade village to understand the mental toll of living through two floods / credit: Sanket Jain

ASHA workers Netradipa Patil and Maya Patil surveying a community to learn more about how two floods and lockdowns affected the lives of rural community women / credit: Sanket Jain

Sanket Jain is an independent journalist based in the Kolhapur district of the western Indian state of Maharashtra. He was a 2019 People’s Archive of Rural India fellow, for which he documented vanishing art forms in the Indian countryside. He has written for Baffler, Progressive Magazine, Counterpunch, Byline Times, The National, Popula, Media Co-op, Indian Express and several other publications.

Israel’s Pattern of Violating Palestinian Right to Education, As Bedouin Village Khan al-Ahmar Up for Demolition

Jessica Buxbaum February 22, 2023 Jessica Buxbaum Admin, Archives, West Asia

The entrance to the Khan al-Ahmar school in the West Bank, which reads "Khan al-Ahmar School" in Arabic / credit: Ahmad Al-Bazz — The entrance to the Khan al-Ahmar school in the West Bank, which reads “Khan al-Ahmar School” in Arabic / credit: Ahmad Al-Bazz

KHAN AL-AHMAR, West Bank—More than 70 years after being expelled from the Naqab Desert, Bedouins in the occupied West Bank may become refugees once again.

This month, Israel’s Supreme Court gave the government until April 2 to respond to pro-settler Israeli NGO Regavim’s request to demolish the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar. In 2018, the High Court green-lighted Khan al-Ahmar’s destruction, but the government has yet to formulate a plan for carrying out the ruling.

More than half of the village’s approximately 280 residents are children attending Khan al-Ahmar’s primary school, which could soon turn to rubble if the village is razed.

Khan al-Ahmar’s students aren’t the only Palestinian children whose academic futures are under threat, however. According to the Arab Campaign for Education for All, 58 Palestinian schools serving 6,550 children, including Khan al-Ahmar’s, are currently at risk of demolition.

“When our students face the challenges of occupation, it’s not only the damage of the schools, it’s not only the arrests of teachers and students, but the psychosocial part, which reflects in the [students’] attitudes and well-being,” Sadiq Al-Khadour, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority’s Education Ministry, told Toward Freedom.

The Israeli Supreme Court has approved the demolition of the village of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank / credit: Ahmad Al-Bazz

Israel Undermining Palestinian Education

Students face a myriad of obstacles while attempting to earn an education in Palestine. In addition to school demolitions, students experience detention or arrests by the Israeli army, military raids into their school, delays in their commutes due to checkpoints, and violence from Israeli settlers and soldiers on their way to school. According to the UN, students in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem experienced a more than 150-percent increase in education-related violations from 2021 to 2022.

Palestinian schools in East Jerusalem have had their licenses revoked for refusing to teach the Israeli narrative in their curriculum, while those who comply have received a boost in funding. According to the Education Ministry, Jerusalem schools are also the most overcrowded in Palestine, with an average of more than 37 students packed into a classroom. The average student-to-teacher ratio in Palestine is 24-1.

In the besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli missiles have destroyed academic institutions and killed teachers and students.

“This undermines students’ and teachers’ right to access the appropriate educational process,” said Tamam Mohsen, advocacy officer at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. Mohsen’s organization, which focuses on Gaza, explained that more than 571 educational facilities were wiped out by Israeli bombs from 2008 to 2021.

A teacher and students in a classroom at the Khan al-Ahmar school in the West Bank / credit: Ahmad Al-Bazz

A School Born Out of Necessity

With April’s court deadline fast approaching, the Khan al-Ahmar school and the surrounding community are on edge.

“We’ve heard the news and this has put students in an unstable mood,” said Isra Zahran, who teaches mathematics to students from 7th to 10th grades. Zahran explained constant visits from NGOs and the press have distracted students.

Built in 2009, the school has become essential for Khan al-Ahmar’s children.

Headmistress Halima Zahaike explained that before the school’s establishment, children would take the arduous journey to Jericho for school while some—especially girls—would merely forgo their education.

“Today, girls who are 22 years old or more don’t even know how to write their name because they used to stay home with no education,” Zahaike said. With this clear need, the idea for a school in the heart of Khan al-Ahmar was born.

Like the majority of Palestinian villages in the Israeli-military-controlled Area C of the West Bank, Khan al-Ahmar doesn’t have a zoning plan. Therefore, any construction is deemed illegal. In order to circumvent Israeli military regulations, the school was built as a temporary structure using tires, clay, and mud. The project was built with the support of Italian non-profit Vento di Terra and the European Union.

Yet, even during the school’s construction, classrooms were razed by Israeli authorities.

A Palestinian Education ministry official walks down tires that make up part of the structure of the compound for the Khan al-Ahmar school in the West Bank / credit: Ahmad Al-Bazz

‘I Will Keep Studying Atop Rubble’

With demolition looming, Khan al-Ahmar’s students are losing their will to learn.

“Many of the students say, ‘Our school will be demolished and we’ll have to go to Jericho. I know that I can’t go to Jericho, so let’s skip,’” Zahran said. “We try to encourage them, but there’s this feeling of not being motivated because they ask themselves ‘what I’m going to do after [the demolition].’”

With these barriers to education, 25 percent of Palestinian boys drop out of school by age 15. Despite this figure, the youth literacy rate is over 99 percent in Palestine.

The feeling of resilience is palpable among Palestinian students. While Zahran appears apprehensive, past school demolitions prove Palestinians’ determination to learn.

In November, Israeli forces demolished Isfey Al-Fawqa elementary school in Masafer Yatta, a collective of rural hamlets in the southern West Bank. Days later, students were studying in tents erected above the crushed cement.

The Ministry of Education provided the tents to Masafer Yatta’s students and said they will do the same for Khan al-Ahmar if dismantled.

“If you ask any one of them, they will say, ‘We will never leave our school,’” Zahaike said of her students. “They say, ‘If it gets demolished, I will keep studying atop the rubble.’”

Jessica Buxbaum is a Jerusalem-based freelance journalist reporting on Palestine and the Israeli occupation. You can follow her on Twitter at @jess_buxbaum.

Burkina Faso Gives France 1 Month to Leave

African Stream January 25, 2023 African Stream Admin, Africa, Archives

Editor’s Note: African Stream produced the following video report.

BURKINA SAYS BYE-BYE TO FRENCH TROOPS

Burkina Faso is expelling French troops from the country. It’s given Paris one month to wrap up its ‘anti-terror’ operation – seen as a failure by locals and officials alike. #BurkinaFaso #France #African #AfricanStream pic.twitter.com/eP9psL4WVx

— African Stream (@african_stream) January 23, 2023

Protesters lined up July 24 behind Shirley Atienza of Filipino grassroots migrant group Migrante as she read aloud the demands of the Northeast Coalition to Advance Genuine Democracy to the Philippine government / credit: Cygaelle Bergado

Filipinos Call Out Marcos-Duterte Government in War-Torn Philippines

Cygaelle Bergado July 29, 2022 Cygaelle Bergado Admin, Archives, Asia

Part of a drumline at the July 24 protest in front of the Philippine consulate in New York City to counter the new Philippine president's State of the Union Address / credit: Cygaelle Bergado — Part of a drumline at the July 24 protest in front of the Philippine consulate in New York City to counter the new Philippine president’s State of the Union Address / credit: Cygaelle Bergado

NEW YORK CITY–Hours before Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., gave his first State of the Nation address on July 24, Filipino people throughout the world protested, holding their own “People’s State of the Union Address,” or PSONA.

“The Marcos-Duterte oligarchic symbiosis represents one of the biggest barriers for progress in the Philippines,” Gabriel Rivera told Toward Freedom amid a crowd of about 200 Filipinos who had gathered outside the Philippine consulate in midtown Manhattan, just a few blocks from the United Nations.

As a drumline’s rhythms echoed through the city streets, Filipinos spoke out against Marcos and his vice president, Sara Duterte, both of whom had been elected to office in the island nation on May 9.

The families of Marcos and Duterte have been accused of violating human rights. That includes during the 1972-81 Martial Law Era under Marcos’ father, Ferdinand Sr., and during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs, which has killed over 6,229 alleged drug users since 2016. Rodrigo is the new vice president’s father.

“Two historically violent dynasties with no regard for human rights or the rule of law have just been seated on the two highest positions in the land,” said Rivera, a member of the Malaya Movement, a progressive Filipino organization advocating for human rights in the Philippines. “I am terrified to even imagine how this could affect generations of Filipinos to come.”

To counter the violence in their homeland, grassroots Filipino organizations from the Northeast Coalition to Advance Genuine Democracy, such as Migrante, GABRIELA, Malaya Movement, Anakbayan and Bayan, assembled for the New York City rally. This rally was one of many held around the world for PSONA, an annual global grassroots event, during which Filipinos report on human-rights violations in their homeland to counter the Philippine president’s annual State of the Nation address that takes place on the same day.

A map of the Philippines / credit: Google Maps — A map of the Philippines, consisting of thousands of islands / credit: Google Maps

The Philippines is a U.S. ally that has waged a war on its own population, killing alleged drug addicts and traffickers. Since 2002, the United States has shipped almost $900 million in arms and has provided more than $1.3 billion in security assistance to the Philippines.

The scene at the July 24 protest held outside the Philippine consulate in New York City / credit: Cygaelle Bergado

In an interview with Toward Freedom, 25-year-old Momo Manalang denounced the disappearance of three Filipino women activists, allegedly abducted by the Filipino government. She demanded their return.

“Our movement is intergenerational, comprised of both martial-law survivors of families of those slain during the War on Drugs, which persists to this day under Bongbong Marcos,” said Manalang, a member of GABRIELA, a mass-based organization focusing on womens’ rights in the Philippines. “It is imperative as a diaspora to register our condemnation and call for the accountability of both regimes for their crimes against humanity.”

A.J. Santos, a migrant from the Philippines, recounted to Toward Freedom how these administrations have directly affected his family.

“My mom fought Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., during Martial Law and was even hunted by the military while her friends and comrades were tortured and killed,” said Santos, 38, of Migrante, a grassroots organization consisting of migrant Filipinos. “And Duterte, he killed five of my friends with his so-called ‘War on Drugs.’”

Shirley Atienza, a New York-based Filipino migrant and Migrante member, read aloud the nine points of the “People’s Agenda for Change,” while protesters standing behind her held signs outlining each. In bold black paint, they read:

Regulate prices
Revive local agriculture
Enact land reform and national industrialization
Defend and promote human rights
Defend freedom of press + speech
Institute a democratic, ethical and accountable government
Provide free health care and basic social services
Uphold national sovereignty and independent foreign policy
Ensure country’s natural wealth and resources

A Filipino protester at the Philippine consulate in New York City wears an effigy to call out human-rights violations in the Philippines / credit: Cygaelle Bergado

A protester had adorned cardboard signs to their body in an effigy that listed human-rights violations committed in the Philippines. Painted to look like flames, the signs read:

“Extreme inflation & economic crisis,”
“2.9 million unemployed,”
“Forced migration/separated families,” and
“Selling out to foreign interests.

The flames were surrounded by cardboard replicas of gas cans that read, “Corrupt family dynasties own all the land, make all the laws,” “US tax $$ funds Philippine Drug War,” and “Historical revisionism & fake news.”

At the top of the protester’s head sat a gas can that read “Marcos.” Draped around their back was the Filipino flag. As participants gathered to smash the gas cans, the crowd recited, “Makibaka! Huwog matakot!” (Struggle! Do not be afraid!) and other revolutionary Filipino chants, cheering for the downfall of Marcos and Duterte.

Being oceans away from their home country doesn’t stop these Filipino revolutionaries from fighting. At least not Theo Aguila, a 25-year-old organizer from Anakbayan, a mass organization consisting of Filipino youth and students.

“It is through action both here and [in] the Philippines that we may enact change for our motherland.”

Cygaelle Bergado is the Summer 2022 Claudia Jones Editorial Intern for Toward Freedom. She can be followed on Twitter at @cy_bergado.

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