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Kasama Masthead

KASAMA means friend, companion, comrade...
KASAMA June 2010
Volume 24 Number 2
 

May Day 2010 BrisbaneInternational Workers Day 2010

Celebrating the Australian labour movement, the Labour Day public holiday is fixed by the state and territory governments and so varies considerably. In Queensland it is the first Monday in May.

In the Philippines, Araw ng Manggagawa or Labor Day is a non-working holiday celebrated on May 1 of every year. This day is also often marked by demonstrations and rallies as the labor sector airs its grievances and celebrates its victories.
 

MarcopperMarcopper Mining Victims and Supporters Dismayed over Delay of Trial

Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK) — Luzon
Press Release — 16 June 2010

Marinduque — Mining victims of the 1993 Mogpog River disaster and their supporters expressed today their disappointment at yet again another delay in their case against Marcopper Mining Corporation, a copper mining company reportedly co-owned by then-president Ferdinand Marcos and Canada’s Placer Dome. The delay was mainly due to the absence of a presiding judge and a motion for reconsideration, filed by the new counsel of Marcopper, of the March 11, 2010 order of Marinduque Regional Trial Court Branch 38 presiding Judge Manuelito Caballes.
 

Welcome Refugees Brisbane Joins National “Welcome Refugees” Day of Protest

WORLD REFUGEE DAY 20 JUNE 2010

Sunday’s Brisbane rally marks the commencement of Refugee Week around Australia. People from church, political, social justice networks and communities of those who came as refugees, will gather in Brisbane Square in line with national rallies in capital cities calling on the Australian government to “Welcome Refugees.”
 

FECCA Logo REVIVED INJUSTICE: ‘New’ Coalition Immigration Policy an Unwelcome Blast From the Past

The Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) has expressed dismay at the Coalition’s new border security policy

The policy outlines the Coalition’s plan to increasingly focus on offshore processing of asylum seekers, to reintroduce Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) and to reintroduce the 45- day rule for lodging asylum claims.

 

Wesa ChauSlaves to the System: Do International Students Have Rights?


by Wesa Chau

Online Opinion — 19 May 2010

For a nation reaping $17.2 billion a year from a prime export market, Australia has a funny way of treating its honoured guests and trade lynchpin — international students.


 

Noreen and GinoDreaming of Home, Waking Up Abroad

Transnationalism & the Overseas Filipino Worker in Australia
by Noreen Cayabyab-Orticio and Gino Orticio

A number of Filipino students have parents or relatives working abroad. As former teachers, we used to discuss the plight of temporary Filipino migrants or overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in our classes. The rise in the number of workers who opt to find jobs thousands of miles away has become phenomenal since the 1980s. Students and academics alike have formed their own view about OFWs, an opinion forged by how much monetary remittances from overseas labour have contributed to their family and the national economy, coupled with the social costs of having an absent carer. The perspective is ashamedly limited as it is often viewed through the lens of those who are left behind. Since we moved to Australia, we have seen first-hand what life is like for these people as they try to create better futures for their families.
 

Jean EnriquezNew IWSS Multilingual Resources

BRISBANE — 22nd of JUNE 2010

Today IWSS launched their new multilingual resources on domestic violence. These new resources were made possible through funding provided by the Department of Communities and generous permission to utilise and adapt existing resources from the Gold Coast Domestic Violence Prevention Centre and Multicultural Families Organisation.


 

New Publications


New Publications

available to download at the following web addresses

 

Shirlita EspinosaThe Spectre that does not go away

Review by SHIRLITA AFRICA ESPINOSA of THE FOLDING WIFE, an Urban Theatre Projects Production, 19-22 May 2010, Carriage Works, Sydney. Written by PASCHAL DAANTOS BERRY and Directed by DEBORAH POLLARD

It was inevitable for me to stumble upon Paschal Daantos Berry’s The Folding Wife. As a postgraduate student researching the Filipino-Australian migrant community, I have had a few encounters with the play although not as a performance; first as an object of critical study in publications and second as a written text in an anthology called Salu-salo: In Conversation with Filipinos.

 

Aida Santos Statement of COMPACT International Observers Mission
on the Conduct of the 2010 National Elections


Philippine Elections 2010: Press Statement — 14 May 2010

We, twenty-five members of the 2010 International Observers’ Mission from ten countries and organized by the Compact for Peaceful and Democratic Elections commend the Filipino people for enthusiastically exercising their democratic right to suffrage. Amid threats and actual acts of violence, possibility of failure of elections, fraud and outright uncertainty due to an automated election system widely criticized, many Filipinos were able to cast their votes and choose new leaders. This in itself is an achievement and a clear testament to the Filipino people’s faith in the democratic process.

 

MIRIAM CORONEL FERRERPhilippine Elections 2010: How The Left Fared

by Miriam Coronel Ferrer

How did the senatorial candidates and parties coming from the ranks of the left-wing social movements fare in the last election? What does their showing tell us about their strengths?

 

HuriSearch Logo HuriSearch

the Open Source human rights search engine

HURIDOCS is glad to announce the launch of a new, Open Source version of HuriSearch, its specialised search engine for human rights information.

HuriSearch is a very useful resource for human rights researchers and advocates, academic staff and students, journalists, diplomats and staff of international organisations - in fact anyone who is interested in human rights and needs an effective Internet search tool.

 

Aetas Joan Shears ‘Mother of Peace’ was awarded an OAM in the 2010 Australia Day Honours List


Brisbane — 7 May 2010

Peace and social justice activists gathered in the Queensland Council of Unions building to celebrate the Order of Australia medal awarded to Joan Shears for her service in the promotion of peace, nuclear disarmament and social justice issues. One of the many personal testimonials submitted with the nomination named her “The Mother of Peace”.

 

Rally for Peace 2010 Palm Sunday Rally


28 March 2010

Photos from Rally for Peace & Nuclear Disarmament

 

Shinju Dragon Symbol Shinju Matsuri - Festival of the Pearl

27th Aug to 5th Sept 2010


From the high spirited and colourful waking of Sammy the Dragon after his yearlong slumber; across ten days of festivity bolstered through events for and put on by the community; to a spectacular fireworks finale; Shinju Matsuri is the premier arts, cultural and community event in Broome, Western Australia.



 

Rally for Peace HIROSHIMA DAY PEACE RALLY
RALLY FOR PEACE & NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

1 p.m. SATURDAY, 7th AUGUST
BRISBANE SQUARE

RALLY FOR PEACE & NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT will hold its annual HIROSHIMA DAY PEACE RALLY at 1 p.m. on SATURDAY, 7th AUGUST in BRISBANE SQUARE, near Treasury Casino, George Street, Brisbane. There will be speakers, music and information stalls. The rally will be followed by a march. All are welcome.


 

Rally for Peace Ballots and Bullets: Memoirs of a foreign election observer


a documentary film focussed on the 2007 elections in the Philippines

In May 2007, Jason Bray and cameraman Nathan Woodward, joined a team of Europeans, Australians and Filipinos to monitor the elections in Nueva Ecija province. Organised by COMPACT IOM 2007, they travelled around the countryside meeting dubious politicians, hearing stories of mass corruption and even visited the aftermath of a shootout. What started as an exciting adventure for Jason turned into fear, confusion and intimidation of political violence.