This Sunday, Filipinos in LA will march to the Philippine Consulate in Koreatown in an annual demonstration called Peoples’ State of the Nation Address (PSONA). They’re protesting the State of the Nation address that President Bongbong Marcos, the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, will deliver in the Philippines on July 24.
The vastness of the Filipino diaspora is linked to worsening economic conditions in the Philippines, says Patrick Roque, a member of Migrante Los Angeles. He says some 10 million Filipinos work overseas and send funds back to their native country, contributing at least 10% of the nation’s GDP.
“This has become the running policy of the Philippine government. It aims to export Filipinos as cheap labor to other countries in order to keep the Philippine economy afloat,” Roque says.
Protesters will also call attention to racist violence that Filipinos face overseas. Roque’s family members faced an anti-Asian hate incident last May at a McDonald’s in North Hollywood, but have received little support from the Philippine Consulate.
“Most [Filipinos] think that when you get here to the U.S., you will be treated equally or even arise from the conditions that you are facing in the Philippines, but it is quite the opposite,” he says. “Instead of getting better conditions, getting better jobs, what they face is more problems: wage theft, trafficking, getting separated from their loved ones. Even worse, becoming victims of a hate crime, like my family.”