Alliance-Philippines
(AJLPP)
Bantay - Los AngelesEcho Park Community Coalition (EPCC)
Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party) - USA
Joint Press
Release
December 4, 2012Filipino community, Fil-Am groups: Justice to Filipino teachers!
Members of the Filipino community and
different Filipino-American groups pledge support to the continuing struggle of
Filipino migrant teachers as the hearing of a class suit they filed against
their recruiters is about to start here in a Federal Court in Los Angeles.
This groundbreaking case is
the first time that the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) is being
applied to a class and not individual victims. Further this is a landmark case
as the same federal law is being applied to professional workers for the first
time, up until now the law has only been applied to laborers particularly in the
agriculture industry .
“We are in solidarity with all these teachers
who continue to fight for justice. These oppressive recruiters and labor
contractors who prey on the hopes and dreams of migrant workers must be punished
to the full extent of the law,” asserted Arturo Garcia, West Coast Coordinator
of Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP).
From 2007 to 2009, more than 300 teachers
from the Philippines were recruited and deployed in different school districts
in Louisiana to teach science, math and special education. After a
selection process in the Philippines, the shady recruitment scheme required each
teacher to pay an amount of more than $5,000. The recruiters allegedly made it
appear that this is all that they will have to pay. However after
receiving the initial payment, the recruiters demanded more and more for
different kinds of fees and charges. Having sold their properties and borrowed
money to cover for the initial excessive payment, the teachers cannot back out
as the recruiters would not refund those fees.
The recruiters would then threaten to give
their slots to other applicants if additional payments are not made on
time. In violation of both the laws of the Philippines and the
state of Louisiana, and possibly of the visa laws of the United States, each
teacher ended up paying an exorbitant amount of $16,000 and even
more.
“UPI orchestrated a human trafficking scheme
that systematically victimized hundreds of Filipino teachers and their
families. Upon their arrival here in the US, these teachers were
coerced to sign another set of onerous contracts that required them to pay even
more. Despite all the threats and harassment by the UPI’s owner,
the bravery of these teachers in standing for what is right is inspiring,”
underscored Ian Seruelo, US Liaison Officer of the Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor
Party-Philippines) who helped organized the teachers.
Principal defendants in this trafficking
class suit are Los Angeles-based recruitment agency Universal Placement
Incorporated (UPI) and its president-owner Lourdes “Lulu” Navarro, a resident of
Glendale, CA. Other defendants are PARS International, UPI’s
Philippine-based conduit; Emilio V. Villarba, brother of Lourdes who owns PARS;
Hothello “Jack” Navarro, former husband of Lourdes and a director of UPI; and
Robert Silverman, a California attorney and his law firm, Silverman &
Associates, who are the legal facilitators of the fraudulent scheme.
Employer school district and its representatives were also included as
defendants for knowingly benefiting from the trafficking scheme.
“The exploitation of guest workers is an
ongoing and growing problem here in the US. This class suit is a significant
step in our advocacy for the protection of the rights of all migrant workers,"
added Jerry Esguerra of the Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC).
The hearing for this class suit will begin
tomorrow (December 5, 2012, 8:30 AM) and every weekday until December 14 in the
U.S. District Court of the Central District of California in Los Angeles.
Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP), Bantay - LA, Echo Park Community Coalition
(EPCC) and the Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party) - USA encourage the
Filipino-American community, especially those living in Los Angeles, to support
these teachers by showing up in the hearings.
1 comment:
The human trafficking has been dismissed today dec.17.2012 against their LA-based recruiter
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