Ellen Rose Magtangob, Franny Trinidad and Laila Salazar are organizers with Gabriela Berkeley, a grassroots organization fighting for the liberation of Filipina women.
On April 22, more than 50 people mobilized to Dwinelle Hall to confront Philippine consular officials who were not only present at the Brother Andrew Gonzalez Lecture, but also funded the event amid their continued neglect of Filipino migrants.
While Filipino migrants suffer in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers and face workplace exploitation, the Philippine consulate has chosen to partner with UC Berkeley, renewing a grant totaling $24,000 or ₱430,000 — the same money that could be going toward the welfare of the Filipino people.
We see the Philippine consulate as an extension of the fascist Filipino government, which has created such unlivable conditions that more than 7,000 citizens leave every day.
The consulate’s renewed grant to the Institute of East Asian Studies comes from the Department of Foreign Affairs, or DFA, the government department responsible for distributing Assistance-to-Nationals, or ATN, funds to Philippine nationals in distress. Some ATN services that are listed by the Philippine consulate are repatriation to the country, welfare assistance and support for individuals who are detained.
The DFA received ₱1 billion, or approximately $16.7 million, from Filipinos’ tax dollars for ATN funds in 2026 alone. However, they have failed to disperse these funds adequately and have often refused to provide ATN funding to those they are meant to serve altogether.
Kuya Rodel, an undocumented migrant who died of exhaustion, was denied ATN and repatriation services after his death. Without repatriation, his loved ones cannot fulfill his wish to be buried in the Philippines, leaving his grieving family scrambling for documents to prove his citizenship.
There is no reason for the Philippine government to prioritize funding a well-endowed American public institution while leaving its own people to suffer.
Our collective action April 22 was a display of both our frustrations toward consular neglect and of our dedication to making the people’s needs heard.
The DFA and the Philippine consulate each consistently denied our requests to meet, sparking our mobilization effort.
We mobilized at the lecture to confront the class enemy responsible for the plight of Filipino migrants. Notable consular officials attended the event, including Vice Consul Hannah Go, Consul Marc Benigno, head of ATN section Maria Paz Cortes, head of cultural and community section Glaiza Quarteros and Consul General Arnel G. Talisayon.
The officials did not directly address our demands, instead asserting that they do disperse ATN funds for some migrants.
We understand that the root causes of forced migration from the Philippines are American imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.
American imperialism dominates the economy, culture and politics of the Philippines, essentially operating a puppet government that serves foreign interests.
Feudalism manifests in the monopoly a small number of landlords have over most of the Philippines’ agricultural land, under which peasants work under brutal conditions. These peasant farmers are charged absurd prices to live and work on their land while simultaneously earning extremely meager wages, remaining stuck in a vicious, debt-ridden cycle.
Bureaucrat capitalism in the Philippines refers to its government running it like a business — collaborating with its elite wealthy corporations, stealing public funds and pocketing the money of the masses to maintain their own power and domination.
We believe the only solution to these structural problems is to strive for national democracy with a socialist perspective. We fight for a future society free from foreign domination by the United States, and for a society that prioritizes the needs of its masses instead of its elite ruling class.
Though our action was successful in getting the consulate off our campus, our demands have yet to be met. We call on students to question why their university is accepting funding from a foreign government.
More specifically, we are seeking financial transparency regarding the use of grant money provided to UC Berkeley, that the consulate provide Assistance to National Funds to support migrants in need, and that the consulate utilize the DFA’s budget to meet Filipinos’ needs.
As Filipino students in the diaspora and allies in solidarity, we see the urgency of serving distressed migrants’ needs. Migrants face exploitative working conditions and many are at constant risk of detainment amid the increased immigration crackdowns. Assistance and advocacy for migrants’ right to aid must be upheld rather than dismissed or reprimanded.
Ellen Rose Magtangob is a UC Berkeley undergraduate class of 2025 sociology alumna. As a transfer student, she had extensively organized with UC Berkeley’s League of Filipino Students and now Gabriela Berkeley, both of which fight for national democracy in the Philippines. She can be contacted at ellenrose@berkeley.edu.
Laila Salazar is a senior undergraduate student at UC Berkeley studying anthropology. As a transfer student, she has experience in archival work at the university’s Folklore Archive and organizing with Gabriela Berkeley, a National Democratic Mass Organization that advocates for genuine liberation of the Philippines. She can be contacted at lailaceline@berkeley.edu.
Franny Trinidad is a documentary student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and an organizer with Gabriela Berkeley, a grassroots organization fighting for the liberation of Filipina women. She can be contacted at fctrinid@berkeley.edu.
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