Filipino human rights activist draws attention to immigrants' struggles in U.S.

A former Filipino political prisoner lamented how many illegal immigrants in the United States are forced to take desperate jobs for low pay and stressed the need for equal rights for women around the world last night at the Boston University Howard Thurman Center.

Ninotchka Rosca, an advocate for human rights and feminism, also spoke to the 50 students in attendance about other issues Filipinos face today, including sex trafficking and abused mail-order brides, which are common in the Philippines, she said.

Undocumented Filipinos in the United States will take almost any available work because of their desperate situations, Rosca said in her speech, sponsored by the BU Filipino Students Association and Wellesley College's Club Filipina.

"[There are an] estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the [United States]," Rosca said. "Roughly around 20 percent of these [people] work in households. Who else is going to accept such cheap wages?"

Rosca is an award-winning novelist who was a political prisoner exiled during the regime of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986.

"Every women's issue is a national issue. Every national issue is a women's issue," she said, quoting the slogan of the General Assembly Binding Women for Reform, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action Network.

In 1989, Rosca founded the U.S. chapter of the GABRIELA Network, a women's rights alliance that originated in the Philippines during Marcos's rule and now has many chapters worldwide.

A documentary screened last night about the GABRIELA Network, Makibaka! Huwag Matakot!, which means "Fight Without Fear," depicts footage of protests urging politicians to address the Philippines' internal problems, said filmmaker Darlene Lombos.

Rosca said she also speaks with victims of human trafficking and offers them advice.

"[This was] an eye-opener of everything that's been going on in the Philippines and the degradation of women," said BUFSA member Joni Yabut.