Defend Kuya Max!
BAYAN Washington: Condemnation of the Philippine Consulate and Embassy's outright abandonment of detained national Max Londonio
BAYAN Washington condemns the blatant neglect by the Philippine Embassy and Consulate of Max Londonio and his family! As part of Tanggol Migrante Network (TMN), we stand in complete support of Kuya Max and his family as they fight for the Philippine Consulate and PH Ambassador Jose Romualdez to intervene and apply diplomatic pressure to ensure Max is released immediately!
Max was taken into Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody at Sea-Tac Airport on May 15, and was transferred to the Northwest Detention Center on May 20. While in CBP custody, he was unable to talk to his family or access a lawyer. On May 17th, Kuya Max’s family sought help from the San Francisco Consul General, who only offered to send a letter to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to understand the circumstances of Max’s detainment and “determine next steps.”
TMN also reached out to the SF Consulate through the emergency hotline, and was redirected to contact the Assistance-to-Nationals officer, who finally responded after two days of silence. When asked explicitly what support the Consulate can offer to Philippine nationals transferred into ICE custody, the Consulate once again refused to take responsibility and suggested finding a lawyer or consulting the Tanggol Migrante Network.
The Philippine Embassy and Consulates are responsible for ensuring the rights and welfare of the millions of overseas Filipinos that are abroad, yet they have refused to exert their diplomatic powers to appeal for the release of our detained kababayan.
Kuya Max is not the only Philippine national languishing in detention right now. Aunty Lynn has been detained at the Northwest Detention Center since February, and also has yet to receive meaningful support from the PH Consulate. The families and community have shouldered the Philippine government’s responsibility to defend our migrants because every minute they suffer in detention is one minute too long.
Kuya Max and his family cannot afford to wait around for the Consulate’s slow bureaucratic excuses!
The Philippine government has trillions of pesos at its disposal, but instead of funding resources for migrants in crisis, billions are spent to fuel the crisis. Rather than providing a dignified livelihood for Filipinos at home with decent jobs and quality social services, Marcos Jr. continues his father’s own legacy of labor export. The Marcos regime continues to line their pockets by serving foreign capitalists while the Filipino masses are forced to suffer at home or become cheap exploitable labor abroad.
Free Max Now! Free Them All!
Defend Filipino Migrants!
Proteksyon Hindi Deportasyon!
###