White House honors Pinay champion of change

CHICAGO –Anybody can visit and join a tour of the White House in Washington. But not everybody can be invited and be so honored in the White House.

Despite an enviable Cinderella-like turn of events that came her way, Filipina Myrla Baldonado of Chicago, Illinois downplayed the significance of her trip to the White House last May 6.

“It was a successful trip. (But) I did set very small expectations. What is important was the work was highlighted,” she said.

Baldonado, a Manila native who celebrates her 60th birthday on May 30, does not consider the honor of being one of two Filipinos out of the 15 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women named “Champions of Change” by the White House as a personal milestone. But she gushed that she was “happy to be in the company of amazing women.”

The other Filipino honoree is Catherine Eusebio of Fremont, California.

Eusebio is a social justice fellow at the Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. She manages API Dream Summer that supports the leadership development of immigrant youths.

“I don’t have the usual American dream of prosperity. My dream is to have equal rights and opportunities for immigrants,” Baldonado, an unassuming cause-oriented former martial law activist, said. She describes herself as “home care provider,” who toiled working 24 hours a day, earning a wage that was lower than the Illinois minimum wage.

“I prepared food, fed, bathed, cleaned up the house, changed diapers, lifted, turned, dressed wounds, prepared medicine, provided comfort, understanding and love to elderly patients. This work was both physically and emotionally draining. I worked full time, which placed me in a similar situation as the majority of domestic workers who have families to support with low wages and no benefits,” she said.

“I worked long hours in isolation, struggling often through abusive situations in an unregulated industry where domestic workers are excluded from even the most basic protections such as minimum wage and overtime pay. Furthermore, I experienced loneliness, humiliation and loss of self-esteem,” she said.

Nothing but empathy

With the suffering that she had gone through, the honor of being one of the Champions of Change would have been a sweet revenge for her against her “tormentors” as the “wicked stepsisters did to Cinderella.”

But the household worker organizer with Latino Union of Chicago and co-founder of the Chicago Coalition of Household Workers and a worker leader of National Domestic Workers Alliance had nothing but empathy for other caregivers, who find themselves with lower wage, no overtime, no vacation leaves, no health care and no immigration status, and thus vulnerable to abuse and discrimination.

Aside from being honored in the White House,  Baldonado, whose father hails from Vigan, Ilocos Sur and whose mother is from Cagayan Valley in the Philippines, said her fellow honorees held workshops in the White House with topics broken down into building coalitions for social justice; breaking the bamboo ceiling (working against stereotyping and asserting oneself as Asian American) and health and safety.

She said she was in the first panel, which was cut out for her, as she started in the Philippines as executive director of the Alliance for Bases Cleanup, which she co-founded, right out of state Philippine College of Commerce, where she reached third year in a Commerce course majoring in Advertising.

“When martial law was declared I decided to become a full-time human rights activist,” she said.

The organization was advocating for the environmental cleanup of the former US military bases in the Philippines, specifically Clark and Subic.

“I founded this campaign and led it for more than 20 years. I am intending to continue as a volunteer in the US with Bayanihan Foundation to continue this work,” Baldonado said.

For now, she is actively involved in the National Domestic Worker Alliance and Caring Across Generations, two national organizations and her sponsors, which are working for the grant of immigration status to the 11 million undocumented immigrants, many of them caregivers.

Campaigning for W visas

 A volunteer of Chicago-based AFIRE (Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment), Baldonado said if caregivers are granted W visas, they would be very thankful to Sen. Robert Menendez  [D-NJ], one of the US Senate Gang of Eight, whom she had a chance to lobby in Washington “for more flexible requirements to demonstrate presence and a work history.”

This visa is being supported by Caring Across Generations, which is seeking the need for more caregivers.

In honoring the Champions of Change, Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the President and chair of the White House council on women and girls, said, “These 15 women represent the strength and diversity of the AAPI community. These leaders - in business, advocacy, philanthropy, sports, the arts, and academia - are wonderful examples for young women across the country.”

Tina Tchen, chief of staff to the First Lady and executive director of the White House council on women and girls, said, “As we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May, we pay tribute to the many AAPI women - from Bernice Pauahi Bishop to Congresswoman Patsy Mink to Sunita Pandya Williams - who have shaped the story of America.”

Sen. Mazie K. Hirono [D-HI] was among those who delivered inspirational remarks during the ceremonies.