SUPERSTAR OF THE STREETS. Movie icon Nora Aunor (front row, in dark shirt) leads a protest march on Tuesday in Manila commemorating the 1995 execution of Flor Contemplacion. Beside her is Russel, daughter of the domestic helper who was hanged in Singapore despite appeals for clemency from the Philippine government and whose death came to symbolize the uncertainty and perils faced by many Filipino migrant workers. JOAN BONDOC
Movie legend Nora Aunor is lending some star power to the clamor for President Benigno Aquino III to step down.
But while other critics are mainly calling for the President’s head over the Mamasapano debacle, the internationally acclaimed actress also blamed Mr. Aquino for supposedly doing nothing to reverse the diaspora of Filipinos being forced to work abroad for lack of jobs at home.
Aunor, who was dropped by Malacañang from the National Artist awards last year because of her 2005 drug case in the United States, called for the President’s resignation in a rally on Tuesday outside the Palace marking the 20th death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion, the Filipino domestic helper hanged in Singapore in 1995.
“Tama na, sobra na, Noynoy mag-resign ka na (We’ve had enough, Noynoy. You should resign now)!” the 61-year-old actress said in a speech during the rally organized by the militant group Migrante International.
Aunor, who portrayed Contemplacion in a 1995 film, joined marchers in a black shirt with prints that read: “Proud to be Filipino, ashamed of my government.”
“We are commemorating the death of our fellow Filipino who was executed in Singapore. And we are calling on the President to step down because, in my opinion, he has not done anything for our countrymen and he has committed several mistakes,” she later said in an Inquirer interview. “If there is genuine reform in our rotten system, we wouldn’t have to be victims of trafficking, slavery and abuses.”
Aunor and Contemplacion’s daughter Russel led a march as the movie theme song “Konting Awa” played in the background.
Titled “The Flor Contemplacion Story,” the film depicted the migrant worker as a helpless foreigner who was forced to admit the killing of another Filipino maid and a young boy under the latter’s care in 1991.
The Singaporean government then rejected Manila’s appeals for clemency and proceeded with her hanging on March 17, 1995.
In a statement, Migrante said “the series of executions of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) on death row, the biggest number so far under one regime, are glaring examples of just how insincere, insensitive and inept the Aquino administration is in upholding the welfare of our workers overseas.”
Asked how she now views the Palace “snub,” Aunor maintained that “I never aspired to be a National Artist. I’m contented with what I’m doing as an actress. For viewers to like my movies, especially when they are shown abroad and win awards we can be proud of, that’s what matters to me.”