EUROPE – Rogelio Braga, an exiled award-winning Filipino playwright seeking asylum in the United Kingdom (UK) due to threats of extra-judicial killing in the Philippines under the Duterte administration. He is also the publisher of Balangiga Press, an indie publication in the Philippines.
“I am now a refugee. I can now enjoy all the benefits of [being] a British citizen. Most importantly, I can now travel outside of the UK, except in the Philippines,” Braga said.
Braga is the first Filipino writer granted by the UK government with refugee status. As such, the UK recognizes the threat in his life as well as the extra-judicial killings and the persecution of those against the Duterte administration.
In a letter dated November 16, 2020, sent to the Home Office Asylum Unit, the English PEN headed by its director Daniel Gorman, sent a letter of support to Braga.
According to PEN:
“Mr. Braga’s narrative about the pressures that he faced in the Philippines aligns with many other similar narratives from writers, journalists, and intellectuals persecuted in the country.
In light of the above information, we believe that Mr. Braga is deserving of humanitarian protection and request you to grant his application for asylum here in the United Kingdom.”
Braga is also known for his novel “Colon” published by Balangiga Press in 2016. Colon is a historical fiction about the war in Mindanao.
Since 2016, Braga has been receiving death threats but he considered it as a part of his life as a writer and a playwright critical of the regime. Later, the threats were just no longer online messages and phone calls from strangers, but also “visits” in his apartment. His family and friends were also put in danger.(©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2021)
