PHILIPPINES: Statement on International Women’s Day (tags)
The Philippines Should Stop Being US’s Pawn and Warfront
Philippine Women’s Coalitions Launch 18 Days of Activism against Violence (tags)
On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (VAW), which marks the start of the 18 Days of Activism Against VAW, women’s groups held a press conference and rally in front of the US Embassy. The coalitions announced today that they unite in focusing on the call for justice for Jennifer Laude during this 18-day campaign period which starts on November 25, and will sustain the campaign until justice is served.
Philippines: Akbayan and Santiago file joint resolution to terminate VFA (tags)
Akbayan Representative Walden Bello and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago today close ranks as they call for the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) saying it is being used to shield US military personnel from Philippine laws for violations and criminal offenses done on Philippine soil.
No to US Militarism in the Philippines and Asia-Pacific! (tags)
“To achieve enduring peace in the region, Asia must be de-militarized; its maritime waters assigned mainly for commerce; and its disputed territories declared as regional commons and war-free zones.”
Filipinos slams US over toxic dumping; renews call for abrogation of VFA (tags)
'Not the trash bin of a superpower': Philippine solons, groups denounce U.S. toxic waste dumping in Subic
ALLIANCE PHILIPPINES CONDEMNS GMA RELEASE ON BAIL (tags)
“Above the Fray” Like Pontius Pilate, PH President Aquino III washed his hand as the court let former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed her bail and was set free from her detention at the Veterans Memorial Hospital. In this scenario, Alliance Philippines (AJLPP), West Coast Coordinator Arturo Garcia... vehemently condemned this latest charade and travesty of justice. Garcia said that:“ The Alliance, the Filipino American community and all freedom loving people of the United States, detest and must expose this newest political “moro-moro “ of the Aquino III.” Garcia elucidated “ Aquino III actions seems to show that he is above the fray but in reality he tolerates and in cahoots with the schemes against the people.
On the US Puppet High Court Ruling that the VFA is legal (tags)
"Philippine Supreme Court- a US Imperialist Puppet Court.” As the Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) expected, the Philippine Supreme Court has reiterated the legality of the 1999 RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago once described as “void for vagueness” and “a failure.” The AJLPP scored the two-page resolution dated Jan. 12 but released only Tuesday. The full Supreme Court upheld its Feb. 11, 2009, ruling on the constitutionality of the agreement which re-allowed the large-scale presence of American troops in the country for joint military exercises after the 1991 pullout of the US military bases, and which governs the conduct of the servicemen participating in the military exercises.
( The AJLPP Secretariat reprinted the editorial of the Inquirer, the prime newspaper in the Philippines in its reaction in the CA decision on the Smith rape case) MANILA---Close this When the Court of Appeals handed down its decision acquitting Daniel Smith, no one was surprised. The departure of “Nicole,” his accuser, from our shores had already conditioned the country into believing an “arrangement” was in the works. In that sense, whatever the actual merits of the court’s decision, the case may be relegated as yet another one decided on clout rather than in fulfilment of justice. The United States can claim it fulfilled the letter—though not the spirit—of the Visiting Forces Agreement by keeping Smith in Manila throughout the judicial process, but not a second longer. Smith is now out of sight and, probably, out of mind—seemingly the objective of both the Philippine and American governments. Smith’s co-defendants went on to dishonorable or less-than-honorable discharge from the military. And no one expects Smith to be glorified or rewarded by his military or country. But that is a pretty small consolation for the manner in which Smith’s case proved that the VFA is a lopsided agreement; and worse, that the instinct of our own officials is not to assert Philippine rights and processes but to kowtow and grant every possible consideration to American wishes. Public opinion forced the prosecution of Smith and company. Public opinion kept the justice system creaking along; and while the beginning of the case found American authorities complying with their obligations under the VFA, Philippine authorities began finding ways to subvert the spirit of the agreement. Most dramatic of all was the handing over of Smith to American custody in the dead of night in December 2006. All throughout the judicial process itself, it was hard to tell whether the Department of Justice, for one, was lawyering for the government, the alleged rape victim, or the American soldiers.
BAYAN-USA Holds 3rd Congress in Los Angeles Amidst VFA Protests (tags)
Information about BAYAN-USA congress scheduled for March 27-29, 2009. Progressive members of the Filipino community representing labor, youth, church groups, academia, and cultural workers will gather in Los Angeles.
PHILIPPINES: Scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement now! (tags)
The secret Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) document exposed by Sen. Joker Arroyo is the latest in a string of arguments to hang the iniquitous agreement. The secret document is an insult that adds to the injury of Daniel Smith’s contempt of our justice system.
Women's Day marchers beaten up in Manila (tags)
The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) denounces the attempt of the police to brutally disperse the rally of APL-women commemorating International Women's Day.
AJLPP Support The Petition to the Supreme Court To Declare VFA unconstitutiona (tags)
The Alliance for A Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) –USA militantly support the call of nationalist Filipinos led by Former Senate president Jovito Salonga, former Senator Wigberto Tañada, retired Court of Appeals associate justice Jose de la Rama; and lawyers Emilio Capulong, Harry Roque, and Florin Hilbay to declare as unconstitutional the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) for allegedly creating a "privileged class among criminals." The AJLPP –USA express elation that the Former Senate president Jovito Salonga led complainants in filing the 43-page petition before the high tribunal Friday. They said that the VFA had given the US soldiers "a class above all others" when it allowed the US to have custody of its erring
PHILIPPINES - Smith's illegal transfer: Arroyo's judgment will be through the ballots (tags)
AKBAYAN (Citizens' Action Party) today said that the Philippine President Arroyo's numerous crimes against the Constitution and the country's sovereignty, the latest of which is the patently illegal transfer of Smith's custody to the US Embassy, will tried through the ballots in the 2007 elections.
RP, US: VFA review only after Smith case over (tags)
Both Malacañang and the United States Embassy said yesterday that the review of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) will only take place once the rape case against US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith reaches its conclusion. While Malacañang said the Philippine government should already study the controversies that resulted from the implementation of the accord, US Embassy charge d’affaires Paul Jones said the US government will wait and see how the case concerning Smith’s custody progresses.
Philippines: shameless act of collaboration of the Arroyo regime and the U.S. government (tags)
"It's an utterly shameless act of collaboration of the Arroyo regime and the U.S. government." This was the statement of Myrla Baldonado, spokesperson of Task Force Subic Rape (TFSR) on the stealthy transfer of custody of Daniel Smith from the Makati City Jail to the U.S. Embassy.
Four Reasons Why Smith Should Be in RP custody (tags)
The AJLPP published this good article: THE UNDERSIGNED groups express their outrage over how the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs have taken the cudgels for Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith who, we have learned, has been released to the custody of the US Embassy upon orders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. These officials have forgotten that they represent the Filipino people and not an American serviceman. Instead of deferring to the judiciary's interpretation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), they have thwarted the legal import of the original provisions of the VFA and substituted their own meaning to justify the transfer of Smith's custody to the United States. This case is not only an issue of custody.
US cancels Balikatan War Exercise in the Philippines, So What? (tags)
The United States has canceled the joint Balikatan war games in the Philippines. US officials said the decision was reached because courts here refused to give in to its demand for the immediate transfer of rape convict Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to American custody. The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP)-USA is not surprised with the U.S Forces Pacific Commander's decision that also stopped "all humanitarian missions and aid" to the Philippines. This form of imperial arrogance is a common reaction of a modern imperialist empire whose was not able get its demand from a lackey client nation. Only the brazen puppets will cower under this form of brinkmanship. But for the Filipino people, they will just shrug it off and say; So what?" AJLPP exclaimed.
On the Philippine Judge’s Decision to Deny Custody of a Convicted US Marine to the US Emba (tags)
The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) USA highly commends Judge Benjamin Pozon of Makati City, Philippines for standing firm on his decision not to give the U.S Embassy custody of convicted rapist Cpl. Daniel Smith of the U.S. Marines despite the lap-dog subservience of the US-Arroyo government and its Department of Justice. What remains now is to ask all patriotic Filipinos to unite and act to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that is the source of all the indignities and violations of our national territory and honor as a people. The United States will always use the onerous and lop-sided VFA to advance their interest against our people and nation. Truly, it took the courage of a Filipino woman, “Nicole”, who stood up for her dignity as a person to emphasize the unequal relationship between the US and the Philippines. It took another brave Filipino man, a judge, to uphold our sovereignty and the majesty of Philippine laws to make us proud to be on a moral high ground and to stand firm as Filipinos. It will take the people of the nation to unite the country to continue to stand and fight for its sovereign rights.
ON SMITH CUSTODY RULING (tags)
News sources today reported that the ruling of Makati trial court Judge Benjamin Pozon for convicted US Marine Daniel Smith to remain at the Makati City Jail “reflects a misunderstanding of Philippine obligations under the terms of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) during judicial proceedings,” the United States embassy said Wednesday. The embassy statement, issued a few hours after Pozon’s ruling, reiterated the American position that Smith, being a member of the US military, should remain in US custody pending final judicial proceedings -- including the appeal of the 40-year sentence on Smith for raping a Filipina last year -- of the case.
On the Verdict of the the GANG Rape of a Filipina by Four US Marines (tags)
The gang rape of Nicole by four US marines in the Philippines is not only an issue of a woman but a whole nation raped for the last century, made possible through onerous and lopsided military agreements, much like the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
On the rape of a Filipina committed by 6 US marines (tags)
We demand that the Philippine Government pursue all means necessary to immediately prosecute the six U.S. servicemen charged with raping a Filipino woman in Olongapo City. The Philippine government should do no less. The government owes it to all Filipino women. - Laban ng Masa - Pinay (Fight of the Masses/ Filipino Women's groups)
Current U.S. Intervention in the Philippines* (tags)
Over the past century, the U.S. has been the leading interventionist power in the world often victimizing small independent countries and national liberation movements and using the military as its chief instrument. In many cases, U.S. interventionism leads to wars of aggression. Other methods used are: political and diplomatic pressures; economic pressures and trade sanctions; covert operations; media manipulation; and others.