Behind Bars: The Travails of a Political Prisoner, Randall Echanis, KMP (tags)
Randall Echanis, of the militant peasant organization the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, is not the only political prisoner of the Arroyo regime. There are currently 240 prisoners in detention by the count of Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA), an organization dedicated to helping political prisoners.
The Empire Strikes Back—PGMA Revival of Anti Subversion Law (tags)
The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante)-USA vehemently condemned the recent pronouncements of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to revive the evil anti subversion law or R.A. 1700 of the 1960’s . For Pesante-USA, Mrs.Arroyo’s declaration only highlights the height of her callousness and political insensitivity. The Malacanang press office backtracked and denied the presidential statement. But the matter only highlights her much vaunted doublespeak.
FIGHTING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FILIPINO DIGNITY (tags)
Massive human rights violations--extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, massacres, dislocation of millions of peasants and rural folk--characterize the current Arroyo regime in the Philippines. US taxdollars are paying the Arroyo military and police to carry out such barbaric practices. US citizens, concerned with human rights, ought to protest Bush/Pentagon's aid to the corrupt Arroyo administration, and demand an end to US mililtary intervention in suppressing the Moro and National Democratic Front insurgents. In the following article, Prof. E. San Juan re-affirms the necessity of upholding human rights embodied in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which is an integral part of contemporary international law, to which every nation should adhere as member nation-states. The article pays tribute to the self-sacrificing work of thousands of Filipino activists fighting for national democracy, social justice, and genuine sovereignty, in particular the staff of KARAPATAN and its secretary-general, Marie Hilao Enriquez.
DUTCH FASCISM & BUSH-ARROYO STATE TERRORISM ATTACK FILIPINO REFUGEES (tags)
Colluding with U.S. & Filipino reactionaries, Dutch fascist authorities arrested Jose Maria Sison, a Filipino political refugee, and raided the National Democratic Front International Information Office in Holland. This is a clear example of State Terrorism working on behalf of predatory imperialist capital. All progressives and democrats everywhere should protest this outrage and support the Filipino people's struggle for justice, equality, and true independence.
PAMAMASISTA NG REHIMENG-US ARROYO, LUMALALA (tags)
Patuloy na lumalala ang ang panggigipit at panunupil ng pasistang rehimeng Arroyo sa mamamayang Pilipino. Ayon sa ulat ng AJLPP mula sa iba’t-ibang panig ng Piipinas, Pinakatampok nitong Agosto ang pagmamanman at harasment sa tatlong upisyal ng Gabriela Network USA. Bagamat nakauwi na sa Amerika ang tatlong myembre ng Gabriela Network-USA, binatikos ni Kinatawan Liza Maza ang pangigipit ng estado sa isang talumpati sa mababang kapulungan ng Kongreso. Samantala, tatlong myembro rin ng Anakpawis ang dinukot sa Zamboanga del Sur habang pinag-iibayo ang panggigipit sa mamamayang Moro. Umabot na rin sa may 25,000 mamamayang Bangsa Moro sa isla ng Basilan at Sulu ang naging biktima ng pagpapalikas ng military dahil sa pinag-ibayong operasyong military ng AFP sa dalawang lugar. Mahigit na 100 sundalo na ng AFP at ng Abu Sayaff ang napatay sa sunud-sunod na labanan.
Philippine Democracy Under Arroyo’s Petty Tyranny (tags)
The rampant human rights violation under the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government and her penchant for issuing policies that have curtailed the freedom of speech and assembly have been likened to the tyranny that reigned over our country during the time of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
GABNET 3 ATTEMPTS TO BOARD PLANES A SUCCESS, DESPITE HARASSMENT FROM IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS (tags)
Dr. Annalisa Enrile and two other GABNet leaders en route to US after harassment from immigration officials at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila
HUMAN SECURITY ACT PUTS LEADERS OF GABRIELA NETWORK-USA ON RP (tags)
USC Professor and activist plus two others are restricted from leaving the Philippines
Joint Alliance-Philippines and International ANSWER Statement in Response to Philippine Pr (tags)
The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) or Alliance-Philippines, and the International ANSWER Steering Committee of which it is a member, strongly denounce Bush “ally” Philippine president Gloria Arroyo for going forward with the implementation of an Anti-Terror Law (ATL), euphemistically called the Human Security Act, in the Philippines. We express our militant solidarity with the progressive forces in the Philippines who will be staging protests against Arroyo in all major cities throughout the country when she delivers her State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23. Besides spinning the usual lies and deceit about her regime’s accomplishments, US “major ally” Arroyo is expected to make the ATL the centerpiece of her SONA.
Government forces ready to foil communist attacks--PNP (tags)
Government forces are ready to thwart communist attacks, officials said following threats of more rebel offensives in response to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “outright threat to use state terror.” Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Calderon on Thursday said he has ordered intensified security operations to stop the New People’s Army from staging deadly attacks on soldiers and policemen and destroying infrastructures like telecommunication towers.
Response to Philippine President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23 (tags)
The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) or Alliance-Philippines, , strongly denounce Bush “ally” Philippine president Gloria Arroyo for going forward with the implementation of an Anti-Terror Law (ATL), euphemistically called the Human Security Act, in the Philippines. Arroyo’s Puppet Hypocrisy and US Intervention AJLPP strongly denounce the hypocrisy of the US- Arroyo regime for painting a rosy picture of the Philippines while poverty, corruption and repression grips the land. The Arroyo regime pretends to be interested in resuming peace talks with both the Philippine revolutionary movement represented by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) while it ordered an attack against the MILF. The fascist regime continues its alarming spree of extra-judicial killings (now more than 870 since Arroyo took office in 2001) against political opponents and critics, and unleashes legalized fascism against the entire Filipino people through the implementation of the Anti-Terror Law.
FILIPINO EDUCATOR ASSAILS ARROYO DICTATORSHIP IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
World-renowned Filipino educator Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, former president of the University of the Philippines and head of the coalition, LABAN NG MASA, urges the formation of a revolutionary transitional government to replace the corrupt, brutal and illegitimate Arroyo regime backed by Bush neocons and predatory corporate elite. The following article provides a background to Dr. Nemenzo's principled critique of U.S.-Arroyo State terrorism.
FILIPINA SENATOR ATTACKS ARROYO STATE TERRORISM IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
Of distinguished progressive lineage, Senator Jamby Madrigal of the Philippines takes a principle stand critical of the Arroyo regime's bloody and brutal repression of Filipinos backed by the Bush neocons. This article provides a context for the Philippine crisis and Senator Madrigal's views on U.S. imperialism in the neocolony and its complicity with State-terrorist repression.
DOJ Secretary Gonzalez eyes Abu Sayyaf, CPP and NPA for terror listing (tags)
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez listed the bandit group Abu Sayyaf, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), among the groups being considered for inclusion in the terror list to be drawn up under the Human Security Act (HSA), said Tuesday. The outspoken Gonzalez also said he has already asked the Supreme Court to assign special courts to handle cases against suspected terrorists and terrorist organizations.
Commemorate the 115th Year of the Founding of the Katipunan, Continue the Unfinished Revol (tags)
On July 7, 1892, three dedicated patriot, Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata and Ladislao Diwa founded the Katipunan, the secret society of patriots in a hosue in Azcaraga Street in Manila. The Katipunan was organized after the Spanish authorities clamped down on the La Liga Filipina, founded by Jose Rizal and only lasted for several days until it was outlawed in July 2, 1892. By August 23, 1896, when the Spanish authorities discovered the organization, it has organized an undeground network of more than 30, 000 members all over the nation it was ready to launch the armed revolution against Spain. Today, we are not farther from the same unjust and repressive conditions under Spain. The US-Arroyo regime on July 15, 2007 will implement a new martial rule system under a law named Human Security Act or the Anti-Terror Law abhorred by the people.
ANTI TERRORISM ACT IS A LICENSE FOR AND A WEAPON OF STATE TERRORISM (tags)
The Anti-Terrorism Act (Republic Act No. 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007) is part of the global wave of fascist legislation and state terrorism generated by the so-called global war on terror under the Bush regime of the US government. Aside from being a tool of US imperialism, the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) is a repressive tool of the Arroyo regime for intimidating and suppressing the people’s democratic movement and the broad range of opposition forces.
Progressive FIlipinos Welcomes US Senate Spending Bill (tags)
Progressive Filipino groups from whose ranks most of the victims of extrajudicial killings have come welcomed the action of the United States Senate appropriations committee prohibiting the use of US military aid against Filipino civilians. The U.S Senate in its version of the Foreign Operations Spending Bill it approved last week, the committee instructed the US Secretary of State to monitor US military assistance to the Philippines so that they won’t be “misused by units of the security forces…against civilians, including civilians who are members of political opposition parties and human rights groups.”
NDFP POSITION ON CEASEFIRE AND PEACE NEGOTIATIONS (tags)
The Arroyo regime is hell-bent on suppressing the Filipino people and revolutionary people by murdering, kidnapping, torturing and driving them away from their homes and land. But the Filipino people and revolutionary forces have always strongly manifested their determination to defend themselves and wage resistance, punish the worst of human rights violators and plunderers and build the new organs of democratic power to replace the ruling system of greed and terror. #
Panayam ng Pinoy Weekly kay Prof. Jose Ma. Sison (tags)
Kunwaring nagpapanukala ng general amnesty ang rehimen para palitawin na ito ay nasa mataas na posisyong moral at politikal. Sa katotohanan, ang rehimen ay imoral at kaaway ng sambayanang Pilipino dahil sa pagtataksil at pagkapapet sa imperyalista, korap at mapagsamanatala, malupit, nagpapairal ng terorismo ng estado at madugong mapanlabag sa mga karapatang tao. Ang pag-aasta ng rehimen na handang magbigay ng general amnesty ay isang anyo ng tusong paghahanda sa implementasyon ng Human Security Act o Anti-Terror Law. Parang sinasabi ni Ermita bilang Torquemada ng Anti-Terrorist Council na dapat sumuko na lahat ng oposisyon sa rehimeng Arroyo bago ipataw sa kanila sila ang Anti-Terror Law.
PHILIPPINES:Gonzales to Reds: Truce or terror tag? (tags)
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, who assumed his post yesterday as officer-in-charge of the defense department prior to the installation of the permanent defense secretary, warned communist rebels that they would be identified as terrorists once the anti-terror law or the Human Security Act of 2007 takes effect this month. Gonzales said the New People’s Army (NPA), however, could avoid the terrorist tag if the rebels declare a ceasefire. “If the NPA rebels refuse to implement a ceasefire, they will be branded as terrorist like the Abu Sayyaf, Rajah Solaiman Group and the Jemaah Islamiyah,” Gonzales told reporters during turnover rites at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, attended by outgoing Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
On Admiral Timothy Keating's threat to escalate US military intervention (tags)
Far worse human rights violations can be expected to follow from the statements of US Pacific Forces commander Admiral Timothy Keating that the US is going to tighten its "anti-terror military cooperation" with the Arroyo regime and is willing to escalate the long-running US military intervention in the Philippines in order to fight the New People's Army (NPA) led by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) upon the request of the Arroyo regime.
REPORT ON THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
Interview of Filipino Activist Intellectual E. SAN JUAN, Jr.
FILIPINA MILITANTS CONDEMN ARROYO-BUSH FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (tags)
The 2nd session of the Permanent People's Tribunal (March 21-25, The Hague, Netherlands) marks a historic milestone in the Filipino people's struggle for social justice and true independence from U.S. imperialism and predatory global capital. This brief report sums up the major achievement of the Tribunal, highlighting the role of progressive Filipina women in the fight for freedom and people's liberation.
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.
Progressive Phlippine Groups Lambasted the New RP anti-terror law (tags)
Progressive party list lawmakers called lambasted the newly signed RP anti-terror law also known as the "Human Security Law" Tuesday and called it a “day of infamy. News sources reported that progressive lawmakers from the partylist ANAKPAWIS, GABRIELA and BAYAN MUNA, called the signing of the law as" virtual martial law"
PHILIPPINES: ANTI-TERROR ACT FURTHER EMBOLDENS FORCES OF STATE TERRORISM (tags)
Even without the Anti-Terror Act, euphemistically called the Human Security Act of 2007, the US-directed Arroyo regime has unleashed the counterrevolutionary military and police forces on the people and spurred them to commit all kinds of barbarities, including the massacre and massive displacement of people in the countryside and the extrajudicial killing, abduction and torture of so many unarmed legal activists. These atrocities are all in line with the Bush global war of terror and its Philippine puppet version called Oplan Bantay Laya I and II. Upon the signing of the Anti-Terror Act by Gloria M. Arroyo, the reactionary military and forces and their special operations teams and death squads are further licensed and further emboldened to commit acts of state terrorism. The main objective of the Act is to suppress the people’s movement for national liberation and democracy and the broad range of legal forces criticizing and opposing the regime. If the targets of the act were only such small groups like the supposedly Al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jema’ah Islamiyah, the existing system of security agencies and criminal law on murder would have sufficed.
US lauds ratification of Philippines' anti-terrorism bill (tags)
The US Embassy lauded yesterday the House of Representatives’ ratification of the anti-terrorism bill and the approval of the bicameral conference committee report on the bill. "For us, it is a very good and positive step (for the Philippines). The Philippine law enforcement and judicial authorities should have this kind of tools that are needed to counter terrorism," press attaché Matthew Lussenhop said. He also said the US government was not disappointed with the delay in the passage of the anti-terror measure, pointing out that "we respect Philippine democracy and its legislative consultative process and it takes time."
AJLPP Condemns the Passage of the Philippine Anti-Terror Bill (tags)
The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) vehemently condemned the passage of a the anti-terror bill in the Philippine Congress in a special session. The AJLPP expressed dismay over the ratification that came by way of approval by the House of Representatives of the Senate-amended bill -- called the “Human Security Act of 2007” -- which opponents had warned might be used to repress civil liberties.