Philippines: PALEA holds motorcade on the 30th day of its protest vs. outsourcing (tags)
Also in commemoration of PALEA’s 30th day of protest against contractualization, solidarity actions were held in San Francisco and Los Angeles by US unions and the Filipino-American community. In San Francisco, the groups picketed the Philippine consulate and PAL ticketing office, and submitted a letter of concern to Deputy Consul General Alfonso Ver.
PARDON OF AQUINO KILLERS-AN ACT OF A VENGEFUL REGIME (tags)
Makati Mayor and United Opposition (UNO) president Jejomar Binay yesterday described Mrs. Arroyo’s grant of pardon to the soldiers convicted of killing former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino as an act of “petty vindictiveness.” “Pinersonal na ni Mrs. Arroyo si Presidente Cory,” Binay said. “Just to spite former President Aquino, Mrs. Arroyo has committed an injustice to the memory of Ninoy, the Aquino family and to the people,” he said.
The Significance of Two August 21st Incidents in Philippine History (tags)
Like the rising number of political killings, the August 21, 1983 Aquino assassination remains unsolved. Despite the court findings which sent several military men involved in Aquino’s murder to jail, the people still believe that the real masterminds are still scot-free, and are still in the limelight, and are enjoying their loot in their unperturbed ostentatious style. As we join our voice with all of those who work for a just and lasting peace and fight for justice, the FQSN-USA remembers these historical incidents to remind the Filipino community in the United States that we still face the enemies of the people responsible for these crimes. It is our duty not to let them go unpunished. We will never forget. We will continue to struggle against political amnesia and always uphold the truth.
In the light of the profound economic and political crisis in the Philippines today, what could be the significance of celebrating the one-hundred year anniversary of the coming of Filipino contract labor to Hawaii? Are Filipinos the new compradors for the militarist U.S. Empire? Or are they harbingers of a new generation of combatants from the oppressed communities? At the turn of the century, the revolutionary organizer Rosa Luxemburg elegized the dismal plight of the subjugated natives. Today, US Special Forces are back to reconquer the neocolony, with the natives no longer smiling, now up in arms, united with people of color in Venezuela, Palestine, Hawaii, Nepal, Mexico, and other battlefronts of our beleaguered planet. Whither the Filipino diaspora?