Walden Bello: Sanders as US President good for US, Philippines, and Asia (tags)
MANILA - “Bernie Sanders would be good not only for the United States but for the Philippines and Asia,” Walden Bello told the US media after he chatted briefly with the candidate for Democratic Party presidential nomination in Waterloo, Iowa on Sunday, 13 December 2015.
Disbandment of militias key to Peace in Mindanao, Philippines (tags)
Akbayan Partylist supports the investigation of the killing of lumads particularly in the CARAGA region and bringing the perpetrators to justice. There is no place for impunity in our shared pursuit of just and lasting peace in Mindanao.
On Philippine President Aquino's Midterm Year (tags)
Deeper reforms needed to curb inequality
PHILIPPINES: Akbayan calls on Sandiganbayan to issue warrant of arrest against Arroyo (tags)
Akbayan Chairperson Risa Hontiveros called on the Sandiganbayan today to issue a warrant of arrest against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) in connection with the plunder charge filed against her and several others before the anti-graft court by the Office of the ombudsman.
PHILIPPINES: Akbayan welcomes Corona conviction (tags)
Akbayan welcomes Corona conviction, calls it a triumph of truth and accountability over impunity
Philippines: Annoying P-Noy (tags)
Because the Reds have time and again failed to sell to the majority of Filipinos their offered prescriptions to our national problems, they’ve resorted to all sorts of gimmicks in order to get our attention.
PHILIPPINES: Retired armed forces officers should repudiate Palparan (tags)
Akbayan Party today called on the Association of General and Flag Officers (AGFO) to repudiate retired major general Jovito Palparan and declare him an enemy of the Filipino soldiers and the military institution.
Reform the Philippine Judiciary! Remove Chief Justice Corona! (tags)
The Bantay Gloria Network today said that with Chief Justice Renato Corona hounded by serious charges of amassing ill-gotten wealth, he should follow the example of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez who opted to resign rather than face a prolonged impeachment trial.
Philippine Chief Justice Corona urged to resign (tags)
TWO days after a "court holiday" was declared in support of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, Bantay Gloria Network (BGN) responded with a "national day of action" to press for the removal of Corona from his post.
Former Philippine President Arroyo charged with electoral fraud (tags)
MANILA: The former Philippine president Gloria Arroyo has been charged with electoral fraud in a move that could pave the way for her arrest, after the government rushed the case to a regional court to keep her from leaving the country.
PHILIPPINES: Akbayan calls people to enforce own hold departure order for Arroyo (tags)
Akbayan Party today called on the public to enforce their own hold departure order to prevent former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from "evading justice."
Philippines: No state burial for Marcos is step toward justice (tags)
Akbayan Party lauded President Aquino’s declaration that the administration will not accord a state burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, saying that this is a positive step toward the issuance of justice and rectification of Marcos’ atrocities during the Martial Law.
Philippine Akbayan Party to seek life sentence for Arroyo (tags)
Even before newly appointed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales could step in her new office, anti-corruption advocates already have an important assignment for the new chief of the anti-corruption body.
Akbayan and the Struggle for a New Philippines (tags)
(Speech at the Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo Awards Event, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington State, July 2, 2011.)
PHILIPPINES: The Rough and Rugged Road toward Change (tags)
Akbayan Party?s Statement on the First Year of the Aquino Government
Thousands of militant workers march for higher pay in the Philippines (tags)
Manila, Philippines - Thousands of workers led by the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and its allied organizations converged in key cities on Labor Day to reiterate their demand for better wages, improved economy, jobs, security of tenure for workers and an end to demolition of squatter shanties.
PHILIPPINES: Reclaim EDSA II, punish Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (tags)
Saying that the fight to democratize Philippine society and realize systemic changes to ensure a pro-people government is far from over, EDSA 2 veterans led by former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros on Thursday enjoined the public to “reclaim the spirit of Edsa” which she said was “hijacked” by the past administration.
Excerpts from “How will our People’s War Attain a Qualitative Leap?” (tags)
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has called on us all, to rally around the leadership and exert utmost revolutionary efforts, seizing every moment in our people’s war, to achieve a qualitative development of the revolutionary struggle. This is the call of the hour. At a time when US Imperialism and its European cohorts are facing grave economic and financial crisis, far worse than the Economic Depression of 1930s, our people’s war can seize this opportunity to all-sidedly intensify our struggle and bring the revolution to a new stage of qualitative development.
Philippines: The meaning of the `Noynoy’ Aquino presidency (tags)
On June 9 Senator Benigno Aquino III (“Noynoy” Aquino) of the Liberal Party, the son of former President Cory Aqunio, was proclaimed president by the Philippines Congress. Noynoy was a former senator “with little legislative record to speak of”, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper, which nevertheless campaigned hard for Noynoy Aquino’s presidency, soon after Cory Aquino’s death in August 2009.
PHILIPPINES: Bureaucrat-capitalist Villar not from ranks of dirt poor (tags)
IT WAS ALMOST LIKE HEARING Pol Pot talking when Apo Alvarez, formerly of Anakbayan, wrote that the May 10 elections would symbolize a “clash of classes”—Benigno Aquino III of the elite, and Manuel Villar of the impoverished. (Inquirer, 4/12/10)
ALL OPTIONS FOR GMA TO HOLD ON POWER IN PLACE (tags)
The Los Angeles based Pesante News learned today through news sources that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's declaration placing the whole island of Mindanao under a "state of calamity" and the recent Supreme Court decision allowing GMA to appoint the next Chief Justice are but only two among the many measures that prepare the stage for the US-Arroyo regime's continued hold on power. According to NDF-Mindanao spokesperson Jorge Madlos, in scrutiny with regard to the need, legal basis and motive of placing Mindanao under a "state of calamity" and on the timing and legality of the Supreme Court ruling should be viewed in the context of a regime that is insatiable in perpetuating itself in power. The National Democratic Front in Mindanao (NDF-Mindanao) holds that there is an abundance of reason to believe that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo does not intend to relinquish the power she has mustered by way of deceit, bribery, impunity, and militarism over the last nine years. Come hell or high water, she is hell-bent to stay in power, and, like puzzle pieces falling into its proper place, all indication point to this.
NDF-Southern Mindanao on the GRP elections: no illusions (tags)
The EPCC NEWS sources learned today that the general elections under the reactionary Government of the Republic of the Philippines has kicked off with the usual circus that holds sway among the populace and feeds on their decades-old aspiration for true change in Philippine society. The National Democratic Front-Southern Mindanao states its position on the reactionary GRP elections: That the Filipino masses should bear no illusion that the elections will bring about thoroughgoing change in our semi-feudal and semi-colonial society, and that only the People's Democratic Revolution is our way to genuine liberation and national development.
Worse than a crime – The electoral politics of the NDF and the CPP in the Philippines (tags)
The year 2010 has begun and we already know what’s going to be the most unlikely election coalition of the year. The legal National-Democratic (ND) movement of the Philippines, politically aligned with the underground Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines, has made an alliance with multimillionaire Manuel ‘Manny’ Bamba Villar Jr. and indirectly with Marcos’ admiring son, Ferdinand ’Bongbong’ Marcos jr.
PHILIPPINES - Deny the "Arroyo 5" (tags)
Akbayan party-list launches campaign to deny the premier political family power in the 2010 elections
PHILIPPINES: Capitalist Villar is CPP's bet in 2010 presidential election (tags)
Two days before its 41st founding anniversary, the clandestine Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) endorsed the candidacy of Manuel Villar Jr, the standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party (NP) in the 2010 presidential elections.
ARROYO IS STILL WRONG IN SAYING THE RIGHT THING (tags)
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in defending her declaration of martial law in Maguindanao said:“we can only have justice when there is peace.” She was playing with words. Just like with everything else. GMA played with the Congress and let them hold a useless session just to pull the rug under them by “lifting” the martial law she declared beforehand. She played around with the Supreme Court by giving them a fait accompli and rendering the case “moot.”
PHILIPPINES: Leftist Ocampo, Maza guest senatorial candidates of Rightist NP (tags)
MANILA, Philippines - Extreme Left party-list Reps. Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna (People First) and Liza Maza of Gabriela Women's Party have finally decided to run as guest senatorial candidates of the Nacionalista Party, after Manuel Villar Jr., a billionaire businessman and senator, announced that the NP had severed its ties with the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL - New Society Movement), which was founded by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Philippine Govt creating a climate of fear to put country under Martial law (tags)
Philippine Democratic Left Parties statements regarding Ampatuan Massacre and the declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao
PHILIPPINES: Extreme Left-wing lawmakers, NP ties still open (tags)
TWO LEFT-WING party-list congressmen who are running for senator are still open to linking with the Nacionalista Party (NP) despite its alliance with the Marcos-led Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). KBL or New Society Movement is the party founded by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., after declaring martial law. The Nacionalista Party (NP) was the party of Marcos prior to his proclamation of Martial Law.
Philippines: Abduction and killings of journalists and politicians must be investigated (tags)
A group of about 45 people (latest news figure is now 57) were ambushed and abducted by about 100 armed men, according to reports. The military recovered the bodies of 13 women and eight men—some of them mutilated.
AF3IRM/GABNET STATEMENT ON THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE: (tags)
AF3IRM/GabNet condemns the murder of some 50 persons in Maguindanao, Philippines, including some 14 women, who appear to have been raped as well, and scores of media people. It is ironic that at the start of 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women, the Philippines should once again make news around the world for an act so vile it boggles the mind.
Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino for the next Philippine President (tags)
An administration that shall not enter into any compromises with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA), her family and her cronies. A government that shall commit to reverse the political and economic damages wrought by the Arroyo administration. A political leadership that shall use its authority and shall exercise political will to introduce basic reforms that would restore our faith in our own capacity to lead decent and honorable lives.
FDC to G8-funded World Bank: Cancel all illegitimate debts (tags)
MANILA, Philippines. Members of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) staged a protest action in front of the World Bank office here today to demand the total and unconditional cancellation of all debts it is claiming from the Philippines and developing nations. The protest action coincided with the opening of the Group of Eight Nations’ (G8) 35th Summit in Italy which sets among its agenda the development of a comprehensive response to the global economic crisis.
In a sweeping speech to international leaders and security experts on February 6 in Munich, US vice president Biden, prima facie, revealed to an international audience the core of the Obama regime's foreign policy program. Although emphasizing diplomacy and cooperation as its center piece, he gave a stern warning to the Imperialist allies and client states that they are expected to share the burdens of fighting extremism (whatever that is).
There is a flurry of activities in the Philippine countryside spurred by the recent escalation of UN campaign on climate change. Forums, symposiums and trade shows, addressing the issues and technology are taking the character of a new cottage industry in the making. But what is remarkably noticeable is the proliferation of foreign companies peddling a plethora of items related to the UN initiative, from contraptions to capture fugitive emission to financing mechanisms and templates on organizational structures to facilitate a better chance of certification from pertinent UN bodies.
AJLPP Year End Report, 2008 (tags)
The year 2008 started with a flurry of activities with the anti-war movement marking the 5th year of the US-occupation of Iraq and the War Against Terror and ended with a militant rallies at the Israeli Consulate against the siege and bombing of Gaza on Dec. 30,2008. As an opening salvo, the AJLPP participated in the first ever Women’s March Against the War in Los Angeles led by the GABNET of the MARIPOSA ALLIANCE that drew more than 800 people. The AJLPP also supported the militant Screen Actors Guild Strike in Hollywood. The AJLPP mobilized its forces together with its allies against the successive visits of US prime puppet Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in July in the East Coast and November on the West Coast
Philippine Government Launches New War on Muslim Groups (tags)
War officially came to southern Philippines again as the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo unilaterally put an end to eleven years of negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) September 3. A month early the government abruptly broke off talks with the MILF on the eve of signing an autonomy pact. There are numerous reports of U.S. Special Forces accompanying Philippines Army units on their deadly sweeps in the Bangsamoro (land of the Moro people) region. More than 100 people have been killed so far and half a million refugees have fled from the fighting. Bourgeois liberals and the petty-bourgeois left lamely call on the government to resume the “peace process,” which in any case was only intended to wear down the insurgents. Revolutionaries instead seek to mobilize Philippine workers to drive out all U.S. forces, whatever their legal status; to force the withdrawal of the AFP from the contested southern areas; and to defend the Bangsamoro people and their right to self-determination.
The US-Arroyo regime is responsible for the death and damages caused by the war in Mindana (tags)
-The people must concentrate their anger and condemnation on the US-Arroyo regime as directly responsible on the deaths and damages of the people in Mindanao caused by the escalation of the armed clashes between the AFP and the MILF. The problem can be rooted to the US-dictated two pronged militarist policy of the regime which is the all-out war against the revolutionary movement led by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) while neutralizing the Moro seccessionist movement of the MILF thru a deceptive and bogus peace process to finish the revolutionary movement in 2010. The militarist clique in the Arroyo regime never expected that the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) will ignite the chaos and war in Mindanao. This secret and hasty deal resulted to violent reaction and opposition from the pro and anti-Arroyo reactionary camp and the fake president will even face impeachment because of violations of the constitution. Arroyo got the worst fear of losing her warlord allies in Mindanao that helped her cheat the 2004 elections. Her ulterior motive of using the MOA-AD as a stepping stone for charter change (cha-cha) to remain in Malacanang was also exposed. The MILF's disgust and anger have basis when it was proven that the Arroyo regime is not sincere in the peace talks and on the agreement on ancestral domain and instead used these as a trap to demobilized and surrender of MILF.
Los Angeles Anti-Arroyo RAT Smells a Foul Regime (tags)
Philippine Consulate, Los Angeles – The anti-Arroyo RATs – "Rapid Action Team" traced the foul scent in the thick smoggy air of Los Angeles to the rotten Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) regime. Filipino Americans and their allies gathered around a trashcan with GMA situated in the middle indicating that it is "Time to Take Out the Trash."
Open Letter to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and Canada (tags)
We, the undersigned Canadian-based organizations and individuals, strongly condemn the harassment by armed men of Rep. Satur Ocampo on his return from a Human Rights Mission to Canada. We also condemn the threat of his imminent arrest. We are seriously concerned for his safety and that of the other members of the Mission, Rep. Crispin Beltran and Rep. Luz Ilagan.
We in the Sisters' Association in Mindanao, an aggrupation of some 360 nuns coming from more than 40 congregations in Mindanao, renew our call for Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to step down. We have been unequivocal in the past. We continue to be unwavering in spite of the perceptible absence of a uniting spirit within the Church. But we are inspired by the Church as people of God where the Spirit permeates to bring about righteousness and morality in governance and in our communal life.
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.
PHILIPPINES: Gloria Arroyo is a Human Rights Violator! (tags)
Hers is a Morally Bankrupt Government with Distorted Human Rights Values! Malacañang’s (Presidential Palace) cash gifts, for whatever fabricated excuses and delayed explanations, has exposed the governance of Ms. Gloria Arroyo as morally bankrupt.
On The PGMA Visit To Spain (tags)
“Mas vale la cola de un leon en la cabeza de una rata” The Philippine Peasant Network (Pesante –USA) vehemently condemn the patronage displayed by King Juan Carlos I of Spain as a head of state to President Gloria Macapagal –Arroyo of the Philippines on her state visit to the former colonizer country. Pesante also revolt at the ostentatious and arrogant display of Gloria’s illusion to be royalty, act like a queen and perpetuate herself in power, it is utterly disgusting and despicable and must be condemned.
Filipino Workers Vow to Continue the Struggle (tags)
PHILIPPINES: Statements by the Workers Party (PM) & Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
PHILIPPINES: On Makati Siege; A crisis of institutions (tags)
The incident unfolding in Makati City today is not surprising. It is a logical conclusion to the abuses committed by the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) administration, from the dismissal of the impeachment complaint to the clamp down of democratic and constitutional processes.
On the Philippine Congress Bombing (and Glorietta Mall blast) (tags)
Akbayan & Anak Mindanao Partylists condemn Batasan bombing
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.
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.
U.S.-WIDE VIGIL FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF GABNET 3--U.S. CITIZENS / PERMANENT RESIDENT BANN (tags)
RALLY AND VIGIL IN SUPPORT OF THE GABNET 3
Filipino workers slam Arroyo for its consistent failure to clip the jobs crisis (tags)
A dismal failure! This is the verdict of workers belonging to the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) as they slammed the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) administration ahead of her State of the Nation Address (SONA) for its consistent failure to clip the jobs crisis.
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.
AKBAYAN denounces US intervention in Philippine elections (tags)
AKBAYAN Party-list condemned today the reported participation of US soldiers Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) initiated campaigns against leftist party-list organizations. The group said that it received reports from the local media in Zamboanga City that US soldiers are also campaigning against party-list groups that the AFP considers as “communist fronts.”
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.
PHILIPPINES: Ghost of the fraudulent 2004 elections will haunt this year’s polls (tags)
As the opposition and the administration finalize their line-up, AKBAYAN (Citizens Action Party) warned voters of opportunists who would cover up the single most important issue in this year’s elections – the ‘Hello Garci ’ controversy.
AJLPP: GMA caused people's cynicism of People Power (tags)
On January 20, 2001, the people of the Philippines overthrew President Joseph Estrada and installed Vice President Gloria Macapagala-Arroyo, Six years after the EDSA 2 uprising that toppled President Joseph Estrada, the AJLPP-USA agroup in the US working for a just and lasting peace laments that the political situation turned to worse for the Filipinos.
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.
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.
Philippines: Charter Change is Arroyo's Cover-up (tags)
AKBAYAN (Citizens Action Party) today stepped up efforts to derail attempts at the House of Representatives to initiate Charter Change (Cha Cha), calling the move as nothing more than an attempt to cover up the seething political crisis hounding Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA).
Philippine Women's National Day of Protest (tags)
US-BASED WOMEN’S GROUP GABRIELA NETWORK COMMEMORATE PHILIPPINE WOMEN’S NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST; DECLARE U.S. CULPABLE FOR EXPLOITATION AND OPPRESSION OF FILIPINAS
PHILIPPINES: Resist Arroyo’s “mad dog” campaign to cripple the political opposition! (tags)
The Department of Interior and Local Government’s “preventive suspension” of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and his entire city council based on flimsy administrative charges marks the height of the Arroyo government’s “mad dog” campaign to cripple the political opposition by all means.
"Philippine President" Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is the Coddler of Criminals (tags)
Yesterday, former University of the Philippines president and Laban ng Masa (Struggle of the Masses) Chairperson, Dr. Francisco "Dodong" Nemenzo, Jr and ten others were charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly harboring fugitive rebel soldiers belonging to the Magdalo group which the government believed to be involved in the July 2003 failed coup.
PHILIPPINES: The worst regime post-Marcos (tags)
AKBAYAN (Citizens Action Party) commemorates Martial Law with condemnation of worst regime post-Marcos.
PHILIPPINES: Remember Martial Law! (tags)
September Twenty-One Protest against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (STOP-GLORIA)
Community Radio station set aflame in the Philippines: staff injured, military blamed (tags)
In the latest attack over free media in the Philippines, Radyo Cagavano, a community radio station run by farmers and supported by the left-wing Bayan Muna party, was burned down and its staff member injured and robbed at gun-point. The radio station employees suspect the Philippine Army. Since Gloria Macapagal became President in Feburary 2001, 42 journalists have been murdered. AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Stations, is organizing a campaign to demand justice for the people of Radyo Cagayano. (includes pictures provided by Kodao Productions from Quezon City, Philippines. Kodao Productions, another AMARC member, is spearheading the national campaign in the Philippines.)
Philippines: Anti-Arroyo Groups Brace for Bigger Fights Ahead (tags)
In a gathering of around 100 leaders from labor, peasant, urban poor, women and youth groups, the umbrella coalition Laban ng Masa is bracing for bigger fights in its bid to oust the Arroyo regime and initiate reforms under a transitional revolutionary government.
On Killings and Church Persecution (tags)
Pesante published a press statement of PCPR to inform the public in the US on the killings and persuction of the US-Arroyo regime of church people. To date there are about 15 churchpeople who have been killed under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s regime. All of them, members of the clergy, church workers and lay leaders, were active social justice advocates.We pay the highest respect unto the martyrs of the church and the people. As the good book stated, “God’s faithful people are dragged off and killed and no one even cares. Evil sweeps them away, but in death they find peace for obeying God.” (Isaiah 57:1-2) Lastly, we also call on the churchpeople to be steadfast in their commitment for the cause of truth, justice, peace and genuine democracy.
NDFP condemns cowardly murder of Ka Teroy Llamas (tags)
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) strongly condemned Monday the cowardly murder of Sotero "Ka Teroy" Llamas and the almost daily killings of leaders and members of the left movement, political party lists, the media and the church, which it said is perpetrated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's deat squads. In a statement issued by Luis Jalandoni, chairperson of the negotiating panel of the NDFP, he stated that Ka Teroy served as adviser to the negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). As adviser to the NDFP, Ka Teroy was covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed by both the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. As holder of JASIG, Ka Teroy should be protected by the JASIG.
International Women's Day in the Philippines (tags)
Women of different political groups and professions were present at the March. Thirteen major groups joined forces under the banner “Martsa ng Kababaihan”. Present in big numbers were members of Akbayan, LABAN ng MASA, Bayan, Black and White Movement, women advocate groups like Gabriela Women’s Party, Welga ng Kababaihan, and WomenSpeak. In an interesting twist of history, this was the first time that the women’s movements gathered together in a common cause since the Marcos dictatorship.
Women in US Launch Sustained Protests Against De Facto Martial Law in the Philippines (tags)
GABRIELA Network USA, a Philippine-US women's solidarity mass organization, launches rolling national mobilization that will see daily protest actions in major cities in the US until the Philippine state of national emergency is lifted.
To bury the truth, GMA killed Philippine democracy (tags)
25 February 2006 AKBAYAN Party today denounced anew GMA's declaration of a State of National Emergency, saying that the draconian measures that the government imposed yesterday completely exposed the despotic inclinations of the ruling regime. "Yesterday's events were the last of the jigsaw pieces that revealed in full GMA's intention to rule the country through a dictatorship. What she has done is an insult not only to the millions of Filipinos who risked their lives to peacefully dismantle the Marcos dictatorship, but also to a world that was moved and inspired by the strength of our love for democracy and freedom. The dark days of Martial Law have been resurrected and they will haunt us as long as President GMA is in power and as long as systemic changes and democratic reforms are not in place," AKBAYAN Rep. Mayong Aguja said. "Just so she could evade the truth behind the 'Hello Garci' controversy, the President is willing to destroy the already shaky democratic structures of the country."
The War Against the People: US Scholars Denounce Killings and Calls for a World-Wide Actio (tags)
Northampton, MA - The Critical Filipina and Filipino Studies Collective (CFFSC) condemns the growing spate of killings and human rights violations of political activists, peasant rights advocates and sympathizers, lawyers and priests in the Philippines. The Philippine military is targeting and murdering leftist activists and civilians under the pretense of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regime’s “War on Terror.” The U.S.-backed Arroyo regime’s campaign of surveillance, abduction, torture, and execution is a campaign of terror against the Filipino people.