JOSE RIZAL & PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY (tags)
JUNE 12, marking the independence of the Philippines from the Spanish empire, would not have been realized without the martyrdom of countless Filipinos foremost of whom is Jose Rizal. Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan rebellion, honored Rizal's memory by using his name as a shibboleth. But the neocolonial politicians today have only fulfilled Rizal's nightmare that the slaves of yesterday will be the tyrants of today. This essay pays homage to Rizal on the 150th anniversary of his birth.
U.S. IMPERIALISM IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
After more than a century of brutal colonization of the Philippines, U.S. troops continue to battle Moro insurgents and the New People's Army guerillas to protects its investments, support the bloody oligarchs headed by the Arroyo clique, and preserve its neocolonial stranglehold. The U.S. public should wake up to demand that Obama stop its support of the Arroyo regime and withdraw U.S. troops. E. San Juan's two books might help inform the US public of what's going on in the Philippines today.
France urges RP to back disappearances treaty (tags)
France appealed to the Philippine government to sign and ratify an international treaty on forced disappearances in view of the pending assistance of local authorities by human rights experts from Europe in solving the unabated political killings in the country. French Ambassador to the Philippines Gerard Chesnel yesterday stressed the need for all democratic governments to support the treaty on disappearances, which will criminalize and put an end to rampant state-sanctioned abductions.
E. San Juan's recent book, ONLY BY STRUGGLE (Quezon City: Giraffe Books), represents one of the most important progressive voices in the movement for national democracy and liberation in the Philippines. This review highlights some noteworthy themes of the work.