GABRIELA-USA: Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment

Pay for your Diwang Pinay 2009 Ads Online!

2009-04-30T10:19:00.006-05:00

Welcome to the FiRE Ad Payment page! We've found a quick and convenient way to pay for your program ads for this year's Diwang Pinay! Please select your ad type below, and click "Add to Cart." It will take you to a secured Paypal payment page (takes credit card payments, and no account required!) Pardon the spacing and such, but we had some trouble with the coding! :) Please visit us at www.firenyc.org!

***note, your payment will be made to FiRE current Finance Officer, Irma Bajar.

Our Upcoming events

2008-12-14T21:36:00.001-05:00

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2008-10-21T17:08:00.002-05:00

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2008-10-21T17:08:00.001-05:00

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2008-10-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

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2008-10-08T19:26:00.001-05:00

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JUSTICE FOR HAZEL, NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND MIGRANTS

2008-08-19T22:08:00.000-05:00

Dear friends,

Greetings of peace!

As part of the JUSTICE FOR HAZEL, NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND MIGRANTS CAMPAIGN of MIGRANTE Japan (Interim Coordinating Body or ICB), we are circulating online this support petition to demand Justice for "Hazel" and other victims of rape and sexual violence perpetrated by abusive American soldiers stationed in the various US military bases in Japan and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.

http://www.petitiononline.com/bmp12361/petition.html

We need to gather the widest and broadest support for "Hazel" from local and international friends and other concerned individuals and groups to add pressure and to block attempts to cover up this heinous crime.

MIGRANTE Japan (ICB) will appreciate it very much if you can help us circulate this support petition among members of your organization, friends, and networks.

Thank you very much!

Rosanna Tapiru
MIGRANTE Japan ICB
Campaign Secretariat
Email: icb_migrantejapan@yahoo.com

==============

To: Peace-loving Peoples of the World

On February 18, 2008, "Hazel", a 22-year old Filipina, was raped by a US soldier barely 3 days after she arrived in Okinawa, Japan, to work as a cultural dancer. It's been more than 180 days now but so far no formal charge of rape has been filed against the accused, Specialist Sgt. Ronald Edward Hopstock Jr. The US Army Command in Okinawa is now conducting pretrial probe and will decide from now until November 2008 whether to press charges against the accused and conduct military court martial or to dismiss the case. Earlier, the Naha Public Prosecutor's Office had hastily dropped the case of "Hazel" (not her real name) citing "lack of sufficient evidence" as reason even though police and medical reports showed clear indications of sexual and physical abuse on the victim.

We, supporters and defenders of Hazel, the latest victim in a long string of sexual crimes committed by abusive U.S. military soldiers in Japan, are worried about Hazel and what will be the outcome of her case. We are afraid that like in many previous cases of rape and sexual abuse involving American soldiers, the accused may just go unpunished. The slow-paced legal process and the lack of resoluteness on the part of the Japanese prosecutors to pursue the case are clear indications of our worst fear.

We are also frustrated that the Philippine government has done very little effort to support the case of Hazel and to defend her rights. Instead of protecting her and providing all moral, legal and material support she needs, the Arroyo government through the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Okinawa and the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, has shown lack of sensitivity and resolve to safeguard the interest of the victim by not making any concrete legal action to pursue the case after it was dropped by the Japanese prosecutors. It virtually surrendered the case to the U.S. Army, and has persistently issued false statements to cover up for its inaction and neglect of the plight of Hazel and other Filipino migrants in Japan.

While we condemn the American soldier for the crimes he committed, we hold the Philippine government principally responsible for what has happened to Hazel and the ordeal that she has to go through for the rest of her life. Like millions of other migrant Filipinos, Hazel took the risk of leaving the country to work overseas because of poverty and serious unemployment problems in the Philippines. She went through all the legal procedures and paid all her dues to be able to legally work in Japan. But sadly, Hazel fell in the hands of unscrupulous talent promoters and club owners because the Philippine government failed to do its job and was nowhere in sight when Hazel needed assistance and protection.
We dare concerned officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and the Office of the Honorary Consulate in Okinawa to immediately resign for failing to perform their mandated duties and obligations to its citizens in Japan. If they cannot protect and defend a rape victim like Hazel, then they have no right to hold any position in government.

We also challenge the U.S. and Japanese governments to side with justice and to refrain from making any cover up of the crime. We appeal for the speedy resolution of the case so that justice may be served to Hazel and members of her family who are also victims like her.

We support the call for JUSTICE for Hazel and other victims of rape and sexual violence committed by abusive American soldiers stationed in the various U.S. military bases and facilities throughout Japan and other countries in Asia. We demand that the accused be formally charged in an appropriate and impartial court and be punished commensurate to the crime he committed.

We will be watching the case closely. We will not allow any cover up much less a miscarriage of justice. In the past, we have seen many cases of rape and sexual abuse perpetrated by American soldiers in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere that have gone unpunished. We vow to relentlessly fight to end this impunity.

We also reiterate our demand to the Arroyo government to implement programs that truly guarantee protection to all migrant Filipinos regardless of their legal status; and to STOP treating migrants like commodities or mere source of dollar revenues for the bankrupt Philippine economy.

We commend the courage and conviction shown by Hazel to fight for justice not only for herself but also for other victims of rape and sexual violence committed by American soldiers, to advance the legitimate cause of women and migrants around the world, and to defend Philippine sovereignty and the dignity of the Filipino people.

We strongly believe that true justice for Hazel and other victims can only be achieved through the combined efforts of people struggling for peace and acting in solidarity with one another to resist all forms of abuse and violence against women and migrants.

We, therefore, appeal to all Filipinos and peace-loving peoples of the world to rally behind Hazel and to stand up for the rights and dignity of women and migrants around the world.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/bmp12361/petition.html

Mabuhay, Ka Bel!

2008-05-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends, Sisters and Comrades,
Apologies for cross posting.

Please find attached GABRIELA Philippines' statement on the death of our beloved comrade Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran. He passed away yesterday, May 20, due to head injuries sustained when he accidentally fell from the roof of his house while repairing it. His remains are at the Philippine Independent Church in Taft Avenue, Manila. He will be cremated on May 27.

Emmi de Jesus
Secretary General

___________________________________________________________________

KA BEL, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE WORKING CLASS

GABRIELA National Alliance of Women mourns with the people with the passing away of Ka Crispin Beltran, representative of Anakpawis Party List, representative of the working class Filipinos.

Ka Bel was relentless in serving the oppressed people, enduring the most difficult of trials, the latest of which was his detention for more than a year for rebellion case orchestrated by the Arroyo regime. His dedication to the working class was such that he inspired and encouraged his own children and grandchildren to become part of the people's struggle.

Ka Bel was an ideal man – passionate in his commitment to serve, devoted to the cause of the people, dependable in the most trying of times.

Ka Bel's death is a great loss but more importantly his life, tirelessly dedicated to serving the oppressed peoples, will forever serve as an inspiration to continue the people's struggle for genuine freedom and democracy.

Mahal ka namin, Ka Bel, we will sorely miss you.

Thank you for a GREAT MAYDAY!

2008-05-03T18:59:00.000-05:00

FiRE received a lot of press (that we arer still trying to track down!) But here's Jackie on the NYT Slideshow!

GOOD LOOK! :)

Senate Historic Vote on FilVets a Result of Filipino Unity for Full Equity and People's Struggle

2008-04-29T21:24:00.000-05:00

News Release
April 28, 2008

Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

Senate Historic Vote on FilVets a Result of Filipino Unity for Full Equity and People's Struggle
Fil-Ams Demand House of Representatives to Complete the Process of Righting a Historical Wrong

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, commends the perseverance of the Filipino WWII Veterans, their families, and the many grassroots organizations who have fought decades for full recognition and equity for Filipino World War II Veterans. The recent passing of US Senate Bill 1315 (S.1315), the Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007, is a major step towards righting this historical wrong. It is important to underscore that it was only through unrelenting advocacy and massive struggle of many individuals and organizations including our own member organization, that the Filipino WWII Veterans will get their full recognition. And as we await the vote of the House of Representatives, it is important to intensify our advocacy for justice and to demand that the bill will not be watered down.

"It was the blood, sweat, and tears of the Filipino World War II Veterans themselves, their families, and their supporters, marching on the streets for over six decades that made the US Senate turn its head our direction," states BAYAN USA Chair Chito Quijano. "Otherwise, the appalling institutional racism in the United States and historical unequal relationship between the US and Philippine governments would continue to enforce the painful 60 year-old status quo of mass deprivation of basic pension benefits for our aging veterans, many of whom have already passed away."

Last week, in a historic vote, the US Senate voted an overwhelming 96 to 1 in favor of passing S. 1315, a bill that would finally provide Filipino World War II Veterans their veterans affairs (VA) pension. Before that, the issue of full equity for Filipino World War II Veterans stood as the single most unifying concern for a broad Filipino-American population of nearly four million in the United States. Numerous Filipino groups took the concern annually to Capitol Hill as well as organized marches and rallies around the veterans' cause.

The Philippines was the first and only direct colony of the United States government acquired through a violent takeover at the turn of the 20th century. At the time of World War II, the Philippines, then a US Commonwealth, provided over 140,000 Filipino men under the US Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE) Program, to fight alongside US soldiers in defeating the Japanese Imperial Army. While considered US nationals at the time, the Filipino veterans were only foreign nationals recruited to the US Armed Forces that did not avail of the US government's promise of pension benefits once their service to the United States was completed.

Of the 140,000 Filipino men who fought during World War II, there are less than 18,000 surviving, and many continue to die weekly impoverished and uncompensated for their bravery.

In 1946, the same year the Philippines was granted nominal independence from the US government, Congress and President Truman passed the infamous Rescission Act, which voided Filipino veterans who served alongside US soldiers in the same cause to receive pension benefits. It stated -- "the service of Filipinos shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces of the United States or any component thereof or any law of the United States conferring rights, privileges or benefits."

"We must continue to expose this shameful episode in US history, and hold the US government accountable for its many unforgivable acts," Quijano added.

S. 1315 is a bill that would enhance life insurance benefits for disabled veterans, burial allowances and household grants, and provides for over $221 million in new pension benefits.

As the issue now moves into the House's hands, Filipino-Americans are stepping up their demand that the deal be sealed.

"We cannot back down now. We need to keep the momentum going and keep the pressure on Congress. We urge all freedom-loving citizens to contact their local state representatives and demand full equity for the Filipino veterans especially when the issue is up for a vote in the Lower House this year. We will not cease our collective efforts and actions until justice for our brave veterans is finally attained," Quijano ended. ###

New York Pinays Redefine the "Struggling Artist"

2008-04-23T01:48:00.001-05:00

For Immediate Release

Reference: Valerie Francisco, Secretary General, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment, 925-726-5768, fire.nyc@gmail.com

New York Pinays Redefine the "Struggling Artist"

New York, NY--On April 19, 2008, a women's organization, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), held a cultural night dedicated to the artistic talents of Filipino American women. Pinay artists from all over the US showcased their work, alongside New York Filipina artists.

Using art as a vehicle, Diwang Pinay urged Filipino American women in New York to connect their struggles in the US to the ones faced by their counterparts in the Philippines. The evening brought together over 100 people in Greenwich Village's historic Judson Memorial Church, and began with a Brooklyn-based artist, Fly Lady Di, setting up a blank canvas and gradually painted an abstract Philippine flag.

The audience was called to attention as members of Kinding Sindaw, a Moro dance troupe, began playing the kulintang as a backdrop to traditional ceremonial dances. Then, Pinay artists like singer/songwriter, Taospuso, and 1st Quarter Storm, a hip hop duo based inSeattle, Washington performed politically charged work which forced attention to the unresolved human rights situation in the Philippines. The night affirmed an intact community of Filipino women able to nurture artistic growth across their mediums in the New York City area, as well as across the nation.

The featured speaker of the night, GABRIELA secretary general Emmi De Jesus, was flown in from the Philippines and ended the New York leg of her US speaking tour at the first annual Diwang Pinay. After a few days of attending forums representing various local communities organized by FiRE, De Jesus brought a sobering testimony of Filipino women's resistance amidst the corruption and the atrocious human rights record of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"Although GMA is a woman president, she is a shame to Filipino women in the Philippines and all over the world," De Jesus stated, "GMA's blatant neglect of basic rights to life, education, employment and the repression of women's right to fight for social justice is an attack on Filipino women globally."

FiRE, as a part of the first overseas chapter of GABRIELA, committed to calling attention to the human rights violations enacted on women leaders and activists in thePhilippines. Diwang Pinay was intended to be an evolving space tackling issues faced by Filipinas in the United States and abroad. Ultimately, FiRE hopes to encourage women to continue developing the culture of resistance surrounding these turbulent times by bringing awareness to how these violations impact women's lives daily.

FiRE's first annual Diwang Pinay in New York precedes the Diwang Pinay being held in San Francisco on April 25 with a women and art theme, organized by babae-San Francisco and League of Filipino Students and San Francisco State University.

###

People Power Tour 1!

2008-04-18T12:46:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 18, 2007

Premier Filipino American emcees, Kiwi (formerly of Native Guns) and Geologic (aka Prometheus Brown of Seattle's Blue Scholars) launch social justice benefit, People Power Tour.

Media Contact:

Bernadette Ellorin – Secretary General of BAYAN USA – secgen@bayanusa.org
Brian Myers – People Power Tour – National Coordinator - brian.jl.myers@gmail.com

Two of the West Coast's premier Filipino American emcees, Geologic aka Prometheus Brown of Seattle's Blue Scholars and San Francisco's Kiwi, formerly of Native Guns, are teaming up again to rally youth and students to raise awareness with a nationwide People Power Tour. Geologic elaborated, "We are volunteering to do this concert because we have a responsibility, beyond music, to raise awareness and hopefully incite action that addresses the human rights crisis and government corruption in our homeland."

Over the next 3 weeks, this dynamic duo will criss-cross the West Coast and Midwest, collaborating with local groups and emcees for 13 shows in 11 cities. Proceeds from the tour will be donated to Bayan-USA, an alliance of progressive Filipino American organizations advocating for social justice and democracy in the Philippines.

Both Kiwi and Geo are active Filipino community organizers, drawing connections between the struggles of Filipinos in the US and their compatriots back home. They share the view that art is not only a reflection of the world, but a tool which can shape a more just future society. Kiwi shares, "For me personally, I found my identity and was eventually politicized through hip hop, and I feel like I owe it to this culture to make music and do shows that will hopefully have the same impact on this generation of youth and hip hop fans."

From the rapidly gentrifying street-corner to the Ivory Tower of academia, Kiwi and Geo bring forth a message of resistance and self-determination in the tradition of pro-people hip-hop music by such artists as Dead Prez, Public Enemy and KRS-One.

Kiwi adds, "The name of the tour was inspired by the "People Power" movement that drove out two corrupt Presidential regimes in the Philippines. Because part of the focus of this tour is the corruption of the current GMA regime, we felt like the name made a lot of sense." A rapidly growing movement comprising of all sectors of the Filipino community are mobilizing to oust the corrupt administration. In the two previous non-violent People Power movements, the Filipino people ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos (1986) and the corruption-ridden Joseph Estrada (2001).

While 2007 has seen a decline in politically-motivated killings (a decline, not a stop), in 2008 political and economic conditions in the Philippines have worsened. The GMA administration is wrought in corruption scandals, including the rice crisis, election fraud, corporate nepotism and kickbacks. Increased US military presence threatens Philippine civilians' lives and livelihood. The February, 4, 2008, Sulu Massacre and numerous military rape cases are just some of the most recent violence.

Proceeds from the tour will be donated to support Bayan-USA's local and international campaigns advocating for social justice and democracy in the Philippines. People Power Tour, Part 1 includes shows on International Workers Day - May 1st, and through Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Contact Brian Meyers (brian.jl.myers@gmail.com) to book People Power Tour, Part 2, during Filipino heritage month (October 2008).

LIST OF SHOWS:

MIDWEST:

SATURDAY - APRIL 19, 2008
UWM Fireside Lounge
2200 E Kenwood Blvd
Milwaukee, WI - FREE | 8PM

SUNDAY - APRIL 20, 2008
Adobo Express
5343 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
w/ Bagwis
All-ages | 7PM | $10 donation | BYOB

WEST COAST

FRIDAY - APRIL 25, 2008
RAW Sushi
523 W 1st Ave.
Spokane, WA
8PM | $7 | 21+ event
w/ Dj Daps1

MONDAY - APRIL 28, 2008
Berbati's Pan
213 SW Ankeny St.
Portland, OR
w/ 1st Quarter Storm, Chev, and DJ Daps1
8pm / all ages

TUESDAY - APRIL 29, 2008 (Daytime Show)
Portland CC
Portland, OR
w/ 1st Quarter Storm

TUESDAY - APRIL 29, 2008 (Evening Show)
Chop Suey
Seattle, WA
w/ 1st Quarter Storm, Chev, Language Arts?
8pm/ all ages / $TBA

WEDNESDAY - April 30, 2008

The Callaloo Caribbean Kitchen
1212 N State Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
w/ Yogoman Burning Band
1st Quarter Storm, Chev, Language Arts and Dj Daps1
$10 / Doors 9:00PM Show at 10:00PM / 21+

THURSDAY - MAY 1, 2008
Geologic performing w/ Blue Scholars
at IMMGRANTS RIGHTS/WORKERS DAY MARCH
Seattle, WA 4PM
more information: www.elcomite.org

FRIDAY - MAY 2, 2008

Sacramento State University Sacramento, CA w/ Manifest One and Caprice
$12 adv / $15 at the door / all ages / 8pm

SATURDAY - MAY 3, 2008
Hip-hop in The Park -Berkeley, CA - 12PM | Free!

MONDAY - MAY 5, 2008
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market St.
San Francisco, CA
$15 | 21+
w/ Kasamas & Nomi of Power Struggle

WEDNESDAY -MAY 7, 2008

La Pena
3105 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705 USA 510-849-2568 / lapena.org
$15 / all ages / 9pm

SUNDAY - MAY 11, 2008
Knitting Factory
Los Angeles, CA
Details TBD

Kiwi's website: www.myspace.com/kiwi
Geologic's website: www.myspace.com/probrown
Bayan-USA website: www.bayanusa.org

###

FiRE's Birthday!

2008-04-14T23:53:00.000-05:00

Today, FiRE turns one year old! Congratulations to all of us and all of you who make this organization a success! :)

Long live international solidarity!

2008-04-14T10:21:00.002-05:00

We know this page has been Diwang Pinay consumed for the last couple of days, but we'd like to invite you to another even earlier this Saturday. This would be a fantastic opportunity to meet Emmi De Jesus, GABRIELA Philippines' Secretary General. It's before Diwang Pinay, and a fantastic thing to attend in the event we won't see you later that night.

You are invited to a reception to meet and greet

Emmi De Jesus
Secretary-General of GABRIELA Philippines
Saturday, APRIL 19 3-5 pm
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th Street, between 5th and 6th Ave, 5th Flr.
Take N, Q, R, W to 14th Street/Union Sq.
Take F train to 6th Ave./14th St.

GABRIELA Philippines has been a model for other women's movements all over the globe in its near-quarter century of existence through brutal regimes and dictator- ships in the Philippines. It is a national alliance of over
200 women's organizations all over the archipelago. GABRIELA women's militancy has represented the woman's voice against the fascist Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime, they continue to rally against the political repression and the increasing militarization in the Philippines.

As an overseas chapter of GABRIELA, FiRE will be hosting the secretary general of GABRIELA Philippines, Emmi De Jesus, a long-time feminist, activist active momentous forum with the Women FightBack Network, she will speak about GABRIELA’s work in the Philippines numbers of Filipino women in the U.S.

Further, the forum will serve to inform our broad and international work towards a women's international movement.

Please join us on Saturday, April 19 from 3-5pm at the Solidarity Center to learn more about the women's situation and movement in the Philippines and build a women's international solidarity movement!

For more information, please contact Valerie at fire.nyc@gmail.com or visit www.firenyc.org.

This event is co-sponsored by Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) in New York City, GABRIELA-USA and the Women's Fightback Network. Everyone invited.

Rsvp by emailing
wfnetwork-ny@action-mail.org
by Thurs., April 17

Official DIWANG PINAY after party: Katra Lounge

2008-04-14T01:08:00.000-05:00

Please join us for the official DIWANG PINAY after party at Katra Lounge. Help us welcome back two of Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment's founding members: Robin Castel (now living in the Bay Area, CA) and Sandra Panopio (currently in London, England.) Thank you to these two women for taking the time to return to ring in our first anniversary! We can't wait to see you all!

Katra Lounge
11 pm
Sorry, 21+ only
217 Bowery
(6 to Spring St. / F to 2nd Ave / NR to Prince St. / JMZ to Delancey)

Many thanks to the fabulous Isis for landing this space!

Jonna Baldres!

2008-04-13T19:21:00.000-05:00

Our loyal kasama and the current SecGen of AnakBayan NY NJ! In lieu of a trraditional bio, she instead submitted a short description of her work which will be on display at Diwang Pinay:

"Baril, Baraha, Biktima"
Everyday, a woman activist's life in the Philippines is at stake. Ironically, the perpetrator of the hundreds of our fallen and missing fellow Filipinas fighting for their rights in the homeland is also a woman. Apparently, violence inflicted upon women is not only a matter of sexism but of class struggle -- the poor versus the rich, the oppressed versus the exploiter, the people versus the hegemony. And at these times when no one is spared, it is not impossible that the next victim of this growing state terrorism could be YOU.

1st Qtr Storm!

2008-04-12T21:41:00.001-05:00

All the way from SEATTLE El Dia and Rogue Pinay will be in NYC this SATURDAY for DIWANG PINAY!

1st Quarter Storm is a Filipina hip-hop duo currently based in Seattle, WA. They first appeared on the scene as rogue pinay and El Dia in late 2006, taking to the mic like babies take to the nipple. Their commitment to social justice and cultural work, combined with their love and respect for hip-hop, led to a number of significant collaborations, which organically grew into a partnership in early 2007.

This pair of bisexual Filipinas use their art to speak truth about today's world, contextualizing their struggles in the current conditions of their homeland and promoting a message of conscious action for all. Known for their fierce performances and raw delivery, they call themselves the 1st Quarter Storm in honor of the legacy of warrior women and men who have dedicated their lives to defending the Philippines against conquest and corruption. With Tagalog and English lyrics and a wide range of musical influences, their music grasps imperialism by the horns in hopes of casting it away for good.

Starting here in NYC, 1st Quarter Storm will be sweeping the nation with a walis ting-ting, with plans to drop a full-length album in 2009. They will open in late April for Geologic (Blue Scholars) and Kiwi as a part of the People Power Tour, raising funds and mobilizing support for the Filipino people in their fight to oust current dictator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The 1st Quarter Storm mixtape, which includes both solo and collaborative efforts, is now available. For booking, contact 1stquarterstorm@gmail.com. More information can be found on http://www.myspace.com/1stqtrstorm.

Our Keynote Speaker, Emmi De Jesus!

2008-04-12T21:30:00.001-05:00

Emmi Amaya De Jesus was born to parents of humble and hardworking peasant backgrounds from different Philippine provinces. Due to economic conditions both moved to the capital city Manila for a better life where they met and married. Even in the city, the De Jesus family struggled economically with her father working as a taxi driver and her mother being a home care provider. The eldest daughter of 7 children Emmi took on responsibilities of helping her mother raise her siblings and maintain the household. She excelled in school and was conscious of her family’s economic struggles, once citing that even though school was free sometimes her siblings didn’t have enough money for transportation to go to school. Despite this Emmi was salutatorian of her elementary school and passed the exam to enter Manila Public Science High School, one of the more prestigious public high schools. She went to the University of the Philippines for college and graduated with a BS in Physics.

During her college years, President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law to quell the uprising social activism that challenged his corrupt government. Emmi was a part of “First Quarter Storm” a time period of militant student activism during martial law. She honed a lot of her organizing skills as a student and had the opportunity to work with trade unions and learn more about the exploitation and oppression of Filipino laborers.

In 1977 as part of a May Ist labor day action, she and two other colleagues were putting stickers on jeepneys (Philippine public transportation) that highlighted workers issues and demands. Unfortunately one of the passengers was a police agent and arrested two of the three activists when they ran from the jeepney. This arrest exposed Emmi to how brutal the military was and how Martial Law was being used as means to exercise state power through military might. Emmi’s house was raided and her sister was picked up for questioning and later Emmi’s husband was arrested with very vague charges. The military subjected to mental and psychological torture, often letting her hear how they tortured other arrested activists.

Emmi was released ahead of her husband because of humanitarian reason when she found out she was pregnant. Her husband was released together with other political detainees during the visit of international human rights lawyer as part of the people's organizations' campaign on human rights and against fascism by the Marcos' government.

This was where Emmi started her involvement with the women's movement. She was one of the founding members of SAMAKANA, formed in September 1983. Originally, the name stood for Samahan ng Malayang Kababaihang Nagkakaisa (United Free Women) and composed of women of various professions but majority were women from the urban poor communities. SAMAKANA was one of the organizers of the all-women march in October 28, 1983 where they were able to gather around 10,000 women from various sectors carrying the demand to end Marcos dictatorship.

This led to further coordination and processing among women's groups until the decision was arrived at to coalesce and form an all-womens group.In March, 1984, GABRIELA-Philippines was born, a national alliance of women's organizations where SAMAKANA was a founding member.

Emmi continued to work as an organizer of women in urban poor communities. With 3 children growing up and with a very supportive husband who agreed to be the primary income earner for the family, she had the opportunity to continue and develop her work in the women's movement. Emmi made it a point to expose her children to the work she would do and bring them whenever possible; be it in the community, in the meetings, or in street actions. She shared with them the issues and the work that is done vis-a-vis the national situation, the women's situation.

In 1987 Emmi became part of the GABRIELA National Office. She held various positions ranging from part of the administration to coordinatorship of the Campaigns Department. She also did organizing work among women professionals, young women based in schools and women workers while part of the National Secretariat. In these years structures and other organizational matters of the alliance went through various changes. More importantly, GABRIELA principles were sharpened and made sure that its programs of actions are more direct and pronounced for women of marginalized sectors.

In 1998, at the 8th GABRIELA National Congress, Emmi was elected Deputy Secretary General and held this position until 2003. In 2001, Liza Maza, the elected Secretary General, ran and won as one of the 3 representatives under the Bayan Muna Partylist, and Emmi practically functioned as the SecGen of this alliance. In 2003, at its 9th Congress, she was elected as the Secretary General and holds the position at present.

In reflection, Emmi notes that “…24 years of my existence have been fruitful as being part of GABRIELA. With my 3 children now grown-up and all married, with two grandchildren (one each from my two daughters), I take pride that they know me not just as their mother but an activist. My being a GABRIELA is not just delivering my work but a way of life, a 24/7 thing, applying our principles in practical life.”

She also notes that though age and the accompanying stress brought about by my involvement are now taking their toll with my physical capacity she is still trying to her best to deliver what is expected of her. It is the strong support of Gabriela co-workers that makes this possible. She is inspired by the expansion of the organization in the communities and the successful campaigns launched. Youngblood in the organization gives her confidence that this work shall continue to develop and improve as long as the basis for our existence to struggle for women's rights and welfare are there. She is looking forward to the growing support of Gabriela friends internationally and the empowerment of Filipina compatriots with the formation of a Gabriela USA chapter that will educate, organize and mobilize Filipinas towards our liberation.

Your host for the night!

2008-04-12T20:09:00.000-05:00

Isis Arias is proud to have been one of the original pinay brunchers before the fire started, and is super proud to be here to watch the flames! Her grandparents hail from Samar but mom was reared in Brooklyn. Bronx born, Brooklyn & Queens raised, she attended Montclair HS in NJ and continued on to Rutgers University. College was an important time for Isis' cultural growth and she went on to run the Douglass Asian Women's Association where she gained most of her event planning and hosting experience. Isis is alumni to the Tagalog On Site program from 05 and sites the trip as one of her most 'spiritual experiences'. She currently works in music publicity for a major label, works events on the side and loves what she does. Shoutouts to FiRE, Moms, Grandpa and all the folk that are in attendance! Peace and love to Grandma, and respect to all that have paved the way.

I'm perfoming, too!

2008-04-10T20:14:00.002-05:00

Hanalei Ramos is a writer, performer, and community educator. She has toured around the nation to various college and university campuses as a spoken word artist. Hanalei has authored Letters to Martha, a personal testimony to her firsthand experience with domestic violence, and published her first collection of poetry and prosetry, Foiled Stars. Hanalei developed her first one-woman show, Guns and Tampons: A History of Violence Against Women I Know, through the generosity of the Asian Arts Initiative, which was performed at the first ever National Asian American Theater Festival. Most recently, Hanalei and Jiny Ung were named fellows for Project Rowhouses (Houston, TX). Hanalei is a proud founding member of Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) and lives and works in her native Jersey City, New Jersey. Please visit www.myspace.com/hanaleihanalei

Fil-Ams Call on Arroyo to Control the Price of Rice in the Philippines

2008-04-10T10:27:00.000-05:00

April 10, 2007

Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

GMA's Measures on Rice Crisis Won't Work, Promotes Starvation
Fil-Ams Call on Arroyo to Control the Price of Rice in the Philippines

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, an alliance of over 12 Filipino organizations in the US, criticized the Arroyo government for lifting the 300,000 metric ton (MT) rice quota for foreign traders as a measure to resolve the growing rice crisis. It also called on Arroyo to control the rising price of rice throughout the country and foreign trading rice cartels.

"Rice is the staple food for over 86 million Filipinos and other countries in the world. This problem will affect over half the world's population because of the global neoliberal trade framework," states Chito Quijano, Chair of BAYAN USA.

Known for its picturesque rice terraces, the Philippines has produced quality rice as a major export for decades. But low productivity due to a backwards agricultural sector and neoliberal trade policies that enforce land conversion have left the rice-exporting country dependent on foreign rice to feed its local population.

The Philippines has now been dependent on rice importation from neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand, who are also suffering there own respective rice crises. Because of uncontrollable demand overseas, both countries are placing restrictions on its rice export to prioritize local consumption. The overall food crisis has sparked rice riots and militarized rice cartels throughout the Asia-Pacific region, where rice hoarding is now taking place.

"Pretty soon, our families in the US will be sending home bags of rice in our balikbayan boxes because our relatives can no longer afford rice in the market," Quijano added.

The Arroyo government's response has been to lift the existing quota on rice imports and further liberalize rice importation for foreign traders, minimizing the local government's ability to intervene on behalf of the local population.

"This won't solve the problem because it ignores the deeper problem of the agricultural sector. Without due industrialization of the agricultural sector, the problem won't go away, but will be aggravated. In fact, giving more power to foreign traders will make the price of rice skyrocket, and the Filipino people, without any spending power, will starve," Quijano added.

In the past month alone, the price of food products in the Philippines have skyrocketed over 8%, according to independent the think tank IBON Philippines. According to the National Food Authority, even the price of local rice in the Philippines will most likely increase from it's current P18.25 per kilo peg. This is leaving the predominantly impoverished Filipino population with limited options for basic sustenance.

BAYAN USA criticizes that the Arroyo government can't be relied upon to advocate on behalf of the Filipino people's needs anymore, but will instead implement policies that will only serve itself and its cronies.

The alliance emphasized the importance of more Filipino-Americans educating themselves about the Philippine rice crisis on a nationwide scale, as the crisis is a major contributor to heightening political instability in the Philippines and for their loved ones back home.

"The less food there is in the Philippines, the more the Arroyo government will turn to overseas Filipinos for an economic solution," Quijano added.

But massive hunger also breeds widespread desire for social and political change in any country.

"Arroyo's past corruption is still at play. Many of her so-called national projects that hoarded billions in public funds were all schemes to for her cronies to pocket the money. Those funds could have been used to genuinely improve the agricultural sector and set the Philippines in the right path towards food self-sufficiency," Quijano ended. ###

Kinding Sindaw

2008-04-10T08:22:00.000-05:00

The dances of Kinding Sindaw originate from the royal court dances of the Maranao Sultanate- a repertory of the sacred, classic, and secular combining grace and vigor, dances that directly reflect their rich natural environment. Dancers imitate the graceful movements of birds, fish, butterflies, rivers, streams, and ocean trekking boats, celebrate fertility in vigorous choreography, sway delicately using colorful fans and scarves, and dramatically inspire through the martial art of silat.

The musical accompaniment is performed on a variety of percussion instruments, including the kulintang, a tuned bronze kettle drum set, known more commonly in the West as gamelan, a variety of hanging gongs which include the bossed agong and the unbossed gandingan and bababdir, and the dabakan, a cylindrical drums. These instruments are played as an ensemble and were prototypes for the instruments of the gamelan ensembles of Java and Bali. Other instruments of the Mindanao cultures include the salunay- a polychordal bamboo tube zither, the kudlung- a two-stringed lute, and kubing- a bamboo jaws harp.

New York Filipinas Act Through Art

2008-04-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Release

Reference: Valerie Francisco, Secretary General, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment, 925-726-5768, fire.nyc@gmail.com

New York Filipinas Act Through Art

Women's Organization Calls Attention to Human Rights Violations in the Philippines

On April 19th, 2008, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) will celebrate the first year by honoring Filipino American and Filipino women's talents and art. The anniversary of women's organization's first year in service to the Filipino community in New York is reflected by the cultural night's women-centered and women-powered night.

FiRE's first annual cultural show Diwang Pinay (literally translated as"Spirit of the Filipina"), focuses on the rich and growing Pinay art community in New York city. The show will feature Filipino women singers, bands, poets, dancers and visual artists. Pinays from all over the United States are also coming to celebrate the night in hopes to build a national network of Filipino women interested in art and activism.

Through a night filled with art and performance Filipinas will call attention to the gross human rights violations situation in the Philippines. In the past year, this issue has garnered international attention and Diwang Pinay aims to contribute to raising awareness in our community through Filipino women's art.

"No human rights case in the Philippines has yet to be solved. The disappearances, killings and harassment of community leaders and members have consequences for Filipino women," states Valerie Francisco, secretary general of FiRE, "As women work hard to combat the ill effects of landlessness and lack of jobs their partners, children, cousins, loved ones and sometimes even themselves experience the wrath of state violence."

The one-of-a-kind Filipino women's event hosts a special guest speaker, Emmi De Jesus, the secretary general of GABRIELA, a national alliance of women's organization in the Philippines. De Jesus will highlight the impacts of the human rights violations on Filipino women there.

Diwang Pinay promises to fill the historic Judson Memorial Church in New York City with the cutting edge artistry of young Filipino American women who, even thousands of miles away from their motherland, insist on connecting their lives here in the US to the lives of women in the Philippines.

"The first step to solving a problem is being aware that it is there in the first place," stated Jackie Mariano, an active member of FiRE. "I hope that Diwang Pinay serves as a wake-up call to all art-lovers out there. Art imitates life. While our art will depict our struggle, it will also depict our international solidarity."

As a member of GABRIELA-USA, FiRE is mounting a momentous event in initiating action around the human rights violations in the Philippines through showcasing Filipino women's art. Diwang Pinay will serve as a testament to the struggles and triumphs of Filipino women all over the world.

There will be a community reception on Friday, April 18 at 7:30pm at the Bayanihan Community Center, 40-21 69th Street in Woodside, Queens with Emmi De Jesus and the Filipino community in New York.

Diwang Pinay will be on April 19, 2008 from 6pm to 9pm at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South in Manhattan, New York. General admission is $10 and a discounted rate of $5 for young people.

###

News Compilation April 8/9 regarding the ongoing rice crisis in Asia and the Philippines.

2008-04-08T12:15:00.000-05:00

via NY-CHRP

News Compilation April 8/9 regarding the ongoing rice crisis in Asia and the Philippines.

1. Lifting rice imports quota a step in wrong direction, will worsen crisis
2. Rice crisis to fuel calls for Arroyo's resignation - solon
3. 'Greater crisis' seen in lifting of rice, corn import quotas
4. Thai PM urges calm as exporters see rice 'crisis'
5. Fear of rice riots as surge in demand hits nations across the Far East
Residents buy rice while armed soldiers
6. Rice shortages heighten political crisis in the Philippines

============================

Lifting rice imports quota a step in wrong direction, will worsen crisis – Bayan

News release
April 8, 2008

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) today called the Arroyo government's move to lift the 300,000-metric ton (MT) rice import quota for private traders a step in the wrong direction that will aggravate the rice crisis.

The group argued that lifting the quota will not result in cheaper retail prices for consumers because rice imports are in fact more expensive now than local rice. "At current global prices, plus freight costs and tariffs, imported rice could cost an average of more than P40 per kilo. Worse, because more imported rice will now end in the hands of private traders, they will be in a stronger position to manipulate domestic supply and prices at the expense of hapless consumers. The end result is more expensive retail prices", said Arnold Padilla of Bayan's public information department.

Bayan argued that the move will also further weaken the National Food Authority (NFA) and strengthen the cartel of big private traders. "Remember that one of the reasons why local prices are escalating rapidly is the negligible intervention of the NFA as it accounts for only less than one percent of the of the domestic rice market. Furthermore, around 98 percent of the rice that the NFA uses to intervene in the market is imported", Padilla pointed out.

Thus, allowing private traders to import an unlimited volume of rice will further undermine the already insignificant role that the government plays in ensuring local rice supply and reasonable prices, the group said.

More alarmingly, the lifting of the rice import quota shows the overall policy direction of the Arroyo government in terms of agricultural development, which is to rely on imports instead of promoting local food production for local consumption. "It has exposed Arroyo's earlier pronouncements on improving farm productivity and achieving self-sufficiency in rice as empty rhetoric", Padilla said.

The group noted that Ms Gloria Arroyo already said last week that food security does not mean self-sufficiency. "For Arroyo, there is no need to produce locally what the country can import from the world market, even if it is the staple food of most Filipinos. Such distorted concept of food security has exposed our people to the raging rice crisis", argued Padilla

Bayan reiterated its call for the implementation of a price control mechanism to ensure that retail prices will not further soar due to hoarding and supply speculation. Aside from this urgent measure, there is also an immediate need for the NFA to substantially increase its intervention in the rice market, including in the procurement and distribution of rice. (END)

Rice crisis to fuel calls for Arroyo's resignation - solon
04/09/2008 | 01:27 AM

MANILA, Philippines - A militant lawmaker on Tuesday warned that the rice crisis could intensify calls for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign.

In a statement, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo said that government failure to address the crisis would agitate more and more people to call for the President to step down.

Ocampo added that Arroyo could be playing with fire if there was truth to claims that the "rice crisis" was just used as a ploy to divert public attention from accusations of graft and corruption hounding the government.

"Filipinos are getting fed up as they begin to understand that Ms Arroyo's ouster from power is a way out of the increasing hunger and poverty, aggravated by the rice crisis," Ocampo said.

He added that some sectors suspected that the present shortage in rice supply is a "fabrication" to divert public attention from scandals brought about by the botched $329.4-million ZTE-national broadband network project deal and the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking in the Spratly Islands.

The lawmaker noted that the government has offered no concrete steps to lower rice prices three weeks since the rice-crisis issue cropped up.

"Arroyo's move of lifting import quotas and increasing rice importation quotas of the private sector, will lead to greater crisis," Ocampo said.

He added that lifting import quotas would hasten the otherwise slow death of the local rice industry caused by trade liberalization and importation policies.

"Any short-term measure to address the rice crisis may cause brief relief, but will not solve the problem on medium and long-term basis. Only policy reversal and sustained pursuit of food self-sufficiency can do that," he said. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV

'Greater crisis' seen in lifting of rice, corn import quotas

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:09:00 04/08/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- The government's decision to lift the import quotas on rice and corn might result in a brief respite but would later lead to a greater crisis, a lawmaker at the House of Representatives warned on Tuesday.

House Deputy Minority Floor Leader and Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo's warning came a day after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo approved the lifting of rice importation by the private sector to address the global shortage of rice supply.

"Ms Arroyo's so-called solutions, like the lifting of import quotas and increased private sector importation, will in fact lead to greater crisis," Ocampo said in a statement.

"Any short-term measure to address the rice crisis may cause brief relief but will not solve the crisis on medium and long-term basis. Only policy reversal and sustained pursuit of food self-sufficiency can do that," he said.

Ocampo said the lifting of import quotas was also a "sure-fire way to hasten the slow death of our local rice industry which has long been bearing the rapacious impact of rice trade liberalization and importation."

With the Philippines' one million metric ton average rice importation since 1995, the country has actually imported over and above the minimum access volume under the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture, Ocampo said.

The WTO compels the country to import three to five percent of domestic consumption whether or not it produces rice sufficiently, he said.

Ocampo also warned that the President's failure to effectively address the rice crisis "because of her wrong food security policy" would add ground to the people's mounting calls for her ouster.

"The Filipino people are getting fed up and now begin to understand that Ms Arroyo's ouster from power is a way out of the increasing hunger and poverty aggravated by the unabated rice crisis," the Bayan Muna lawmaker said.

Arroyo's continued push for neoliberal globalization, Ocampo said, was also to blame for this rice crisis.

"The twin policies of unbridled rice importation and land-use conversion are among the major reasons for the decline in our food productive capacity," he pointed out.

Thai PM urges calm as exporters see rice 'crisis'
Sri Lanka Daily News

THAILAND: Thailand, the world's leading rice exporter, insisted Friday it had enough for domestic consumption but exporters warned of a crisis, as dealers hoard rice to sell overseas at current sky-high prices.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej tried to reassure the nation that the rapid rise in global prices, which have also driven up the cost at home, would not cause a shortage on local shelves.

He said the soaring prices had sparked panic buying, but insisted the country had ample rice reserves.

"It is impossible that there will not be enough rice for sale. News reporting makes people panic, causing people to buy 10 bags instead of one or two bags," Samak told reporters during his weekly briefing.

"High prices now are due to supply and demand, and it will be like this only for this period," he said.

The benchmark Thai variety, Pathumthani fragrant rice, was priced Wednesday at 930 dollars per tonne, up 52 percent from a month earlier, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association. The group's price survey is updated weekly.

Other rice-producing countries including India and Vietnam have announced export curbs to ensure domestic supplies, amid warnings from experts that governments in Asia could see public unrest if prices remain elevated.

Thailand has not announced any cut to exports but said Wednesday it would release 650,000 tonnes from government stockpiles to sell locally at below the market rate.

Exporters say, however, that their own stocks are running low, blaming mills and middlemen for hanging on to supplies in the hope that prices will keep rising in the near future. "The rice situation at present is in crisis," said Korbsook Iamsuri, secretary general of the exporters association.

"Exporters are facing trouble because their rice stockpiles are running short, while no more rice is coming to fill the stocks. Few rice farmers have any stockpiles because most of them have no silos for storage," she said.

"Currently, rice is most likely in the hands of middlemen and the mills," Korbsook said.

She estimated that one million tonnes of rice was now held by exporters, who were still waiting for rice from the current harvest which should already have started arriving in larger quantities.

"Rice prices are abnormally unstable.

They are shooting like rockets and changing swiftly within a week," she said. Korbsook said that while growing global demand and a shortage of supply were driving prices higher, the increases should happen at a slower rate.

The association has not made any demands of the government yet, but industry groups plan to meet Saturday with commerce ministry officials to discuss ways of addressing the situation, she said.

Bangkok, Sunday, AFP

Fear of rice riots as surge in demand hits nations across the Far East
Residents buy rice while armed soldiers

Armed guards for rice deliveries will become a common sight in many countries in East Asia
Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent

Any farmer in the Philippines caught hoarding rice risks spending the rest of his life in jail for the crime of "economic sabotage".

Meanwhile, on the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, thousands of makers of traditional tempeh soyabean cakes strike in protest as their livelihoods are destroyed and their countrymen starve. In Malaysia, where immense palm oil plantations stretch as far as the eye can see, panic buying of palm oil has stripped stores bare.

Chinese, Korean and Japanese companies are preparing to compete in a desperate "land grab" for agricultural land across the globe. Japan already owns three times more farmland overseas than in its home territory; Seoul is keen to do the same.

For Asia's 2.5 billion people who depend on rice, these are anything but isolated incidents. They are what happens when huge sections of society move into the cities, when farm productivity growth halves over two decades and when bad weather or disease exposes fragile dependencies on the exports of a few nations.
Related Links

* Asia stability threatened as rice dwindles

* Rice supplies set to fall to 25-year low

They are also the result of the harsh economics of industrial growth. The dramatic improvement in lifestyles and family finances of millions of Chinese and Indians has driven a demand for meat, milk and cooking oils that did not exist a decade ago.

The more than doubling of China's average meat consumption since 1985, for example, has created an equivalent leap in demand for animal feed.

The US Department of Agriculture believes that the world will suffer a 29 million tonne discrepancy this year between what it needs to feed itself and what it can actually produce. Markets have been quick to recognise this and the traditional Asian staples of soyabeans, palm oil and pork have all soared.

Many grain and edible oil markets have also been squeezed by what some observers believe is an unsustainable conflict between cars and stomachs. Land that might previously have been used to feed people is increasingly planted with crops designed for conversion to biofuels, forcing unexpected rises in the prices of everything from tofu to instant noodles.

But perhaps more unsettling has been the suddenness with which Asia's exposure to a food crisis has emerged. Countries that, until a few weeks ago, could rely on substantial imports of rice from India, Egypt or China are scrambling to cope with a new reality in which they cannot do so.

Nations such as Japan and South Korea that were running food economies with small self-sufficiency ratios have taken only a few weeks to react bitterly to the new situation as the world's food stocks-to-consumption ratio plunges to an all-time low.

India - which traditionally has exported millions of tonnes of rice - has decided to set aside a special strategic food reserve on top of its existing wheat and rice stockpiles. Vietnam, the world's third-largest rice producer, has been forced to curb exports and Cambodia has banned them completely.

In Thailand, the world's largest producer of rice, rising concerns of a shortage have sent rice prices more than 50 per cent higher over the past month. When Samak Sundaravej, the Thai Prime Minister, appeared on his weekly television cooking show over the weekend he told Thais there would be "enough rice for the Kingdom".

It was not a message designed to calm nerves elsewhere in Asia where Thai rice exports are an essential part of the diet.

Amid these highly visible signs of government-level panic, Asian countries that have rarely faced severe conflicts of "resource diplomacy" are accordingly readying themselves for showdowns.

Analysts give warning of governments across the region resorting to a "starve-your-neighbour" policy in an effort to becalm rioting domestic populations, and the UN International Fund for Agriculture has previously said that food riots will become commonplace.

In the Philippines and Sri Lanka, both nations that are heavily dependent on rice imports, politicians and business leaders are racing to strike deals with the likes of Vietnam and even Burma in their bid to secure rice supplies.

Troops and special police are expected to be used in the process of distributing rice to regions where supply was never an issue.

Feeding the world

33% Rise since January in price paid by Philippines for rice from Vietnam
3 billion People worldwide who rely on rice as a staple food
40% Rise in rice price in Thailand this year
19.2% Rise in consumer prices in Vietnam last month, against March 2007
8.4% Rise in food prices in the Philippines last month, compared with March 2007
854 million Number of people worldwide who are "food insecure"
1 billion People globally who survive on less than $1 a day, defined as "absolute poverty"

Rice shortages heighten political crisis in the Philippines
By Oscar Grenfell
8 April 2008

Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author

Rice prices have soared to a 34-year high in the Philippines, exacerbating social and political tensions, and creating more problems for the crisis-ridden regime of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo amid claims that her government had known of the shortages for more than a month.

Globally, stocks of rice and other foods have plummeted, resulting in a steep rise in prices. Rice has been one of the worst hit with prices jumping 50 percent in the two months to the end of March and at least doubling since 2004. An Associated Press article late last month pointed to concerns that "prices could rise a further 40 percent in coming months".

An unprecedented cold snap as well as pests and diseases affecting crops in China and South East Asia have had an immediate impact on rice availability, as has recent flooding in the Philippines and Vietnam. Increasing urbanisation, changing land use and shifting patterns of agriculture, including the growing of crops for bio-fuels, are among the underlying reasons for shortages of staples such as rice. Rising prices also have their own dynamic, leading to speculation and the hoarding of rice supplies in the hope of future windfall profits.

Some of the largest rice exporters have limited sales. Vietnam has recently decided to reduce exports by almost a quarter and Cambodia has announced a two-month ban on rice exports. The world's leading exporter, Thailand, has also begun to control foreign rice sales. India has raised the minimum export price by more than 50 percent and China has begun to import rice.

As the world's largest importer of rice, the Philippines has been among the hardest hit. Rising prices for rice, along with other food items and oil, led to a sharp jump in the official inflation rate from 2.6 percent in March 2007 to 6.4 percent in March this year. Radio Australia reported late last month that "rice prices in Manila have soared to as high as $1.15 a kilo from as low as 50 cents a kilo a week ago."

Accusations of incompetence in dealing with the shortages have compounded the political crisis facing President Arroyo. She is already facing allegations of corruption over a national broadband deal and of betraying national interests by signing a deal with Vietnam and China to conduct a joint survey of the disputed Spratly Islands. Her approval rating has slumped to a record low of 23 percent.

Initially, Arroyo tried to deny there was any rice crisis at all, saying it was "a physical phenomenon where people line up on the streets to buy rice. Do you see lines today?"

The leftist peasant organisation, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), claimed last month, that two secret internal government memoranda dated February 11 and February 27 demonstrate that the Arroyo administration knew of the impending rice crisis since February.

One of the reports cited in an ABS-CBN article included a request for the National Food Authority (NFA) to import an additional 500,000 tonnes of rice. "The registered growth in palay [paddy rice] production is not enough to meet the combined effect of an increase in demand and the need to maintain the required buffer stock by July 1, the start of the traditional lean supply months of July to September of each year," it stated.

KMP chairman Rafael Mariano told ABS CBN: "As can be seen from the memos Gloria and her regime know that a rice crisis is imminent but it is still fooling the people because she is afraid of her political future, but by doing so she is toying with the lives of at least 68 million Filipinos who earn less than $2 a day."

Desperate to minimise the political impact, Arroyo has scrambled to secure supplies and to find scapegoats to deflect attention from her administration. Her officials have immediately blamed rice hoarders and unscrupulous traders who have been repackaging low-quality, government-subsidised rice to sell as high quality commercial rice at inflated prices.

Lower house speaker Prospero Nograles declared on April 4 that "smuggling and hoarding by rice cartels should be curbed effectively" and called for tougher legal penalties for illegal price manipulation under the country's Price Act. Currently penalties of 5 to 15 years prison and fines of 5,000 to 2 million pesos can be imposed. Raids by the NFA and National Bureau of Investigation have taken place across the country over the past week.

Cebu City councillor Sylvan Jakosalem has warned, however, that such actions may be counterproductive. After meeting with rice traders last Friday, Jakosalem pointed out that wholesalers stock up at this time of the year and usually hold back stock to tide them over the lean months from July to August. Without a distinction between stocking and hoarding, traders are reluctant to buy large stocks for fear of prosecution.

Arroyo has also frantically sought to find sources of rice imports, recently securing an agreement from Vietnam to supply around 1.5 million tonnes. In all, the Philippines plans to import around 2.2 million tonnes including from Thailand and the United States. Most imports are currently handled by the NFA, which then provides subsidised rice for the local market. Arroyo called on the finance ministry to draw up a plan to cut tariffs and has announced a doubling of import quotas to encourage private importers—proposals that has already been criticised by local farmers.

Arroyo has also called for cuts to consumption. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap announced a plan late last month to encourage restaurants to serve less rice. "We are inviting them to participate in the rice conservation program," he said. "I'm asking fast food-restaurants to give their customer an option to order a half cup of rice."

Opposition senator Aquilino Pimentel bitingly remarked: "It reminds me of Marie Antoinette, who shortly before the French Revolution famously said if people had no bread to eat, they should eat cake."

Millions of working people face food insecurity and hunger. A World Bank update this month found that the proportion of the population living below the poverty line rose between 2003 and 2006 from 30 percent to 32.9 percent despite higher levels of growth. Falling real incomes, compounded by cutbacks in social spending, were the main factors. Other estimates put the poverty rates as high as 40 percent of the population of more than 90 million people.

Rodolfo de Lima, a parking lot attendant, told the Associated Press that if rice prices continued to rise "my family will go hungry." He added: "If your family misses a meal you really don't know what you can do...." Another worker Domingo Casarte said: "When people get trapped, I can't say what they will do."

Commenting in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Senator Loren Legarda warned: "Rice is an extremely sensitive political commodity. There is no question a surge in the staple's price is bound to spur social unrest and political instability." Already under siege over other scandals, Arroyo is desperately implementing stopgap measures to try to avert an eruption of popular anger.

DIWANG PINAY in YOURFACE!

2008-04-07T00:22:00.001-05:00

04.19.2008 DIWANG PINAY: RISE, WOMEN, RISE!

Woman Activist from GABRIELA Philippines Tours the US

2008-04-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Release
April 6, 2008

Reference:
Joanne Alcantara, GABRIELA National Organizing Committee Coordinator
gabrielawomen@gmail.com, (641) 715-3900

Woman Activist from GABRIELA Philippines Tours the US

Emmi De Jesus welcomes the first overseas GABRIELA chapter - GABRIELA USA

San Francisco, CA. On April 6, 2008, Emmi De Jesus, the Secretary General of GABRIELA Philippines, will be arriving in the US for a month-long national speaking tour in 4 cities to support the recent founding of GABRIELA-USA. She will be traveling from coast to coast, speaking in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, and San Francisco. In the different venues, de Jesus will speak on the burning issues at the forefront of women's lives in the Philippines, the gross human rights violations situation, violence against women, abject poverty and gender and sexual discrimination.

De Jesus was a founding member of GABRIELA Philippines in 1984. Today, 24 years later, GABRIELA Philippines stands as the largest national alliance of women's organizations in the Philippines. As a Filipino women's campaign center, GABRIELA integrates Filipino women's struggles into the Philippine resistance against first world domination and for genuine sovereignty and democracy. GABRIELA is a model for women's movements all over the globe, mobilizing broad communities for state accountability to repression and violence in the Philippines.

"The current economic crisis in the Philippines that is fueled by global trade policies, are forcing Filipina women to leave their homeland at alarming rates. For their families' survival, educated women are becoming domestic workers, entertainers, and even face modern-day-slavery as trafficked persons. Because of this, it is crucial that we continue building an organized movement for true economic justice in the US, from the voices of Filipina women," declared Joanne Alcantara, the National Coordinator of GABRIELA-USA. Emmi de Jesus' speaking tour will highlight the linkages between Filipino women's struggles in the US and the Philippines and, simultaneously, celebrate the rich spirit of resilience they share across oceans and continents.

Emmi De Jesus, after a brief orientation in San Francisco with GABRIELA-USA, will have her first stop at UC Irvine where a community gathering will be held to talk about the women's situation in the Philippines. Her hosts are Strong Womyn of Irvine and The Womyn's Collective of Los Angeles.

De Jesus' will then travel to Seattle where she will be hosted by Pinay sa Seattle on April 12th to keynote for an anti-trafficking conference at the University of Washington called "Asian Pacific Islander Community Responses to Human Trafficking: Working Together to Create Change". This conference is co-sponsored by Pinay sa Seattle, University of Washington Women's Center, Marc Lindenberg Center, UW Center for Global Studies, the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, Asian Pacific Islander Women & Family Safety Center, and the Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking. It will be held at the UW Architecture Hall from 10am-4pm. De Jesus will also have an opportunity to meet with anti-trafficking advocates, legislators, and community members during her stay.

Following her Seattle visit, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) will be welcoming her in New York with a community reception at the Bayanihan Center on April 18, 7pm on 40-21 69th Street in heart of the Filipino community Woodside; and featuring de Jesus as the keynote speaker during the annual Filipina showcase "Diwang Pinay" ("Spirit of the Filipina") on Saturday April 19, 7pm at Judson Memorial Church on 55 Washington Square South in Manhattan. Lastly, in San Francisco, Babae will host Emmi as a featured speaker at the 6th Annual Diwang Pinay, co-sponsored by the League of Filipino Students, SFSU. The showcase is set for Friday, April 25 at 7pm at the Lincoln Community Center located at 901 Brunswick St. Daly City, and will conclude De Jesus' US tour.

"Emmi De Jesus' historic and momentous tour will only intensify the growing Filipino women's movement in the US," Alcantara states, "She will receive a warm welcome at her every stop in the US. Wherever Filipino women are, we will be proud to carry the flag of GABRIELA as we expand our international women's movement."

Pinay sa Seattle, Babae (San Francisco), and Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (New York) are part of GABRIELA-USA, the first overseas chapter of GABRIELA.
###

Rowena Cruz is back!

2008-04-04T16:31:00.001-05:00

Our ally and trusted friend,

Rowena Cruz is an MFA Candidate in Creative Writing (Nonfiction) at Columbia University. She is the former coordinator of Our Word, the student group for writers of color, an officer of Quart, the queer artists group, and treasurer on the Arts Student Council. Rowena has taught writing workshops for Sumisibol, a NJ-based non-profit organization serving Filipino American youth in Jersey City. She is also participating in teaching artist training programs with Community Word and Marquis Studios.

Rowena is currently writing her thesis project, a collection of memoir/essays on the four generations of women in her family and her obsession with beauty queens and figure skaters. She hopes to start on her next project, travel essays on her years of self-discovery throughout her homeland and all 50 United States.

Born in the Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a former resident of New Orleans pre-Katrina, Rowena now calls New York City, home.

Hello, Jennifer Cendaña Armas!

2008-04-04T16:12:00.000-05:00

Jennifer Cendaña Armas is a NYC born, raised, and based poet/actor/dancer/singer

/writer/violinist/community worker. She has extensively organized and taught political arts and activist workshops in schools, prisons and community based organizations stateside and internationally, including Brooklyn Academy of Music, El Puente Academy of Peace & Justice, Harvard University, and Riker’s Island Prison, Presbyterian Secondary Boys Academy (Ghana), and Casa De Milagros (Peru). She facilitates poetry and theatre workshops for Brooklyn Academy of Music and Arts Horizons and is production manager for We Got Issues!, feminine centered leadership organization, where she also facilitates rantfest workshops and red tents. Her show, skinimin12, premiered at 2004’s Downtown Urban Theatre Festival and later featured at 2006’s New York City Hip Hop Theater Festival at the Public Theater. She is company member of We Got Issues! and feature contributor of the We Got Issues! A Young Woman’s Guide to Leading an Empowered Life (Inner Ocean, 2006). She has been blessed to share the stage with powerhouses such as reg e. gainese, Willie Perdomo, and Rha Goddess. Poetry features include: Lincoln Center’s La Casita, Joe’s Pub’s Urban Griots, the world famous Nuyorican Poet’s Café, Bowery Poetry Club, Culture Project’s Women Center Stage Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art and Louder Than A Bomb (Chicago), World Stage and ‘da Poetry Lounge (L.A.), Lizard Lounge (Boston), Esperanza Peace and Justice Center (Houston), Sista’hood Festival (Vancouver),Ladyfest Bristol, Speakeasy and Poetry Café (London), Poetry Vandals Present…(Newcastle,UK). University performances and performance workshops include: University of California- Berkeley, Harvard University, University of Virginia, New York University, and Vanderbilt University Jennifer’s televised poetry features include: Spoken (Black Family Channel), Word (FreeSpeech TV), Curvations (PSA). Publications include: My Mouth May Not Know the Words But Everything Else Understands (self-published), NYU Review for Law and Social Change, AWOL, Aesthetica, X, Monsoon. Theatre credits include: We Got Issues!(national company), co-creator/performer in Mango Tribe’s Sisters in the Smoke (HERE/touring company) and Creation Myth (Henry Street Settlement/ABRON ARTS CENTER), dancing with Urban Bush Women’s Are We Democracy? (Brooklyn Museum of Art), The Vengeance of Mami Wata (Theater for a New City), Queens Theatre in the Park’s Black Theatre Festival, Movement Choreographer- BLAK (HERE Theatre).
Jennifer’s creative workshops are interactive and link the personal and political.
She specializes in creating multi-lingual work, analyzing and fortifying the relationship between art, politics, and nurturing women’s voices as an integral component of social change.
She graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in theatre and politics.

Lisa Ascalon, back for more!

2008-04-03T16:22:00.001-05:00

This woman has been an incredible supporter of FiRE! She brought down the house durring Pinay HERstories in the fall, and now, she's back because you asked for her! :)

Born and raised on the Lower East Side, Lisa Ascalon is a Pinay writer/performer who has been working with NYC youth for 17 years. She is currently a teaching artist for several arts-in-education programs Ms. Ascalon, along with fellow teaching artist, Ellen Hagan, co-founded the multicultural, multigenerational women’s collective, girlstory, whose first full length work was featured in the American Living Room’s 2004 Festival. She has performed her solo work at Nuyorican Poets Café, Asian American Writer’s Workshop, and the Bowery Poetry Club. Lisa was also awarded a fellowship to Kundiman’s inaugural Emerging Asian-American Poets Retreat.

Emmy will blow you away...

2008-04-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

Emmy Catedral was born in Butuan and raised in Iloilo and Queens. She works in photography, installation, sculpture, & video. Her work has been shown at The Center For Book Arts, Flux Factory, LaMama Experimental Theater Club, The New York Historical Society, and other unnamed, temporarily named, and virtual spaces. She co-edits the online journal 2nd Ave Poetry and her work is currently part "This Case of Conscience", an exhibition on the subject of religious tolerance at The Queens Museum of Art. She is a member of the Filipino arts and cultural organization Arkipelago, and lives in Spaarlem. Her website is notadancingbear.com/ec

NY-CHRP Human Rights News

2008-03-28T21:31:00.001-05:00

RP Human Rights News (3)

1. Philippines: Justice Absent in Killings and ‘Disappearances’

2. RP human rights measures 'window-dressing'--HRW

3. Human Rights Watch: Take RP to task over killings

==================================================

[News compiled by the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP). NYCHRP recently facilitated a meeting between Philippine Human Rights advocate Edita Burgos and Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch.]

RP human rights measures 'window-dressing'--HRW
MANILA -- Measures introduced by the Philippine government to curb human rights abuses are mere "window-dressing," an official from Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
"The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seem little more than window-dressing," said Elaine Pearson, Asia deputy director for the New York-based rights group.
Although the government has said extra-judicial killings fell sharply last year, Pearson said a "pause in political killings will mean little in the long run unless those responsible are prosecuted."
She told reporters in Manila that the government's failure to convict military men for human rights abuses will be brought up during a review of the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on April 11.
Pearson said Human Rights Watch (HRW) research showed that since 2001, there had been hundreds of cases of suspected insurgents, leftists, reporters, government critics and activists who had been murdered or had vanished, but no military man had been convicted of these crimes.
Although the government had set up a task force to investigate these incidents and had put in place measures to protect witnesses in these cases, these actions had "in fact accomplished little, and seem designed to merely deflect domestic and international criticism," Pearson added.
"Human Rights Council members should be asking the government why it hasn't taken strong action against abusive military personnel that would finally put a stop to these killings," said Pearson.
She noted that UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, following a visit to the Philippines in February 2007, said the military was in denial about the killings.
She said HRW had already submitted its findings to the council in Geneva and they would be taken up at the review session next month.
"The Philippines is among the first countries up for the universal periodic review, and as such it will be a test for the Human Rights Council," said Pearson.
She said the United Nations would not seek sanctions against any of the countries concerned but said the session "would help focus attention on the serious concern on the human rights problem in the Philippines."
"We hope to apply peer pressure on the Philippines," she said.##
============================================
Philippines: Justice Absent in Killings and ‘Disappearances’
Government Under Review at UN Human Rights Council
(Manila, March 27, 2008) – The United Nations should carefully review the Philippine government’s failure to hold accountable those responsible for killings and “disappearances,” Human Rights Watch said today. The first-ever Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council takes place in Geneva on April 11, 2008.

Killings and enforced disappearances
Since 2001, hundreds of members of left-wing political parties, activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed or “disappeared.” The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, Philippine human rights groups, and Human Rights Watch all found strong evidence of military involvement in many of these cases.

In its submission to the UN Human Rights Council, the Philippine government claims that it places a priority on “addressing this most urgent concern [extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances], by bringing perpetrators to justice and preventing such killings in the future. The government reported that the number of killings had dropped significantly in 2007.

“A pause in political killings will mean little in the long run unless those responsible are prosecuted,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Of the hundreds of political killings since 2001, not a single military official has been convicted.”

Human Rights Watch said that while any reduction in human rights violations is to be welcomed, the government has yet to adopt institutional changes that would address the long-term problem of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country. The government has failed to successfully prosecute members of the security forces for serious abuses. Since 2001, only two cases of killings of activists resulted in convictions of four defendants, none of whom were military personnel. And because enforced disappearances are a continuing offense, the government remains responsible for those “disappeared” until their fate or whereabouts becomes known.

A new UN mechanism
Scrutiny of the Philippines is part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a new UN mechanism used in assessing the human rights record of all United Nations member states. The Philippine government and nongovernmental organizations have made written submissions to the Human Rights Council. On April 11, in Geneva, member states will examine the human rights situation in the Philippines in a three-hour open session that will also be streamed live on the web. This is the first time the Philippine government has undergone such review, which will happen every four years.

Police, prosecution, and witness protection
In its submission, the Philippine government lists a number of specific measures it has taken to address extrajudicial killings, including implementing the findings of the government Melo commission report and Task Force Usig (Task Force Prosecution), better coordination between police, prosecution and other agencies, strengthening laws on witness protection, and new human rights offices within the armed forces and the national police.

Human Rights Watch’s research found that the speedy introduction of these measures in 2007 has in fact accomplished little, and seem designed to merely deflect domestic and international criticism. Contrary to government claims of having implemented the Melo commission report’s recommendations, the government has not followed up on the report’s finding of military responsibility for killings. And, while the government claims that 80 cases have been filed with police through the Task Force Usig, many lack crucial evidence, such as the names of the accused and other basic information necessary for prosecutors. The principle of command responsibility has yet to be applied in a single case.

Witness protection and coordination between prosecutors and police remain weak. The human rights offices of the police and the army seem more engaged in advocacy against government critics and “leftist propaganda” than in supporting concrete investigations of alleged abuses.

“The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seem little more than ‘window-dressing,’” said Pearson. “Human Rights Council members should be asking the government why it hasn’t taken strong action against abusive military personnel that would finally put a stop to these killings.”

Writ of amparo
The Supreme Court’s new procedure of the writ of amparo – a habeas corpus-like procedure in which state agencies are compelled to reveal to the court the whereabouts of named persons, disclose documentary evidence or allow court-authorized searches of premises – has shown some success in “resurfacing” more than half-a-dozen people. But some 100 cases remain pending, including that of Jonas Burgos, an agricultural activist who was abducted by alleged security forces in broad daylight in an urban mall in April 2007. While an important safeguard against government abuse, the writ of amparo is no substitute for prosecuting perpetrators of arbitrary arrest and detention.

Visit by UN expert on extrajudicial killings
In its UPR submission, the government claims that “as a concrete manifestation of the Philippines’ willingness to cooperate with the international human rights system,” it invited UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston in February 2007. The government has chosen to quote only positive selections from Alston’s report, omitting, for example, his finding that the military remained in denial about the killings, and has not rejected earlier government attacks on the report, such as the high-ranking military officer who called the UN rapporteur “brainwashed.”

“It is absurd for the Philippine government to let its generals call a UN expert names and then claim his visit signifies its willingness to cooperate,” Pearson said. “Its cooperation is best measured through its willingness to adopt Alston’s recommendations.”

Continued targeting of alleged communists
The government’s UPR submission notes that the Philippines repealed the anti-subversion law and decriminalized the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Although membership in the CPP has been legal since 1992, high-ranking military and police officers have repeatedly made statements to Human Rights Watch that imply that membership is illegal and which conflate the CPP with its armed wing, the New People’s Army. Some officers have also publicly suggested that members of certain nongovernmental organizations are valid targets of attack because of their alleged association or sympathy with the CPP or the New People’s Army.

Counterterrorism law
Human Rights Watch also expressed concerns that the 2007 anti-terrorism law, the Human Security Act, contained provisions that could allow authorities to hold detainees indefinitely, and engage in spurious prosecutions. The UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism called for the law to be repealed or its implementation to be delayed.

“The Philippines is among the first countries up for the Universal Periodic Review, and as such it will be a test for the Human Rights Council,” said Pearson. “If the Philippines is the rights-respecting nation it claims to be, then why, when ample evidence implicates the military in abuses, are no members of the military being tried for these crimes?”

==============================

Human Rights Watch: Take RP to task over killings

MANILA, Philippines - A human rights group urged the United Nations on Thursday to take the Philippines to task for failing to prosecute soldiers suspected of involvement in a string of extrajudicial killings.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the Philippines has done little to implement recommendations made last year by Philip Alston, the UN special envoy on extrajudicial killings, as well as the government's own fact-finding commission.

Both have linked soldiers to hundreds of deaths and disappearances of mostly left-wing activists belonging to political organizations that the military brands as fronts for communist rebels.

"The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seems little more than 'window-dressing,'" said Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch's deputy director for Asia.

She told reporters that the actions seemed "designed to merely deflect ... criticism."

Philippine officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council will hold its first Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines' human rights record April 11, during which council members can question government representatives in a public session.

All governments are subjects to the review.

Pearson said the Philippines has reported to the council that the number of killings dropped significantly in 2007.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo told foreign diplomats in January that seven activists and journalists were killed last year, compared to 41 in 2006.

The left-wing human rights group Karapatan also reported considerably fewer activists were killed or abducted last year, but gave higher figures of 68 activists slain and 26 missing, down from 185 dead and 93 missing in 2006.

Karapatan head Marie Hilao Enriquez said in a December report that the drop can be attributed to pressure from the diplomatic community and human rights groups.

The report said 887 left-wing activists and their supporters have been killed and another 185 have disappeared since Arroyo took office in 2001.

The government said it has strengthened witness protection laws, but can do little to force people to testify if they fear retribution. Without witnesses, no prosecution can move forward, it said.

Pearson said the group's research found the government measures have accomplished little.

She said perpetrators must be prosecuted and institutional changes put in place.

In the killings since Arroyo came to office in 2001, "not a single military official has been convicted," Pearson said.

She also expressed concern that some ranking military and police officers have publicly suggested that members of activist organizations are valid targets because of their alleged association with communist rebels. - AP
===============================

Why not CALAMITY?!

2008-03-27T00:37:00.000-05:00

This woman is another amazing ally to FiRE! Representing Shaolin (Staten Island in the house!) She makes this year's DIWANG PINAY line-up even better!

Corinne Manabat aka Calamity is an aspiring documentary filmmaker by day, and spoken word artist/lyricist by night. She has performed at a few NY venues such as Guerrilla Words Open Mic and Sulu Series, and at various college events including FIND D4 Barrio Fiesta. This native Staten Islander has always had a love for hip-hop and loves to breakdance. Always down for the good fight, she is also involved with several social justice organizations. She won the 2005 ImaginAsian TV's PSA Contest for APA (Asian-Pacific-American) Heritage Month with her spoken word montage "Proud and Free," dedicated to her deceased Lolo (grandfather). In May 2008, she will be finishing up "Excuse My Gangsta Ways," a documentary short about a Chinese-American woman who is a former gang member from the 1990s Lower East Side. For more info, check out: www.myspace.com/calamityc

Cling for DIWANG PINAY!

2008-03-27T00:28:00.000-05:00

An amazing kasama and organizer in our sibling organization, AnakBayan NY-NJ! We can't wait til you hear her gorgeous voice, and see her in all her fierceness onstage! Please welcome our homegirl of many names, Cling!

Anne Beryl Corotan also known as Taospuso; Cling, is a noble descendant and the international advocate for the Mandayan tribe of the Philippines and the indigenous peoples of Mindanao. She is the present Philippine Fiesta trader's ambassador. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, with a Bachelor's in Health Science, Public Health and Theatre Arts with a minor in International Studies in 2006 and a Bachelor's of Nursing in 2007. Presently, she is the east coast director of SANDIWA, the National Filipino American Youth. Concurrently, she is the National Director of the cultural and indigenous sector of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns. She is the former district III chair of FIND in 2006 and was also the district's Miss Philippines in 2005. Regardless, she remains a humble servant selflessly devoting her life in advocacy for the youth, the indigenous people and the local community of Filipinos especially within the walls of the Bayanihan Filipino Community Center, a project of Philippine forum. She shares the stories of the community through her proficiency in the field of arts, academe and community health. Taospuso is a revolutionary artist who embodies the courage and humility of a Filipina, living as a herald of Christ and a vanguard of transformation.

March Educational Discussion--IBAGSAK!!

2008-03-26T23:04:00.000-05:00

To welcome Spring, we gathered at Val's house to discuss "Women, Migration and Globalization". We learned so much from our discussion and connected our Filipino American issues to the struggles of women all the way in the Philippines and globally. On the eve of Val's b-day, FiRE sisters once again redefined the meaning of FREEDOM SCHOOL!

Onward with FiRE Educational Discussion Series!

Thanks for coming alls of you:
Macky (first one to get here and last one to leave!)
Lynda (organic lemonade and cookies!)
Jennine (come to Diwang Pinay please!!)
Jackie (umm, you know what.)
Julie (for making time!)
Hanalei (for making it at 6 instead of 8!)
Cris (her first FiRE appearance!)
Sharon (Welcome Welcome!)

and to the Bay Area sisters:
Heather, Mel and Jay!!

and our hosts: Raul and Val!!

If you want to check out the next ED, please email Kimmie at fire.nyc@gmail.com.

Please help us distribute this flyer far and wide!

2008-03-25T12:57:00.002-05:00

Diwang Pinay 2008: Rise, Woman, RISE!
Saturday, April 19, 2008 doors open @ 7 pm
Judson Memorial Church (bet. Thompson and Sullivan Streets)
55 Washington Square South, NYC, NY 10012
ALL AGES WELCOME! $5 for Youth (18 and under)/ $10 Regular
Child Care Available! Please inquire: (925) 726-5768

FEATURING THE FOLLOWING PINAY ARTISTS:
M. Josephine
Fly Lady Di
Isis
Binky*Bianca
DJ Vettie Vette
Tao's Puso
...and many more
check www.firenyc.org for frequent updates!

Diwang Pinay ("Spirit of the Filipina") is an annual performance and silent auction in New York City showcasing Filipina/ Filipina-American performers, writers, and visual artists. Diwang Pinay promotes the work of Pinay artists everywhere AND represents the expanding cultural backbone of the Filipina diaspora. This FiRE event is one of the few venues solely dedicated to providing Filipinas and Filipina-Americans a platform to display their triumphs and struggles through art, linking history to the narrative of today's Filipina.

April 19, 2008 will mark the first of the annual Diwang Pinay series, and in 2008, calls attention to the human rights violations that run rampant in the Philippines. The toll of women community leaders who are murdered or disappear continue to rise, which has prompted FiRE to create this artistic venue featuring singer/songwriters, performers, and visual artists in order to draw attention to the hostile climate which women organizers face today, and the culture of resistance that triumphantly surfaces during these times.

Please join the women of FiRE for a night of PINAY artists showcasing their talents, and stay a little bit longer to celebrate ONE YEAR of Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment organizing in the New York City area!

Silent Auction: DIWANG PINAY

2008-03-25T10:43:00.000-05:00

Please stay tuned for details on the amazing work we'll have up for auction on April 19. Artists from around the nation have donated work to Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment. This event is a great opportunity for you to purchase original art work (all made by Pinays) at very low prices! All money from the Silent Auction will go toward FiRE's programming, so save your allowance and payday splurges, folks, as it's cash only to some great causes! :)

ps: and yes, we WILL have the piece pictured above. More details later. Yet ANOTHER slow reveal for you!

Binky*Bianca all up in here!

2008-03-25T10:37:00.000-05:00

DIWANG PINAY just can't wait for this band to handle the night! A fantastic performance and an incredible set of musicians, yet another lovely addition to the line-up on April 19th at Judson Memorial Church:

Binky*Bianca has rocked, shocked, and amused audiences all over the nation; from New York City, Chicago, to becoming the next internet phenomenon! In the last year, the band has pushed their tasty lyrical madness resulting in features at Five Points NYC, Jammin Asian, CBGBs, and the Rock In The Box 2 Fil-Am Compilation Album. The band evolved from singer songwriter Binky Veloria's solo artist career, but has since taken the New York City scene by storm with foot stomping fun refrains, and witty sharp-edged lyrics. Binky*Bianca is known for their brand of musical heartbreak often described as "Cute-with-Spunk Rock," winning their audiences over in perfect irregular time and tempo! Catch Binky*Bianca at their next gig, because they are an experience!

Don't forget to look for their free album to be given out at gigs and also to be available for free download in late 2008! For more information, please visit, www.myspace.com/binkybianca!

Alfie Ebojo!

2008-03-25T00:36:00.000-05:00

Alfie Ebojo (aka alfie numeric) became a modern day
urban warrior-- a hunter and gatherer. She now works
as an artist aka your typical Jill-of-all-Trades:
graphic designer/illustrator/visual artist, writer,
producer, performer (theater and live painting),
teacher and organizer/activist while holding down a
day job that allows her to daydream.

You can sample her graphic design and visual art
skills at her personal website, alfienumeric.com and
myspace.com/alfienumeric.

Alfie's style is best described as underground
urban. Much of her influences come from the Los
Angeles culture buzzing around her- hip hop, the
Pilipino Family dynamics, graphic and fashion design,
city life, the diverse multi-cultural population,
60's-70's cartoons, anime, mythology, culture from
different countries, and Frida Kahlo.

Alfie's current series focuses on keeping the belief
of love alive, in all its forms, levels and
complexities.

Description of submitted work:
Part of the Branching Out Series, "Out on the Limb for
You"- mixed media of oil and acrylics on 8"x10"
canvas.

FiRE loves you come rain, or come shine...

2008-03-20T16:15:00.001-05:00

Fabulous documentation by JD Generoso --- a warm thank you to him!

The music was beautiful, the art - fantastic, and the love and support were astounding! Despite the weather, a lovely fifty friends of FiRE made it to White Rabbit throughout the night. Thank you very much for braving the storm in your galoshes, and showing your support! Because of you, we are thismuch closer to making DIWANG PINAY and several other FiRE programs a reality! And don't fret, we will see you again in a similar setting via the APRIL 19th afterparty at Katra Lounge post-DIWANG PINAY. So, we can't wait to run into you again!

Extended thank yous to the following folks:
Sara J.
DJ Sabine
Fly Lady Di
the wonderful folks at White Rabbit
and everyone who came through last night...
YOU ARE OUR CHAMPIONS!

If you haven't already, please subscribe to our listserv by emailing us at fire.nyc@gmail.com with "ADD" in the subject or body of your email!

More FIND workshop pix!

2008-03-18T10:45:00.001-05:00

All of these photos are care of Chris Cabrera; thank you for the fantastic documentation! :) More of his albums on our facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8704406587

Thank you, FIND!

2008-03-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

Hello, new friends of Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment!

It was fantastic to have met you this past weekend at UMCP's FIND Conference! We had a great time talking with you at the table, or coming across you at our "A New Pinayism" workshop. There was so much intriguing discussion, that we were pretty salty our time together was cut short! However, we'd love for you to keep in touch, so please don't forget to bookmark/friend us on the following sites:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8704406587
http://www.myspace.com/firefilipinas
http://www.firenyc.org

If you are in the NYC area this April 19th, please check out our amazing ALL-FILIPINA showcase, DIWANG PINAY(www.firenyc.org) where we will celebrate one year of serving our community! And if you can't make that, we're throwing a fundraiser tomorrow night in the LES! (Details below!) More importantly, we are excited that some of you have expressed interest of working with FiRE in the future; here are some ways we can make that happen:

- For a small honorarium, FiRE has a list of workshops and various keynote themes available to present at your school, conference, festival, or event! Some topics include: Filipina HERstories (Pinay History); NOW: Current Issues Faced by Pinays in the Philippines and Overseas; Pinayism: A Legacy of Resistance; and many more! Please note that these can also be converted to accommodate high school aged youth, email Hanalei - fire.nyc@gmail.com

- We would be more than happy to co-cponsor an event around Filipina, and women-centered issues! Also, if you are throwing a benefit and are looking for an organization to which you can contribute, contact us, and we'd be more than happy incorporate your donation into our programming!

- The women of FiRE range from students, emcees, visual artists, spoken word artists, and a myriad of other artistic talent. Please inquire if you have an upcoming women-themed or Filipino-themed event, and we'd be more than happy to help you find what you need!

While we are an NYC/NJ based organization, we'd be more than happy to travel to accommodate your group! Thanks for taking the time to read this, as your support is valuable to us as a very young organization. We can't wait to hear from you, and hope we make it out to you event or school sometime soon! :)

Best,
Hanalei Ramos
Organizational Development Director,
Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment --- FiRE NYC

==============

The Unofficially Official SIKE! Pre-party! --- Hosted by the women of FIRE
Wednesday, March 19 7p - Midnight
@ WHITE RABBIT - 145 Houston Street (between Forsyth & Eldridge)
21+ $5 Suggested, with drink special 7p on!

Featuring DJ SABINE and live art by FLY LADY DI!
http://www.myspace.com/djsabine
http://www.myspace.com/flyladydi

As we countdown to DIWANG PINAY, we're throwing an Afrobeat.House.Soul party for good measure! Come spend the night with the fabulous DJ Sabine and Fly Lady Di at our bar of choice: WHITE RABBIT! If you're interested in learning more about our organization, or if you just want to check out the live art, great music, and after work drink specials, this would be your chance!!! Thank you to Sara Jimenez, DJ Sabine, and Fly Lady Di for all their support and planning! All proceeds will go toward Diwang Pinay and other FiRE programs.

DIWANG PINAY 2008: Rise, Woman, RISE!
Saturday, April 19, 2008 @ 7 pm
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
NYC, NY 10012
***Take the subway to West 4th then, walk east along West 4th Street, toward Washington Square Park.

FEATURING THE WORK OF:
Pinays you know and love!
Hosted by Isis
DJ VettieVet the whole night!

Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment will celebrate its first anniversary! Please join the women of FiRE for a showcase and silent auction of Pinay artists!

Diwang Pinay ("Spirit of the Filipina") is an annual performance and silent auction in New York City showcasing Filipina/ Filipina-American performers, writers, and visual artists. Diwang Pinay promotes the work of Pinay artists everywhere AND represent the expanding cultural backbone of the Filipina diaspora. This FiRE event is one of the few venues solely dedicated to providing Filipinas and Filipina-Americans a platform to display their triumphs and struggles through art, linking history to the narrative of today's Filipina.

April 19, 2008 will mark the first of the annual Diwang Pinay series, and in 2008, calls attention to the human rights violations that run rampant in the Philippines. The toll of women community leaders who are murdered or disappear continue to rise, which has prompted FiRE to create this artistic venue featuring singer/songwriters, performers, and visual artists in order to draw attention to the hostile climate which women organizers face today, and the culture of resistance that triumphantly surfaces during these times.

Performance slots and artist auction submissions are still open until March 15! Please contact Hanalei at diwangpinay@gmail.com . For more information, please visit us at www.firenyc.org !

Worst is yet to come for the Arroyo regime

2008-03-13T13:55:00.000-05:00

Worst is yet to come for the Arroyo regime

Press statement
13 March 2008
Reference: Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, Chairperson

Contrary to the statement of national security adviser Norberto Gonzales, the worst is yet to come for the embattled Arroyo regime. The worsening economic hardship, intensifying repression, and persistent corruption allegations will continue to feed social unrest and fan political instability.

Gonzales declared Wednesday that the “worst of the political crisis is over” and Mrs. Gloria Arroyo has survived the $329-million broadband corruption scandal.

Gonzales ignored the impact of deteriorating poverty on the hold to power of Arroyo. The latest official poverty incidence report disclosed that between 2003 and 2006, more than one million Filipinos are added every year to the number of poor or three million for three years. This further undermines the ability of Arroyo to govern as an increasing number of people feel that the government is not addressing their economic concerns. This will enhance the isolation of the Arroyo regime from the people.

Trends indicate that the worsening economic hardship will persist in the coming months. Unprecedented oil price increases, almost simultaneous hikes in the prices of basic food items and in water and power rates will continue to erode wages and income. Ordinary families could barely afford even half of the cost of living while more than 10.8 million people are either jobless or underemployed. At the global level, the looming US recession has yet to take its full impact on the local economy. But once it does, expect a serious production slowdown that could mean higher unemployment and poverty.

There are also no signs that Arroyo will depart from her current pro-market and anti-people economic policies. She could not afford, for example, to let go of the regressive value added tax (VAT). While the VAT contributes to high prices of basic goods and services, it is also the most reliable source of revenues for the bankrupt regime.

On the other hand, the repression of the Arroyo regime of legitimate protests for economic and political reforms is becoming more vicious. The brutal dispersal of protesting workers in front of the Labor department on March 6 shows the readiness of the regime to use more violence to preserve itself. But this only fuels the people’s outrage and determination to fight for justice and reforms.

Meanwhile, the public perception that corruption under the Arroyo regime is chronic remains pervasive and will continue to hound Arroyo. A Pulse Asia survey in October 2007 shows that Arroyo is perceived by most Filipinos to be the most corrupt president. This has been confirmed by a recent survey conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) that ranked the Philippines as the most corrupt country in Asia.

The combination of worsening poverty, increasing repression, and continuing efforts to cover up corruption provides the condition for the lingering unrest and more protests.

The people will not remain passive amid the current political turmoil. They will take action once they realize that their plight is being aggravated by the wrong economic policies, repression, and corruption of the Arroyo regime. This will further strengthen the growing movement calling for a change in the national leadership and for meaningful political and economic reforms.

Gonzales and the entire Arroyo clique should not take comfort in the coming long holiday break. It could be the proverbial “calm before the storm”.###

Our March Brunch!

2008-03-12T23:10:00.000-05:00

The past weekend was chock full of goodies and fun!

FiRE continued our International Women's Day celebration with our favorites monthly Pinay Brunch!

Thanks to Grill 21 for giving us a good down home -silog in Manhattan!

Some of the sisters that shared the Filipino breakfast love not pictured here are: Jill and Laurel!

FilAm Women March in Large International Contingent in New York

2008-03-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2008

Reference: Valerie Francisco, Chairwoman, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), fire.nyc@gmail.com, www.firenyc.org

FilAm Women March in Large International Contingent in New York

New York, NY--Not even the heavy rainstorm could stop, Filipino American women from Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) from marching and chanting in the streets of downtown, Manhattan on March 8, 2008, International Women's Day. Alongside 300 people and various New York women's organizations, the soaked marchers kept their spirits up and their voices to the sky.

"Women all over the world are celebrating resistance on International Women's Day," stated Valerie Francisco, chair of FiRE, "Filipino women, especially, have much to be proud of." In New York, FiRE celebrated by participating in the women's festival at CUNY Hunter College and as a part of the International Women's Day Coalition in New York.

As member organization of GABRIELA-USA, the Filipino contingent in New York carried placards calling for the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to step down from office. Accounts of corruption coming from Malacanang have been unfolding the past few weeks, pointing to the president's acquiescence in deals that put millions and millions of dollars in the pockets of politicians.

In the meantime, Filipino women across the globe are facing critical issues. The Filipino woman in Japan raped by US marines in Okinawa is still awaiting justice. Neither GMA nor the US government has issued apologies. The trial for this Filipino woman has been prolonged as the Philippine government awaits for the US' lead on this case.

Although, no governmental bodies have sought justice for her, streets in Okinawa, Manila and New York were filled with outraged Filipino activists demanding justice. The women rallying side by side with the Filipino woman in Okinawa and Nicole and the countless others victimized by US militarization are the ones calling for change.

"A woman president is only as good as what her puppeteer will allow her to be," Francisco continued, "The real women's power, the real international women's power is in the everyday woman. We will organize and mobilize until our demands are met and our collective voices are heard!"

GABRIELA is spearheading a global women's movement, FiRE in New York along with Pinay Sa Seattle and babae in San Francisco are harnessing power from US-based Filipino women to strengthen an international struggle.

With their umbrellas painted with "OUST GMA" and their rain boots in tow, FiRE is leaving a trail blazed with solidarity. Even a little rain couldn't stop them.

###

WED: 03/19 The Unofficially Official SIKE! Pre-party!

2008-03-09T22:55:00.002-05:00

As we countdown to DIWANG PINAY, we're throwing in one more party for good measure! Come spend the night with a great DJ and live art at our bar of choice: WHITE RABBIT! What more can you ask for? Come dance and make merry with the women of FiRE! If you're interested in getting to know more about our organization, or if you just want to take silly facebook pictures with us, this would be a prime opportunity! All proceeds will go toward Diwang Pinay and other FiRE programs. See you there! <3 style="font-weight: bold;">
The Unofficially Official SIKE! Pre-party!
Hosted by FIRE
Wednesday, March 19 7p - Midnight
$5 Suggested, with drink special 7p on!
@ WHITE RABBIT
145 Houston Street (between Forsyth & Eldridge)

With DJ SABINE and live art by FLY LADY DI!

Thank you to Sara Jimenez, DJ Sabine, and Fly Lady Di for all their support and planning!

IWD 2008!

2008-03-09T22:37:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all our coalition members and kasamas from AnakBayan, Philippine Forum, and NY Committee for Human Rights for supporting us at the International Women's Day mobilization! Press release to follow! :)

March 8th – Overseas Filipinas Rally and March as GABRIELA-USA

2008-03-07T10:40:00.001-05:00

Press Release
March 6, 2008

Reference: Joanne Alcantara, GABRIELA National Organizing Committee Coordinator
gabrielawomen@gmail.com, (641) 715-3900

March 8th – Overseas Filipinas Rally and March as GABRIELA-USA,
Extending the Philippine Women's Movement Internationally

On March 8, 2008, Filipino women in the United States will proclaim the formalization of a GABRIELA-USA Chapter, the first international overseas chapter of the Philippine-based women's organization GABRIELA, through nationally-coordinated protest actions celebrating
women's resistance and calling for the ouster of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

GABRIELA, the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action, was first established in 1984 by 42 women's organizations in the Philippines uniting against the US-backed Marcos dictatorship. In November of 2007, Pinay sa Seattle, babae in
San Francisco and FiRE (Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment) in New York planted the seeds for a USA-based GABRIELA. Subsequently, GABRIELA has committed to expanding our work in the US by providing organizing around the conditions of Filipinas in the USA.

In the seven years that the US-backed Arroyo has been President in the Philippines, she has worsened the economic conditions of the Filipino people and especially women. Her stark human rights violations record, subservience to US imperialism and militarization has
materialized in the murder of Filipino women and children in the hand of US troops supposedly training the Philippine military in Balikatan exercises. Arroyo has also stood silent on the increasing numbers of Filipino women raped by US military troops in the Philippines, and
recently in Japan.

The corruption of President Arroyo has been exposed through the NBN-ZTE scandal and the Filipino people are expressing their intolerance. We are uniting across continents and oceans to call for a new brand of people power. The intensifying political climate in the Philippines calls for genuine social change, an ouster of a decrepit president and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.

GABRIELA-USA will rally to this call. As migrant women, we recognizethat the majority of Overseas Filipino Workers are women. The worsening economic and political crisis of the Philippines pushes Filipino women out only to be subjected to exploitation, human
trafficking, domestic abuse, sexual assault, torture and even death. We recognize our place is in the struggle to oust a puppet president and we will mobilize around our responsibility to the Filipino people.

During these times of heightened political crisis in the Philippines the women of Pinay sa Seattle, babae San Francisco and FiRE New York, all members of GABRIELA-USA, will continue to carry out the vigilant task of intensifying the people's resistance against a tyrannical and immoral government. GABRIELA-USA stands behind all working women and Filipino progressives to expose the truth and call for Arroyo's ouster from presidency.

On this March 8, we call on all peace loving people, advocates for human rights, and women's organizations to stand in solidarity with GABRIELA and its newly formed USA-based chapter by joining us in the following mobilizations:

New York:
12pm-3pm
A Salute to Women's Resistance
Union Square

Seattle:
12pm-2pm
Women Hold Up Half the Sky
Cultural Performances and Speakers
Jose Rizal Park

San Francisco:
2:00pm
For Our Sisters, We Must RESIST
San Francisco Dewey Monument
Union Square Plaza at Stockton and Powell

Women unite!
Struggle against oppression and exploitation!
Fight the Arroyo regime's corruption and tyranny!
Oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!
Long Live International Working Women's Day!
Long Live International Solidarity!

###

Next up: live art at Diwang Pinay!

2008-03-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

Fly Lady Di has got to be the most enthusiastic Pinay FiRE's come across in the call for artists! As soon as she offered to do some live art for Diwang Pinay, how could we refuse?! She's an amazing woman, and this one time Miss Manila Runner-up (TRUE STORY!) can be described best via this FAQ, answered by the artist herself:

How would you describe your style?
A cross between cubism, graffiti, art nouveau, and art deco. A sort of Brooklyn Renaissance.

What inspires your work?
Sometimes painting is all I have to express myself (beside dance.) My paintings are songs I can't sing and poems I can't write down. A lot of times, pain drives one to create. Many of my pieces were created out of this. New work inspirer me a lot.

How long does it take you to finish a painting?
It all depends. Some of them have taken weeks, some several months to complete. The journey within the painting is as fascinating as the painting itself, in my opinion. I try to stay patient, because I am a meticulous painter and it takes me a while sometimes to "perfect" and render the way I want (with clean and bold lines.)

Did you go to art school?
I like to say I'm "self-taught," but my Father taught me everything I know about art before I learned it in school. He used to discourage me from art, because he gave up as an artist. But he is probably my biggest supporter now because he sees what I am doing with it.

What are your goals as an artist?
I just really want to perpetuate the tradition of painting. I want to be the next answer to female painters in art history. I want to be a rock-star painter, kind of like a kat von d, but with painting. It is through my live painting performances and art shows that I want to fuse my gift of painting with entertainment as well.

Thank you, CUNY HUNTER!

2008-03-07T01:06:00.001-05:00

FiRE would like to thank CUNY Hunter's Women's Studies Dept. for the opportunity to table at the IWD event yesterday. Particular thank yous to Maria for the invite, and Wali and Camille for the extra hands at the table! We had a great time meeting all of you who stopped by the table, and look forward to seeing you at FIND and DIWANG PINAY!

our postcards have arrived!

2008-03-06T23:21:00.001-05:00

Thank you to Samantha Smith for doing an incredible job with ALL the DIWANG PINAY logos! :)

SAT 3/08 is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!

2008-03-04T15:58:00.003-05:00

Greetings friends and allies!
March with us to celebrate a women's resistance and a growing global movement for justice, and of course...with your friendly FiRE sisters at the front!

International Women's Day
A Salute to Women's Resistance

:: Saturday :: March 8, 2008 ::

Rally at 12noon
Union Square, 14th St and Broadway

FiRE will be gathering our contingent at the corner of 14th St and University Place
LOOK FOR THE PHILIPPINE FLAG and you'll find us!

March at 1pm to 330p
Ending Ceremony at the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Memorial
Site of 1911 factory massacre where 146 young women workers perished
Corner of Washington Square Park & Greene St

FiRE is proud to be a part of the International Women's Day 2008 Coalition sponsoring this event!

On March 8th, women all over the world will honor International Women's Day. In the Philippines, the US puppet president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has done nothing to improve Filipino women's conditions in the Philippines and in the diaspora. The height of her political corruption has pushed thousands of Filipinos to call for her ouster. On March 8, FiRE joins the international demand to OUST GMA! We're getting FiREd up!

IBON: Corruption scandals under Arroyo cost Filipinos P7.3B

2008-03-04T14:54:00.001-05:00

IBON: Corruption scandals under Arroyo cost Filipinos P7.3B
03/04/2008 | 03:31 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Corruption scandals in the last seven years under the Arroyo administration have cost Filipinos at least P7.3 billion, according to militant think tank IBON Foundation Tuesday.

In a statement, IBON said with six corruption scandals so far, including the $329.48-million ZTE broadband network scam, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has become the most corrupt president the country has ever had.

"President Gloria Arroyo may indeed be the most corrupt president the country has ever had, based on amounts lost to the Filipino people in just six corruption scandals over her seven years in office," the Ibon statement read.

Other scandals under the Arroyo administration were the P728-million fertilizer scam, the Jose Pidal bank accounts, the Northrail project, the $14-million IMPSA power plant project, the P1.3-billion poll automation project, and the Macapagal Boulevard project.

IBON said the amount could have been used to provide badly-needed education and health services to millions of impoverished Filipinos.

"For example, it could have been used to help the Department of Education (DepEd) bridge its resource gaps of classrooms, textbooks and teachers," it said.

Citing DepEd figures, IBON said the DepEd's 2008 budget is still P8.43 billion short to bridge its resource gaps for the year.

On the other hand, it said the amount could also have been used to increase subsidies for indigent patients in government hospitals such as the Philippine General Hospital.

"These cases also indicate the Arroyo administration's high tolerance for corruption, since none of them has ever been satisfactorily resolved. In fact, the Ombudsman only filed graft and corruption charges against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez in January 2007 or six years after the charges were made public," it noted.

Perez allegedly received a $2-million bribe so that the Department of Justice would give the go-ahead for a $470-million contract to IMPSA for rehabilitation of the CBK hydroelectric plant in Laguna.

"Clearly, corruption is inherent in a liberalized backward economy and has greatly benefited the Arroyo administration for the past seven years, while it continues to worsen the incidence of poverty and deny much-needed social services to millions of Filipinos," IBON said. - GMANews.TV

Oust GMA Coverage NYC and SF!

2008-03-04T00:36:00.000-05:00

A huge thank you to Balitang America for covering these rallies and protests!

Fil-Am women in NY echoes the worldwide call for OUST GLO!

2008-02-29T16:08:00.001-05:00

Press Release
29 February 2008

Reference: Valerie Francisco, Secretary General, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE)
Contact Info: fire.nyc@gmail.com, 925-726-5768, www.firenyc.org

Fil-Am women in NY echoes the worldwide call for OUST GLO!

New York, NY--The sounds of feet marching on concrete and voices chanting echoed from the streets of Manila to the Filipino hub of Woodside, Queens on a freezing Thursday night. The demands of the Filipino people, migrant or in the Philippines resonated in unison, "GLORIA RESIGN!"

Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), a Filipino women's organization in New York City, stood side by side with other BAYAN-USA organizations, Anakbayan New York/New Jersey and New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines to join in the worldwide call to oust the defacto Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In the recent unfolding of scandal after scandal in the Arroyo regime has signaled massive public outrage in the Philippines. Millions of dollars have gone into the pockets of Arroyo and her cronies in the economic scandal between the Philippines and 2 telecommunications networks (National Broadband Network-Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation ). The bottom line is, these underhanded deals will profit the GMA administrations and the debts accrued through this scandal will fall on the shoulder of the Filipino people.

Different communities, church people, students, business and professionals, women, etc., in the Philippines have denounced the GMA administration for its graft and corruption. Migrant Filipinos, overseas foreign workers, youth and women alike, are also taking a stand.

"We understand that the NBN-ZTE deal is the small piece of an enormous, corrupt and crooked web that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself has orechestrated in her unscrupulous and rotten term as puppet president of the Philippines," says Valerie Francisco, Chairperson of FiRE,"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Gloria must go!"

Marching in the streets in Queens, NY might seem like a reach from the intensifying political climate in the Philippines. But in reality, our growing migrant community is a stones throw away from the Philippines as our voices echo with the same demands:

OUST GLORIA!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
TAMA NA, SOBRA NA, PATALSIKIN SI GLORIA!
STOP THE KILLINGS!
US TROOPS OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES!

###

and another one!

2008-02-29T15:21:00.001-05:00

Our soundwoman extraordinaire for the night! VettieVette has been a fantastic friend to FiRE, from DJing our "Stop the Killings" show in March 2007 to hosting a Pinay Brunch this past winter, we are so happy that this woman's got FiRE's back!

DJ Vettie Vette!

DJ Vettie Vette aka Yvette Cuenco is a Bay Area native Brooklynite with Kapampangan and Mindanao roots. She has been involved with the Pilipino community since she was a kid - from her family's church activities through her days as an undergrad at UCLA. She moved to Brooklyn in 2004 to attend NYU's School of Social Work and has been working full-time as a licensed master social worker at a children's day treatment program in Brooklyn since 2006. Outside of the office, Vettie Vette has been involved in the arts & culture scene for many years - as a writer, events volunteer, and performer. On her spare time DJ Vettie Vette can be seen with her DJ crew - Sistamatik, record shopping, cooking, or enjoying the sights and sounds of her adopted city. She is honored to be a part of the first annual Diwang Pinay. For more information on Vettie Vette's events or to download her mixes, please hit up http://vettievette.wordpress.com.

be our friend everywhere!

2008-02-27T13:55:00.000-05:00

Amidst these turbulent times, we're still pushing forth with plans for DIWANG PINAY!

Make sure you let us know you're showing up with this lovely SAVE THE DATE! on facebook. Or! Join our FiRE FACEBOOK GROUP!

191 folks, and counting! :)
Thanks for your support, friends.

If you're in Seattle!

2008-02-26T21:18:00.001-05:00

SEATTLE SAYS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
OUST GMA!

Let Truth Shine Against Darkness

Please come out for these events as we build towards a new brand of People Power!

THURSDAY, February 28, 8pm.
Nationwide Candlelight Vigil for Victims of the Arroyo Regime
University of Washington Red Square in front of Suzallo Library

FRIDAY, February 29.
5:30pm Rally at Komo 4 News Station (140 4th Ave. N)
6:30pm Vigil at Seattle Center Fountain

MONDAY, March 3rd, 6-8pm
Potluck Dinner and Community Teach In
Gran Oriente (117 - 15th Avenue South, Seattle)

SATURDAY, March 8th, 12noon.
International Women's Day Rally to Oust GMA
Featuring First Quarter Storm
Jose Rizal Park (1008 – 12th Avenue South, Seattle)

TUESDAY, March 11, 6:30pm
Edith Burgos, mother of human rights victim
Speaking Event at Bethany UCC
6230 Beacon Avenue South
***

News Release
February 25, 2008

Reference: Rob McCauley, GMA WATCH 206.383.7209, rob.mccauley@teamsters763.org

Jeff Rice, BAYAN USA National Officer, 206.291.8078, edjop82@gmail.com

Joanne Alcantara, GABRIELA-USA, 206.427.2994, gabrielawomen@gmail.com

Fil-Ams Commemorate People Power by Calling for a "New Brand" of People Power
GMAT WATCH AND BAYAN USA Calls for Increased Action in the US Against Arroyo

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, will join its mother alliance's call for commemorative week long actions surrounding the anniversary of People Power 1. On Monday February 25th, the umbrella group BAYAN Philippines will be joining a broader call of church leaders, civil libertarians, and business leaders for the immediate resignation of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, following a high-end dialogue of various Philippine sectors in the Makati Business Club last Tuesday.

The Arroyo clan has recently been exposed of high dealings in graft and corruption as ZTE-NBN Broadband scandal star witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada testified last week to the Philippine Congress.

"We agree that Gloria will be facing a 'new brand' of people power, certainly one where more Filipino-Americans will take a stand, make more noise, and contribute to the anti-corruption, pro-democracy movement in the Philippines," states BAYAN USA Finance Officer Jeff Rice. "We are calling on all patriotic Filipinos in the Seattle area who are concerned with the state of the Motherland to join together in this time of crisis."

BAYAN Philippines Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. noted, "Perhaps the difference with people power today is that its seeds are emerging from various sectors of society despite there being no Cardinal Sin to call for it. People power is springing forth from the grassroots, the schools, factories, communities, businesses, with various political formations are coming together. It is spreading despite the limitations of the church hierarchy."

"Now more than ever, we need to recall the lessons of people power and so we can come up with an improved version for our times. The new people power will not simply be led by any religious leader a la Cardinal Sin. Nor will it just seek to replace one regime with a worse one. We have certainly learned lessons from EDSA 1 and EDSA 2," Reyes added.

The theme of the BAYAN protest actions will be People Power Pa Rin! (People Power Still!), a call that is growing popular even among overseas Filipinos in various countries. BAYAN USA has a considerable number of second and third generation Filipino members in the US who fully unite with the call and understand its relevance.

"Nothing is impossible. After 20 years of living under the iron fist of Marcos, the Filipino people made the so-called 'impossible' happen with People Power 1, and again with Estrada with People Power 2. These experiences prove that the Filipino people can make this new brand of People Power possible-- one that will reject the corruption and moral bankruptcy of Trapo (traditional politician) politics, and one that will not allow another Trapo to simply replace Gloria. Even second-generation Fil-Ams can smell what is rotten about Arroyo from 30,000 miles away and know that the Philippine system needs to change," states BAYAN USA Chair, Chito Quijano.

BAYAN USA hopes to mounts actions with allies and friends in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities in the US calling for the resignation or ouster of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo next week. BAYAN USA also calls on all sympathetic forces in the United States to mount creative actions calling for the immediate removal of Arroyo.

In Seattle, a series of actions will take place calling for the ouster of the Philippine President. All events are sponsored by GMA Watch, Bayan USA and GABRIELA USA. The week of March 10th, Edith Burgos, mother of missing farmer and activist Jonas Burgos, will travel across the nation in a national speaking tour to raise the level of awareness on the ongoing forced disappearances of activists in the Philippines. She has presented her case to the United Nations Commission for Human Rights and has garnered the attention of the international community on the state of human rights abuses under the hands of the Philippine government.

THURSDAY, February 28, 8pm.

Nationwide Candlelight Vigil for Victims of the Arroyo Regime

University of Washington Red Square in front of Suzallo Library

FRIDAY, February 29.

5:30pm Rally at Komo News 4

6:30pm Vigil at Seattle Center Fountain

MONDAY, March 3rd, 6-8pm

Potluck Dinner and Community Teach In

Gran Oriente (117 - 15th Avenue South, Seattle)

SATURDAY, March 8th, 12noon.

International Women's Day Rally to Oust GMA

Featuring First Quarter Storm

Jose Rizal Park (1008 – 12th Avenue South, Seattle)

TUESDAY, March 11, 6:30pm

Edith Burgos, mother of human rights victim

Speaking Event at Bethany UCC

6230 Beacon Avenue South

We call on all Filipino people, friends and allies to stand against a corrupt government and say "Enough is enough! People Power Pa Rin! We demand an accountable government in the Philippines! Oust Gloria Now! ###
--
PINAY* sa Seattle is a collective of Pinays celebrating our multifaceted identities, revolutionary history, and rich culture. We work to build a community in the Seattle area invested in educating, defending, and advocating for the human rights of Filipinas globally. (www.pinaysaseattle.org)
Pinay sa Seattle is part of the women's sector of BAYAN–USA, an alliance of progressive Filipino groups in the U.S.(www.bayanusa.org)

‘Bye’ Arroyo campaign goes online

2008-02-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

http://www.petitiononline.com/babay/petition.html

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AND FORWARD FAR AND WIDE!
‘Bye’ Arroyo campaign goes online
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- An alliance of overseas Filipino groups on Tuesday launched an online petition calling on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to say goodbye to her job.

Called Babay Gloria, for Bagong Bayani Ayaw kay Gloria (New Heroes against Gloria), the petition was launched by Migrante.

“Bagong bayani” or modern-day hero is the tag given by the government to overseas Filipino workers, whose multibillion-dollar remittances prop up the Philippine economy.

Aside from the online petition, an actual petition-signing campaign has also been launched along T.M. Kalaw Street in Manila, where hundreds of seafarers congregate daily.

The Babay Gloria petition shows that our countrymen abroad are one with the movement here for the ouster of Arroyo, said Migrante chair Connie Bragas-Regalado.

The petition, addressed to Arroyo, says overseas Filipinos have had enough of the President’s “affronts to our dignity, violations against our rights and welfare, and your lies to the people.”

The petition will be circulated among Migrante’s member-organizations in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.

The petition says overseas Filipinos are fed up with the corruption in the government that has deprived them and their families of efficient public services. Jerome Aning

GABRIELA-USA Demands Justice for the Rape of Filipina by US Military Personnel!

2008-02-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2008
Contact: Joanne Alcantara, National Coordinator, GABRIELA–USA, gabrielawomen@gmail.com

GABRIELA-USA Demands Justice for the Rape of Filipina by US Military Personnel!

STOP US TROOPS FROM VIOLATING OUR WOMEN!

On February 18, 2008, a US army member was taken into custody for the rape of a Filipino woman in Okinawa, Japan. The woman, who's identity has not been released, reported to local police that she was raped in a hotel. The brutal incident left the woman with injuries, and is currently receiving treatment at a medical facility.

The claim made by the Filipino woman adds to the sordid US military rap sheet in Okinawa, with a 38-year old Marine staff sergeant recently arrested for the rape of a 14-year old Japanese girl only 7 days earlier.

The usual response from the US military claims that Army authorities are investigating the case, but this incident will only prove again the biased nature of the US-Japanese Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA), which allows for US military servicemen to claim impunity regarding specific illegal conduct. In 1995, the gang-rape of an Okinawan elementary school girl by US marines prompted widespread outrage from Okinawans who are still fighting to contest the highly concentrated presence of US military in their island.

Similar to the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), these underhanded military deals between the US and other Asian states have grave consequences for the girls and women who live and work in and around highly militarized areas. The gang-rape of 22 year-old Nicole in 2006 is indicative of the ongoing pattern of sexual attacks caused by US military occupation. Further, the Philippine puppet government under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has made it so that the Philippines has become the stomping yard of US military troops. The convicted US marine in Nicole's case, Lce. Corporal Smith's lenient sentence is proof of the Philippines' cowardice when it comes to protecting women's rights and safety.

The growing presence of US military in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia spells out danger for women's bodies and livelihood. A recent report of 2 children and a pregnant woman murdered by so-called US training exercises, Balikatan, in Mindanao calls attention to the countless ways US military occupation targets the welfare of women.

These despicable incidents stir up the continuing women's struggle to oust US occupation in the Philippines and calls for solidarity among women across nations that are subject to the same abuses of military occupation. From the legacy of resistance of our Lolas, WWII comfort women, to standing up against these crimes of war on a new generation of Filipino women, Pinay Sa Seattle, Babae in San Francisco and FiRE in New York demand JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF US MILITARY HARASSMENT!

GABRIELA-USA calls for immediate investigation into the rapes in Okinawa, Japan. The US military and government must take accountability for its wars of aggression on the world and on the women of the world!

STOP US TROOPS FROM VIOLATING OUR WOMEN!
NO TO WARS OF AGGRESSION!!!
NO TO ANOTHER GENERATION OF COMFORT WOMEN!
US TROOPS OUT OF OKINAWA AND THE PHILIPPINES!

We are GABRIELA-USA

2008-02-19T17:50:00.001-05:00

Warm militant greetings!

The GABRIELA-USA National Organizing Committee, on behalf of Pinay Sa Seattle, babae in San Francisco and FiRE in New York, are proud to share recent news that we will be formally building towards a national women's alliance, GABRIELA-USA.

After a monumental conference in Seattle, WA in November 2007, which brought together our 3 women's organizations, we have been steadily building our Filipino women's alliance towards the formation of a GABRIELA USA Chapter in the U.S. This month, we are happy to share with you the news and the actual text that the GABRIELA National Council has recently passed a resolution that recognizes our women's alliance as the first international chapter of the vibrant women's alliance in the Philippines, GABRIELA.

We thank allies and friends like yourself and your organizations in sustaining and supporting us throughout our journey. We would like to send you our gratitude for your steadfast support and look forward to continuing and strengthening our struggle.

GABRIELA USA will be vigilant in addressing the unique struggles of Filipino women in the US and in the Philippines. Side by side with the broader struggles of the Filipino people, GABRIELA USA will continue to strengthen our legacy as empowered Filipino women, and fight against the oppressive government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The road before us will be long and undoubtedly demanding, however, with your help and trust, we are sure to build GABRIELA-USA into a wide, solid and strong force within the National Democratic movement.

IPAGLABAN ANG PAMBANSANG DEMOKRASYA!
MABUHAY ANG KABABAIHAN!

In solidarity,
GABRIELA-USA National Organizing Committee

PHILIPPINE SOLIDARITY NIGHT

2008-02-19T09:52:00.000-05:00

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR OF 1899, BAYAN USA NORTHEAST INVITES YOU TO A
PHILIPPINE SOLIDARITY NIGHT

AND

ILPS THIRD INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY ORIENTATION

*performances by Filipino artists

*a public orientation on the upcoming Int'l League of People's Struggle Third International Assembly (TIA) on June 17 thru 22 in Hong Kong

*orientation to be delivered via videoconference w/ the ILPS chair, Prof. Jose Maria Sison

SUNDAY, FEB. 24TH, 7-9:30PM
BAYANIHAN FILIPINO COMMUNITY CENTER
40-21 69TH STREET
NEAREST TRAIN: 7 TO 69TH-FISK
THE BAYANIHAN FILIPINO COMMUNITY CENTER IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM KRYSTAL'S CAFE IN WOODSIDE

organized by
BAYAN USA and its member organizations,
Anakbayan NY/NJ,
Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FIRE),
NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, EMAIL CHRISTINA HILO AT ANAKBAYAN_NY@YAHOO.COM

50 duped OFWs scavenge for food in Kuwait dustbins -- NGO

2008-02-19T09:50:00.001-05:00

50 duped OFWs scavenge for food in Kuwait dustbins -- NGO

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippiness -- A Hong Kong-based migrant workers’ group appealed to the government on Tuesday to do something about 50 Filipino workers reduced to scavenging garbage in Kuwait after being duped by their employer.

The overseas Filipino workers, according to the Asia Pacific Migrants Mission, have resorted to eating expired foodstuff and scavenging sellable items from waste bins just to survive.

APMM said the OFWs were employed by the Gulf Link Transport Co. but subcontracted to different employers as cleaners.
"They have been in Kuwait for three months and a number of them have either not been paid or their salaries have been delayed. Their placement agency is ironically named Great Provider Service Exporters Inc.,” APMM coordinator Gi Estrada said in a statement from Hong Kong.

For those who do get paid, their salaries are reduced from 60 Kuwaiti Dinars (about US$220.50) to only 44 (US$161.70) a month because of illegal deductions. "That’s lower than the monthly wage of a domestic helper here,” Estrada added.
Last Saturday, Migrante-Dubai accompanied more than 40 other victims of labor contract violations in the United Arab Emirate’s commercial capital, to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO). In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, about 100 OFWs are stranded under a bridge and are awaiting deportation.

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East said they would seek a Senate hearing on the OFW experiences and the alleged negligence and incompetence of some Filipino embassy officials. ###
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080219-119897/50-duped-OFWs-scavenge-for-food-in-Kuwait-dustbins----NGO

International Women's Day!

2008-02-14T08:44:00.001-05:00

GABRIELA Statement

International Women's Day

8 March 2008

On March 8, 2008, Filipino women once again call for a militant
commemoration of the International Women's Day to honor the day of
working women. The women's militancy to demand change and fight for
their rights roots back from the historical condition of oppression and
inequality of women. For working class women, this meant inhuman and
slave-like conditions in the form of feudal and capitalist
exploitation.

One hundred years ago, on 8 March 1908, 15,000 women marched through New
York City to demand shorter work hours, just pay and the right to vote.
In the same year in Europe women also set up strikes, protested against
welfare cuts and campaigned for equal pay and unionization.

In the Philippines, women's participation has always been significant in
the people's historical struggle for sovereignty and against oppression
and exploitation. Filipinas first commemorated International Women's Day
in 1971 at the onset of the dictatorial rule of Ferdinand Marcos. With
the establishment of GABRIELA in 1984, women under the alliance
continued the militant tradition of commemoration of IWD from then on,
recognizing the contribution of millions of working women's struggle in
the past.

Today, Filipino working women carry on the struggle at a time of
worsening economic and political crises under the 7- year
Macapagal-Arroyo regime – a regime most subservient to US imperialist
dictates, most corrupt and tyrannical, and almost equals the Marcos
dictatorship in its fascism.

The Arroyo regime boasts of a growing Philippine economy, citing the
increase in the country's Gross National Product and the strengthening
of the peso against the US dollar. The regime further claims that a
diminishing hunger incidence as shown in the last quarter of 2007 survey
was due to her good governance and the success of the hunger mitigation
program that she started in 2005.

The concrete experiences of majority of the Filipino people, especially
women who bear the brunt of hunger and poverty, proved the Arroyo
regime's declaration of progress a lie. For the Filipino people, there
has been no meaningful development amidst the economy's continuing
deterioration.

Sham Program, Corrupt Governance

The government's development program such as the Hunger Mitigation
Program is nothing but mere attempts to cosmetize its utter failure to
resolve the fundamental problems of the Philippine economy.

The Arroyo government's ever-ready compliance to policies of imperialist
globalization leads to the bankruptcy of the country's industry and
agriculture, which in turn, causes the widespread dislocation of workers
and farmers. Even owners of small businesses bemoan the weight of the
crisis and its adverse effects on their businesses and investments.

Reality also runs counter to the Arroyo political clique's propaganda of
good governance. Arroyo and her political clique are being hounded by
unending scandals of corruption and abuse of authority. Adding to these
scandals involving the president, her husband and their close allies are
recent revelations of corruption and kickback in the ZTE-NBN Broadband
project and cases of bribery in Malacañang and Congress coinciding with
a move to consolidate the administration block to ward off a impeachment
case against the President. Yet in all these corruption scandals and
anomalies, not one of those involved was ever tried, much less punished.

Worsening the Modern Day Slavery of Women in the 7th Year of the Fake
President

The worsening economic crisis leads to further deterioration of Filipino
women's social status. Household work remains the woman's individual
responsibility while the crisis further compels women to seek livelihood
to augment the family's income. And yet feudal patriarchal relations
between men and women remain and society, in general, continues to view
women as inferior and second-class citizens. The number of women victims
of sexual abuse both in the country and abroad continues to rise.

Majority of poor women work as farmer tenants, seasonal plantation
workers or contract workers in the manufacturing industry and burdened
by low wages, absence of benefits and job insecurity. As primary
homemakers, women resort to ingenious ways to earn extra (providing
laundry services, vending food in the streets, etc.) or to seek work
overseas. In fact, majority of present-day Overseas Filipino Workers are
women, who are in jobs most vulnerable to abuse, such as domestic
workers and entertainers.

The Arroyo regime's much touted low hunger incidence in the country in a
survey conducted during the last quarter of 2007 at 16.2 % remains high
when compared to a hunger incidence batting at slightly lower average of
11.9 % over the last 10 years. This 16.2 % hunger incidence can only be
appreciated as lower relative to a 21.5 % (nominally equivalent to 3.8
million Filipino families) all-time high posed during the 3rd quarter of
2007.

No amount of propaganda or manipulated statistics could conceal the
intensifying poverty of the Filipino people. And women bear the brunt of
the severity of this crisis.

Effects of a plummeting economy and livelihood push urban poor families
towards further misery. While they suffer from the uncertainty of
irregular source of livelihood, their homes and communities are being
demolished to give way to so-called urban development projects
ostensibly for the benefit of merely a few. Rather than a social
service, the government's housing project is, in fact, a profit-making
endeavour. The government has also turned its back on providing needed
social services, like health services, to the people.

Intensifying Political Repression

Meanwhile, repression of civil liberties and violation of human rights
persist. The state claims even pregnant women, elders and children as
victims. By 2008, reported human rights violations in the country have
involved 889 victims of political killings, which include 98 women
victims and 58 children. Among 179 cases of enforced disappearances are
29 women. Recently the military massacred 8 civilians including 2
children and 3 women, one of whom was pregnant.

Currently, there are 23 women who languish in jail for political
reasons; the most recent illegally arrested and detained was Elizabeth
Principe, a peace advocate and staunch supporter of the welfare of
farmers and indigenous peoples in the countryside. There are also 8
women victims of rape by the military. The list of human rights
violations continue, as these figures and cases have yet to include
thousands of women and children victims of forcible evacuation due to
massive militarization in the countryside. They experienced hunger,
trauma and various forms of sexual abuse.

The military's policy of rape and sexual abuse against women in
captivity is indeed enraging. The spine-chilling torture and rape the
military committed against missing students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn

Cadapan, and the sexual abuse experienced by 64-year old Angie Ipong in
the hands of her military captors cannot and shall not go unpunished.

As the economic and political crisis escalates, coupled with the further
intensification of the people's protest, we can only expect – caution
and condemnation notwithstanding – heightened attacks by the Arroyo
government against progressive organizations like GABRIELA.

Intensifying Women's Resistance

Our 8 March 2008 campaign is the persistence of the historic struggle
and victory of the women's movement as our own contribution to the
intensifying struggle of the Filipino people. We will unleash a strong
mass struggle of women against dire poverty, corruption and tyranny of
the Arroyo regime.

We will give particular emphasis on exposing the grave condition of
masses of women and the various forms of violence women experience in
the form of poverty and VAW, as we also criticize and expose the Arroyo
government's hunger mitigation program for what it really is: A fake
program by a fake President.

This March 8, we will conduct actions with the widest participation of
masses of women to fight for their right to livelihood, housing and
social services, for the future of their children and their families,
and for their right against violence, especially state violence. We will
unleash widespread and militant actions by women and the people against
the Arroyo regime's desperate grip on power.

Women are aware that only through their militant struggle, together with
the rest of the people and under the aegis of a national democratic
struggle, can the recurring and worsening crisis of the semi-colonial
and semi-feudal Philippine society meet its decisive end.

On this International Women's Day, let us vow to bring tens of thousands
of working women in a militant action to contribute to the struggle of
the working women of the world. Let us organize and mobilize women in
the unions and factories, in farms, in urban poor communities, schools
and offices around their local issues and concerns. Let us involve women
from numerous localities through solid and extensive education,
agitation, propaganda and local mass struggle campaigns. Elevating local
and sectoral issues to a political level is an essential part of our
endeavour. Our local, sectoral, national and regional actions shall lead
to massive and militant protest march of women and children on March 8
against the heightening exploitation and oppression of the women of the
world. This March 8 will also kick off GABRIELA's celebration of 25
years of struggle and triumphs next year.

Throughout the world, the struggle of working women against exploitation
is the key to our successful struggle against all forms of oppression.
Only where women are members of the working force and have collective
power will they learn to fight exploitation and oppression as women. We
need to fight the oppression of women towards our full participation in
the economic, political socio-cultural life of our community. The
struggle of organized working class women will end not only women's
oppression but women's exploitation as well.

Women Unite! Struggle against oppression and exploitation!

Fight corruption and tyranny! Oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!

Long Live International Working Women's Day!

Long Live International Solidarity!

Announcing our fiiiiirst confirmed performer!!!!

2008-02-12T21:25:00.004-05:00

Diwang Pinay is going to be amazing. You should be there to see it yourself. Without further ado, here she is, the lovely and talented M. Josephine!

Influenced by artists such as Amel Larriuex, A Tribe Called Quest and Jill Scott, new-comer M. Josephine brings her own brand of R&B-Hip Hop-Soul to the stage! This Jersey City native stays true to her passion to uplift the heavy hearts....using musical, artistic abilities to share the struggles she's seen through her eyes and the eyes she's crossed paths with. From Filipino senior citizen parties until the age of 10, open mic's and featuring at showcases in our present time, her drive, passion, and humbleness never cease to grow. Sharing the stage with underground heavy weights such as M1, Silent Knight and Hassan Salaam, MJ proves she is a singer-songwriter worth knowing about!

Please check her out via myspace at http://www.myspace.com/maryjosephinemusic

STAY TUNED FOR THE SLOOOOOOOOW REVEAL! :)

4/19: DIWANG PINAY: Rise, Woman, RISE!

2008-02-09T19:18:00.001-05:00

SAVE THE DATE!

Diwang Pinay 2008: Rise, Woman, RISE!
Saturday, April 19, 2008 @ 7 pm to 10 pm
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
NYC, NY 10012
***Take the subway to West 4thm then, walk east along West 4th Street, toward Washington Square Park.

ALL AGES WELCOME!

FEATURING THE WORK OF:
Pinay performers and artist you know and love!
Line up announcement soon! :)

Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment will celebrate its first anniversary! Please join the women of FiRE for a showcase and silent auction of Pinay artists!

Diwang Pinay ("Spirit of the Filipina") is an annual performance and silent auction in New York City showcasing Filipina/ Filipina-American performers, writers, and visual artists. Diwang Pinay promotes the work of Pinay artists everywhere AND represent the expanding cultural backbone of the Filipina diaspora. This FiRE event is one of the few venues solely dedicated to providing Filipinas and Filipina-Americans a platform to display their triumphs and struggles through art, linking history to the narrative of today's Filipina.

April 19, 2008 will mark the first of the annual Diwang Pinay series, and in 2008, calls attention to the human rights violations that run rampant in the Philippines. The toll of women community leaders who are murdered or disappear continue to rise, which has prompted FiRE to create this artistic venue featuring singer/songwriters, performers, and visual artists in order to draw attention to the hostile climate which women organizers face today, and the culture of resistance that triumphantly surfaces during these times.

Performance slots and artist auction submissions are still open until March 15! Please contact Melanie or Hanalei at diwangpinay@gmail.com . For more information, please visit us at www.firenyc.org !

**Many thanks to Sammi Smith who donated her time and talent for the Diwang Pinay logo and flyer!

First Educational Group of the Year = SUCCESS!

2008-01-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

Our first educational discussion group of the year was a success! Hanalei was our gracious facilitator who made an intensely crafty and informative timeline of Filipino American history. And all of the post-its represent all of us who came through!

Thanks to Macky, Julie, Jacky, Sarita, Jennine and Lynda for attending and contributing to a lengthy and educational discussion!

There'll be more discussion groups in the coming months and if you'd like to come, please contact Kimmie David, our Educational Development queen at fire.nyc@gmail.com for date, location, time and readings!

Are you an artist?!

2008-01-22T21:06:00.001-05:00

Hello folks! Thank you so much for your support in the last year! This April, FiRE will be celebrating our one year anniversary at Judson Memorial Church. WE WANT YOU to join our all Pinay line up!

What's below is just for the Silent Auction portion, BUT, we are also looking for bands, performers, singers...anything! :)

email us! diwangpinay@gmail.com

DIWANG PINAY 2008: Rise, Women, Rise
A Call for Donations for Our Silent Auction

Saturday, April 19, 2008, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), a volunteer-run, mass-based women's organization serving the New York City area, will celebrate its one year anniversary by hosting the first-ever all Filipina and Filipina-American artists' showcase, DIWANG PINAY ("Spirit of the Filipina"): "Rise, Women, Rise" and is currently accepting donations or art work created by and books authored by Filipina and Filipina-American artist.

Diwang Pinay ("Spirit of the Filipina") is an annual performance and silent auction in New York City showcasing Filipina/ Filipina-American performers, writers, and visual artists. Diwang Pinay hopes to promote the work of Pinay artists everywhere AND represent the expanding cultural backbone of the Filipina diaspora. This FiRE event is one of the few venues solely dedicated to providing Filipinas and Filipina-Americans a platform to display their triumphs and struggles through art, linking history to the narrative of today’s overseas Filipina.

April 19, 2008 will mark the first of the annual Diwang Pinay series, and in 2008, calls attention to the human rights violations that run rampant in the Philippines. The toll of women community leaders who are murdered or disappear continue to rise, which has prompted FiRE to create this artistic venue featuring singer/songwriters, performers, and visual artists in order to draw attention to the hostile climate which women organizers face today, and the culture of resistance that triumphantly surfaces during these times.

Filipina artists of various artistic disciplines from the New York City area and beyond are invited to donate their work to the Diwang Pinay: Rise, Women, Rise Silent Auction. By doing so, you will be entitled to free admission for you and a guest to Diwang Pinay 2008, and recognition in the Diwang Pinay program and website. All proceeds in the sale of your work will go toward sustaining FiRE's community education projects and its future programming.

Submission guidelines:

1) Thank you for your interest in donating your work! This means a lot to us, so please email Melanie Dulfo at diwangpinay@gmail.com with the following information:

Your Name

Your Phone

Your Mailing address

Your email

Artist bio

Description of submitted work

Estimated value of your piece

2) You will then be sent a mailing address where you can send in or drop off your work.

3) Should you need more information, have questions about your specific medium, or anything else, please feel free to email us at diwangpinay@gmail.com. Or visit www.firenyc.org to learn more about Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE.)

Holiday Hiatus: OVER!

2008-01-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We're back, and thinking of you! We know there haven't been that many updates, but we collectively decided to give ourselves some time to miss the community work (hence, the silence on our end!) We've returned refreshed, a little chubbier from the family parties, and looking forward to the 2008 we got planned for y'all!

From the East Coast, FiRE NYC hopes our kasamas and allies had a safe holiday season, and rang in the new year right! Amidst the turbulence of now, we are grateful to be beside you in this movement. Thank you for struggling it out with us during our first year, as these growing pains have been quite challenging to overcome. Please know how grateful we are to you for your commitment to us. Thank you, kasamas and allies, your support makes us the organization we are today! Please keep a look out for an eventful 2008, as Diwang Pinay comes to the East Coast and FiRE hits its first anniversary!

Oh yes, check back soon for the swell of updates. :)

TAO PO?/!

2007-12-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

"TAO PO ?/!"

An Art Exhibit presenting the Human Rights Conditions in the Philippines and Abroad
by the Artists' Collective of Anakbayan NY/NJ and Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE)

When: 16 December 2007
Where: Alwan for the Arts, # 16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor (between Broad and New Streets, 1 block east of Whitehall & Bowling Green)

"TAO" is the Tagalog term for "human," and "PO" is a word used to show respect. When used conjunctively "TAO PO" is an expression used in the Philippines (by the Tagalogs) when one calls out to see if anybody's home. It usually comes with a knock on the door.

On December 16, in celebration of the International Human Rights Day featuring members of the artists' collective of Anakbayan New York/New Jersey and Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), "TAO PO" takes on double meaning, thus the punctuation marks "?/!"

"TAO PO?" (with the question mark) calls out and knocks on other people's doors to heed the calls of Human Rights victims in seeking for justice.

"TAO PO!" (with the exclamation point) on the other hand, simply and straightforwardly asserts the HUMANITY of those who have been subject to oppression and exploitation. This proclaims that they are HUMANS and that they deserve the RESPECT due to them as human beings with rights and a life to uphold.

Taking off from the reality of human rights conditions back in the Philippines, wherein 900+ activists and progressives had been killed and 200+ missing, including children, youth and women, since the de-facto Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took office in 2001, and at the same time, from the human rights conditions of Filipinos abroad who have been the leading export of the country in form of cheap labor for the past few years/decades, "TAO PO?/!" calls out to all entities of society: "WE'RE NOT ANIMALS! WE ARE HUMANS!"

"Let the Stones Cry Out," a community forum on peace and justice in the Philippines by the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) will also be held at 7-930pm on the same day and venue.

For more information, please contact Christina Hilo (818-281-3134) or Hanalei Ramos (201-790-0995).

GMA We're WATCHING YOU

2007-12-10T16:58:00.000-05:00

News Release
December 10, 2007

Reference: Katrina Abarcar, National Coordinator, GMA WATCH, email: gmawatch@yahoo.com

Human Rights Groups in the US Launch GMA WATCH, Citing Arroyo the Most Significant Violator of Human Rights in the Philippines Today

E-Letter-Writing Campaign Launched to Pressure US Congress to Further Restrict US Military Aid to Arroyo Government

Several Filipino-American human rights advocacy groups are banding together this International Human Rights Day (December 10th) to launch a broad coalition called GMA WATCH: A Network for Human Rights, Government Accountability, and Justice in the Philippines. The initiative also comes upon the pledge of former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark as well as several labor and church officials to pay close attention to the grave human rights crisis in the Philippines under the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA).

Clark and others in the network were branded and watchlisted as terrorists by the Philippine Department of Justice for their outspoken condemnation of the leadership of GMA and human rights crisis in the Philippines by way of over 886 extrajudicial killings and nearlty 300 enforced disappearances since 2001.

"We convened and named our network GMA WATCH, instead of referencing the entire Philippines because the human rights campaign is not sharp if we do not isolate the commander-in-chief of the Philippine military-- the biggest obstacle to human rights in the Philippines today-- and that is GMA herself," stated GMA WATCH national coordinator Katrina Abarcar. Abarcar also serves as coordinator of the DC-based Katarungan: Center for Peace, Justice, and Human Rights in the Philippines, a grassroots advocacy group that has been participating within the Ecumenical Advocacy Network (EAN) formed last Spring after the US Senate hearing on the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines chaired by Senate Foreign Relations Committee head Barbara Boxer of California.

Membership to the network have also been integrated in broad advocacy initiatives to restrict more US military aid going to the Philippines, a campaign that led to the inclusion of restrictive language and distinct pre-conditions set on the Philippines to improve its human rights record before the release of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) the country, tagged as the 4th largest recipient of US military aid in the world. The pre-conditions were also significantly placed after the release of the country report of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Philip Alston earlier this year.

This week, members of Congress are attempting to finalize several appropriations bills that could affect US military aid to the Philippines. GMA WATCH is also appealing to others across the US to continue urging key lawmakers in Congress to restrict more US military funding to the Philippines, which are being used to fund human rights violations in the country. An e-advocacy campaign can be accessed at http://citizenspeak.org/node/1187

Other GMA WATCH members and conveners include Fr. Benjamin Alforque of the US-Filipino Catholic Ministries in the Archdiocese of San Bernardino, the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP), United Students Against Sweatshops, Teamsters Local 763, ML King County Labor Council in Washington State, the San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, the Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and Seattle's Philippine US Solidarity Organization (PUSO). Popular Filipino-American hip-hop artists Kiwi (formerly of Native Guns) and the Seattle-based Blue Scholars are also part of the network.

Other planned upcoming activities of GMA WATCH include a February speaking tour of Edith Burgos, mother of Philippine labor activist and high-profile abductee Jonas Burgos, and a peace delegation to Mindanao in May 2008 to investigate the character of US military presence in the Philippines which have already generated positive responses from groups such as Human Rights Watch. ###

National Lesbian Day in the Philippines

2007-12-09T08:28:00.001-05:00

For Reference:
Joanne Alcantara
Chair, Pinay sa Seattle
pinayinfo@gmail.com

Pinay sa Seattle Recognizes December 8, National Lesbian Day in the Philippines

Seattle, WA. On December 8, National Lesbian Day in the Philippines,
Pinay sa Seattle would like to honor our lesbian, bisexual,
transgender, intersex, gay and queer organizers in the struggle for
nationalism and democracy in the Philippines. According to Julie
Palaganas, founding member of Lesbians for National Democracy
(LESBOND), it was on December 6-8, 1996 that the Philippines held its
First National Lesbian Rights Conference in Cavite. From this
conference, National Lesbian Day was declared.

Today, LESBOND stands out as one of the only lesbian women's
organizations of its kind. Beginning in the early 90s as a support
group for lesbian women in Baguio City, it developed into a political
center for lesbian concerns and issues. In 1993, LESBOND organized a
forum called "Lesbianism and Homophobia," bringing a speaker to
discuss health care concerns for lesbian women. Understanding the need
to integrate lesbian issues into broader working women's concerns,
LESBOND joined with Innabuyog-GABRIELA to advocate for lesbian issues,
such as workplace discrimination and homophobia. LESBOND continues to
be an active force in pro-people demonstrations, linking issues of
poverty, corruption, land-grabbing, militarism and imperialism to
sexism and homophobia.

As sisters fighting in the same struggle for genuine democracy and
liberation in the Philippines, Pinay sa Seattle would also like to
honor our LGBTIQ kasamas* in the United States. With the majority of
the women in our collective identifying as lesbian, bisexual and/or
queer, we understand that in order to create a society where all
people are valued and their rights respected, homophobia and
heterosexism must be addressed. Joanne Alcantara, Chairperson of Pinay
sa Seattle states, "As queer Filipina women, we have even more reason
to join the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines. We are
part of the International League of People's Struggle, a unique
movement that is willing to address both imperialism and homophobia as
we work to build a more just society."

Happy National Lesbian Day!
Mabuhay to all the lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, gay and
queer kasamas in the struggle!

###

* Kasama means companion or comrade. It is used in this case as an
affectionate term for fellow organizers in the movement for
Nationalism and Democracy.

More than 200,000 Pinoy children victims of HR violations

2007-12-08T23:13:00.001-05:00

More than 200,000 Pinoy children victims of HR violations
Thursday, December 06 2007 (www.philstar. com)

More than 200,000 Filipino children were victims of human rights
violations from 2001 to mid-2006, a majority of them caught in the
middle of armed conflicts, according to a report of the Children's
Rehabilitation Center (CRC).

The report was included in the book "Uncounted Lives: Children, Women
and Conflict in the Philippines, " commissioned by the United Nations
Children's Fund (Unicef).

The CRC is a non-government institution serving children and families
who are victims of state violence in the Philippines. It focuses its
services on children in the rural and urban areas who suffer physical
health problems, emotional disorders, and social maladjustments due to
traumatic events like arrest, torture, forced displacement, strafing,
bombing, massacre, disappearance, and other forms of human rights
violations.

The CRC has documented 800 incidents of human rights violations
involving 215,233 children as victims from 2001 to July 2006.

These cases include 58 children killed and another 58 who survived
attempts on their lives. Some 40 children were maimed and 17 children
were subjected to different forms of torture and humiliation.

The CRC said 215,060 children were forced to evacuate as a result of
counter-insurgency operations.

The CRC also reported that 10 children have disappeared or become
"desaparecidos. " Five children were victims of sexual harassment and
three were victims of rape by the military, 51 were victims of illegal
search and seizure, 63 were victims of coercion, 69 were victims of
illegal arrest and detention, 40 were victims of physical assault and
injury and 196 were victims of threats and intimidation.

In the period covered, the CRC also said there were 106 orphaned
children who witnessed the killing of their parents or relatives.

Unicef country representative Dr. Nicholas Alipui said that the
continuous persecution of children in war-torn areas makes them "grow
naturally into acquiring knowledge of war, conflict, how to use arms,
how to spy and how to report."

"This whole new phenomena which is really about children in armed
conflict is totally unacceptable to Unicef," Alipui told reporters,
adding that "children should be in school and any child that is
remotely or directly linked within an armed group should be released
and freed to be able to pursue childhood aspirations, go to school and
be peaceful."

Alipui said based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child, "one child is more than enough to be involved in any armed
conflict.

"Apart from the loss of the mother or parent I don't believe that
there is more devastating (experience) for a child than to be caught
in armed conflict. It is actually immaterial how many children we are
talking about because universally every child whether one, 10, 20 or
100, has the same right everywhere," he said.

Alipui said armed conflict adversely affects children's health,
education, protection and social well-being, and called on the
government to protect children from the effects of armed conflict and
violence.

"Let us keep the focus on the impact of armed conflict and violence
against children because for as long as that continues, this country
will not be at peace," he said.

Meanwhile, Alipui said they would furnish the government, including
the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and
the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of
Health, and the Department of Education, copies of the book to give
their side on the results of the study. – Helen Flores

Copyright 2007. Philstar Global Corp. All rights reserved. This
article cannot be published or redistributed without the permission of
the publisher.

2 Missing UP Students Tortured, Raped inside Military Camp

2007-11-28T04:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.bulatlat.com/2007/11/2-missing-students-tortured-raped-inside-military-camp

2 Missing UP Students Tortured, Raped inside Military Camp

By Dabet Castañeda
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
BULATLAT
VOL. VII, No. 42, November 25- December 1, 2007

One year and five months after their abduction, a witness testified that he had actually seen and talked to Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, the two scholars of the University of the Philippines (UP) who were abducted allegedly by soldiers on June 26, 2006 while doing research in a farming community in Barangay (village) San Miguel, Hagonoy, Bulacan. Farmer Manuel Merino was abducted together with the two.

The witness, Raymund Manalo, also confirmed what had been feared all along - that the UP students were raped by their abductors.

First meeting

Manalo, who was abducted together with his brother, Reynaldo, in their home in Barangay Buhol na Mangga, San Ildefonso, Bulacan, on Feb. 14, 2006, said he first met Cadapan sometime in November 2006 at the barracks of Camp Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan. Camp Tecson hosts the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR).

It was an uncanny meeting, Manalo said in his signed affidavit submitted at the Court of Appeals (CA) on Nov. 12. "Sa loob ng barracks ko nakilala si Sherlyn, isang estudyante ng UP," (I met Sherlyn, a UP student, inside the barracks.) Manalo said as she described Sherlyn as a "babaeng nakakadena (chained woman)."

At first, Manalo said he was told not to converse with the chained woman. But on the third or fourth day, Manalo said he approached Sherlyn and gave her food.

Sherlyn, meanwhile, gave Manalo some information about herself. "Sinabi nya sa akin na …matindi ang tortyur na dinaranas niya. Umiiyak sya," (She told me she experienced heavy torture. She was crying.) Manalo said in his testimony.

Manalo also said Sherlyn was ordered to do the laundry during the day. But more than this, what was bothersome was Sherlyn's confession that she had been molested by a certain Mickey, Donald and Billy. "Sabi ni Sherlyn sa akin na siya'y ginahasa," ((Sherlyn told me she was raped.) Manalo said in his testimony.

Manalo described Mickey as "pandak na mataba, maputi," (short, fat, and fair-skinned) while Billy is "maitim, bungi, pinakamataba sa kanila, pandak." (dark, with missing teeth, the fattest, and short) Donald is Master Sgt. Donald Caigas, the same suspect in the killing of human rights worker Eden Marcellana and peasant leader Eddie Gumanoy in April 2003.

Manalo said the words "24th IB" was tattooed on the shoulders of Caigas.

Nine days after meeting Sherlyn, Manalo said, he also met Karen and Manuel inside the same military camp.

During the day, Manalo said he, Reynaldo and Manuel were told to do errands while the two women were made to do the laundry.

An unexpected visit

On Nov. 22, 2006, the Manalo brothers, Manuel, Sherlyn and Karen were transferred to 24th Infantry Battalion (IB) camp in Limay, Bataan. According to Raymund's testimony, they stayed there until May 8 of this year.

Going to Bataan, Karen was separated from the four and was forced to ride a black car with Caigas. The rest of the captives rode a stainless jeep.

Raymund said it was in Bataan where he witnessed the torture of Sherlyn and Karen.

The torture happened after Sherlyn told their soldier-captors that she kept a gun at her mother-in-law's place in Calumpit, Bulacan. She was taken to the place but the soldiers found no firearm there. Sherlyn also tried to leave a letter for her mother-in-law but her military escorts saw the letter and confiscated it.

At the hearing for the writ of amparo Nov. 21 at the Court of Appeals (CA), Sherlyn's mother-in-law, Adoracion Paulino, testified that Sherlyn indeed visited her in the evening of April 11. Paulino said she hugged and kissed Sherlyn but the latter just looked at her and took some clothes. Paulino said her daughter-in-law had five escorts at that time. The visit was swift, Paulino told the court.

After the visit, Paulino said the threats to her life had become endless. As she broke down during her testimony, she said soldiers and police had been visiting her at home, asking if it was true that Sherlyn and five of her escorts paid a visit. "Dinenay ko dahil natakot ako para kay Sherlyn, para sa anak ko at para sa sarili ko." (I denied it because I fear for Sherlyn, my son, and myself.)

Paulino said she tried to keep the brief encounter with Sherlyn to herself. It was only in May when she decided to tell Sherlyn's mother, Linda, about the visit.

Torture

When Sherlyn was taken back to the camp in Bataan, Raymund said, he saw the soldiers torture Sherlyn, "Itinali sya sa bangko, itinaas ang kanyang mga paa, binuhusan siya ng tubig sa ilong, kinuryente sya." (She was tied to a bench, her feet were lifted, water was poured to her nose, and she was electrocuted.)

"Sumisigaw sya.Matagal syang pinahirapan," (She shouted. She was tortured for a long time.) Raymund added.

When Sherlyn told the soldiers that Karen helped her write the letter for her mother-in-law, Raymund said, he saw the soldiers take Karen outside. However, Raymund said, he did not see what the soldiers had done to Karen. "Narinig ko lang ang mga sigaw nya," (I just heard her cries.) Raymund said.

The following day, Raymund said, he heard the soldiers hurling invectives at the two UP students. "Inuyam sila sa ginawang pananakit, ipinaalala sa kanila ang ginawang paghipo sa kanilang ari at pagpasok ng kahoy sa kanilang ari," (They were taunted regarding the pain inflicted on them; they were reminded that their private parts were touched and a wooden stick was inserted inside their sex organ.) Raymund said in his testimony.

On the other hand, Raymund said, he and Manuel where forced to join military operations in Bataan. Raymund said they witnessed how the soldiers killed two relatives of suspected New People's Army (NPA) guerillas.

Last sighting

From Limay, Bataan, Raymund said, the five of them (Manalo brothers, Sherlyn, Karen and Manuel) were transferred to a safehouse off the shore of Zambales. They stayed in the said place from May 8 or 9 (Raymund was not sure of the exact date) until June.

The five captives were taken back to Limay, Bataan sometime in June. After two or three weeks, Raymund said, he, Reynaldo and Manuel were taken to a forest by a certain "Lat." They were made to sleep in the forest until Caigas ordered Lat to bring them back to the camp.

At night time, the three male captives were again taken to the forest, this time by a certain "Robin." They were taken back to the camp the next morning. Raymund said it was then that he noticed that Sherlyn and Karen were gone. "Hindi ko na sila nakita," (I never saw them again.) Raymund said.

The three male captives were then chained inside the cell where Sherlyn and Karen were kept before. They stayed there for three days, Raymund added.

Burned

On the third day, Raymund said "Lat" took Manuel outside the cell. "Kakausapin daw sya ni Gen. Palparan," ( They said Gen. Palaparan would talk with him.) Raymund said, referring to retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, then the commanding officer of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (ID PA) based in Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

"Nakapiring si Manuel, wala siyang suot pang-itaas, pinosasan," (Manuel was blindfolded, he had no shirt and was handcuffed.) Raymund said in his testimony.

"Ði nagtagal, narinig ko ang hiyaw o ungol ni Manuel. Sumilip ako sa isang haligi ng kamalig at nakita kong sinisilaban si Manuel," (After a while, I heard the shouts and moans of Manuel. I peeked and saw Manuel being burned.) Raymund said.

That was the last time Raymund would see Manuel alive. "Sabi ni Donald (Caigas) huwag na raw naming hanapin ang dalawang babae at si Manuel dahil magkakasama na sila." (Donald told us not to look for the two women and Manuel anymore because they are already together.)

The Manalo brothers were then transferred to Pangasinan where they were allowed to tend a small farm owned by Caigas. Around 1 a.m. of Aug. 14, the brothers were able to escape from their captors when the soldiers became drunk.
A writ of amparo has also been filed for the Manalo brothers who are still kept in a sanctuary as threats hound them and their family to this day.

Raymund is scheduled to testify for Sherlyn, Karen and Manuel on Dec. 18. Bulatlat

SURFACE JONAS BURGOS!

2007-11-28T04:44:00.000-05:00

This PSA is part of the human rights campaign initiated by the Free Jonas Burgos Movement. Jonas Burgos, son of the late press freedom icon, Joe Burgos, was abducted last April 28, 2007 by armed men in broad daylight. He has been missing since. The plate number of the vehicle used in the abduction was later traced to the 56th Infantry Battalion. For more info, email freejonasburgos@yahoo.com or a_isabelle78@yahoo.com and see how you can help.

http://freejonasburgosmovement.com/

Vote Sentosa 27 as Balitang Amerika's Newsmaker of the Year!

2007-11-28T04:16:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Supporters:

Please place your vote NOW for the Sentosa 27 nurses as Balitang Amerika's Newsmaker of the Year. Please see the link below for info how to vote.

As you all know, NAFCON has worked hard to build the Sentosa 27 campaign and keep the Sentosa 27 in the news. As the nurses struggles continue with the Avalon 11 facing their criminal hearing on Dec 17th, we in the community must keep up the support and heighten the media profile of the case.

For all of us in the worldwide immigrant community, this case represents all of us!!!!

for the OFW,
Berna Ellorin

---------------------------------------------------------------

Voting until Nov 30, Newsmaker of the year will be announced on Dec 30, 2007.
check the link below.

http://www.abs-cbni.com/index.html

To Vote by text
Type: my newsmaker (space) name of choice and send to 650-766-1557

To vote by E-mail
Email balitangamerica@abs-cbni.com and type the name of your choice

"THE CHURCH IS OUR HOME"

2007-11-28T03:27:00.000-05:00

Philippine Forum, who has hosted our services and supported many of our campaigns and programs is asking to be reconsidered for lease renewal with due process. Below is the flyer members of Kabalikat, YEHEY! Youth, FiRE, Ny-CHRP, and AnakBayan passed out after Sunday mass to members of the First Presbyterian Church of Newtown and its surrounding community.

The First Presbyterian Church of Newtown has falsely reported to its congregation that Philippine Forum has been delinquent with facility rental payments. Therefore, those who rallied on Sunday were met with aggression by specific workers of the First Presbyterian Church of Newtown. In one instance, one employee of the First Presbyterian Church of Newtown used forceful language and aggression to push protesters off the premises, despite the rally occurring on public property. In another example, protesters were accused to be "from the devil."

More updates will be provided as they become available, but again, thank you for your support!

November 25, 2007

"THE CHURCH IS OUR HOME"

To the Members of the First Presbyterian Church of Newtown:

We are on a protest picket to solemnly pray and appeal to the Session of the First Presbyterian Church to reconsider its decision directing us to vacate our offices. We are doing this because we feel that we were deprived of our right to due process, the right to be heard, and also on behalf of the beneficiaries of our various programs most especially the youth who have been affected by the notice of eviction.

On Sept. 21, 2007, the Philippine Forum, through its Board of Directors Co-Chairperson Dr. Ben Ileto, wrote the Session asking for a meeting where we would explain our side. Doctor Ileto's letter was prompted by a letter from Rev. Stanley Jenkins informing us - with no clarification as to the reasons - of the Session's resolution not to renew our lease and asking us to vacate the premises by Oct. 1, 2007 . Our request for a meeting was made pursuant to Exhibit 1: Additional Agreements of the Lease of Church Space, 1 (b), which states: "The Church and Philippine Forum shall meet or otherwise contact each other three times a year … for a review of scheduling or other issues …"

Until now, we have not been granted our request for a meeting despite persistent follow-ups and appeals.

Since April, we had asked Church staff Marjorie and Karen about getting the signed lease but each time, we were told that the person in charge of the lease was not available. Marjorie's departure made it more difficult for us to communicate with the church to discuss rental and other concerns, again in the spirit of Exhibit 1 (Additional Agreements). As a non-profit organization, we needed to submit a signed lease to our funders in order to receive rental reimbursement. Since we never got the signed lease, we did not receive full reimbursement thus making it hard for us to pay the Church on time.

We have also addressed concerns conveyed by Rev. Jenkins regarding our Youth Program including the submission of comprehensive program guidelines on May 9. Reverend Jenkins in August himself relayed to our Executive Director, Robert Roy, that he has seen noticeable improvements in the manner we have been managing our youth program.

The illegal eviction and denial of access to our offices have practically shut down our operations and the provision of needed services to our community. All our programs have been suspended thus adversely affecting their current and future funding. It has created a very big financial burden to the organization especially after we made major renovations to our offices to accommodate our programs ( e.g., shelving and food pantry set-up, electrical wiring, tiling, IT/network set-up and wireless connectivity, etc.). This entire illegal eviction process has been detrimental and catastrophic to the viability of the organization. Needless to say, many of our youth are back in the streets again.

All that we have been asking is something that we believe the Session can easily respond to: A sense of respect and fairness, a sense of due process, and the right to be heard.

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” Psalm 9:9

FilAms National Day of Action Demand Independent Probe of Batasan Bombing

2007-11-16T22:59:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2007

Reference:
Valerie Francisco, Secretary General, Email: fire.nyc@gmail.com
Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), NY Phone: 925.726.5768

Marisa Mariano, Chair, babae, San Francisco Email: info@babaesf.org
Phone: 415.412.8915

Donna Denina, Vice Chair, Pinay sa Seattle Email: pinayinfo@gmail.com
Phone: 206.438.3521

FilAms National Day of Action Demand Independent Probe of Batasan Bombing

The progressive network of Filipino organizations, BAYAN-USA, conducted simultaneous candlelight vigils yesterday, November 15 in four cities across the nation in light of the recent bombing at the Philippine House of Representatives.

Led by the Women's Alliance consisting of babae-San Francisco, Pinay Sa Seattle and Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE)-New York, the actions specifically demanded an independent investigation for the bombing incident. The death of Marcial Taldo, who died on the spot and injuries sustained by Representative Luz Ilagan of the GABRIELA Women's Partylist (GWP) was cause for sweeping distrust around the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's dubious effort to find the responsible party.

GWP Rep. Ilagan's stance on impeachment, along with other people's organizations, is reason enough for the Philippine government to target her. "It is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who should back off from the investigation of the Batasan bombing. The public's distrust on her is all-time high and that gives her no right to speak for truth and justice." stated Emmi de Jesus, secretary general of GABRIELA.

The national day of action brought to light the suspicious pattern of bombings and killings including the recent bombing at Batasan and the bombing at the Glorietta 2 Mall claiming 11 victims, to name a few. Coincidentally and conveniently timed around high level political scandals and bribery incriminating the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and several cabinet members, the clamor for impeachment is reverberating within the nation and the international Filipino community.

Many issues taken up by the Filipino American groups have been ignored as a result of attempts to cover up increasing corruption in the GMA administration. " GMA's incriminating record gives her no credibility with the national and global Filipino public to claim righteousness at times of high political shams and trickery," stated Marisa Mariano, Chair of babae in San Francisco, " A thorough independent investigation of the Batasan bombing is vital to uncover the truth."

The US based women's alliance along with BAYAN-USA vow to keep a vigilant eye on the unfolding events in the Philippines. The Filipino American groups have readied themselves to resist another dictatorship in the Philippines.

###

JOIN US FOR NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

2007-11-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

Please join FiRE, ANAKBAYAN NY-NJ, and New York Committee on Human Rights in the Philippines in commemorating the victims of political repression in the Philippines.

New York:

6pm

In front of Philippine Consulate

556 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10036

Contact Person: Valerie Francisco (925) 726-5768

====

Batasan Bombing Kills Four, Injures Eleven
Filipino-Americans Commemorate Victims With Nation-Wide Vigil

November 14, 2007

Media Contact:

Chito Quijano, BAYAN-USA, Email: chair@bayanusa.org , Phone: (206) 459-6923

Rico Foz, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), Email: nafconusa@yahoo.com

Phone: (718) 565-8862

On the evening of Tuesday, November 13, a bomb exploded at the southern wing of the Philippine House of Representatives. The bomb, deliberately timed to detonate just minutes after the congressional session ended, has killed four victims, and wounded eleven others. The deliberate timing of the bomb draws suspicion that it may be used to divert attention on the current political crisis of the Arroyo administration. The incident happened hours before a Senate probe into bribery allegations involving Malacanang, as well as Congress hearings on an impeachment case against Arroyo herself.

Among those injured were two congress members: Gabriela Partylist Representative Luz Ilagan and Negros Oriental Representative Pryde Henry Teves. The bomb claimed the lives of Basilan Representative Wahab Akbar; Maan Gale Bustaliño, an aide of Representative Pryde Henry Teves; Marcial Taldo, driver of Gabriela partylist Representative Luzviminda Ilagan; and most recently, Julasiri Hayudini, an aide of Representative Akbar.

BAYAN-USA and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) strongly condemn the bombing and cry justice for the victims. We demand that the Arroyo government take swift action, and hold an impartial and independent probe of the blast.

To commemorate the victims of the Batasan Bombing, BAYAN-USA and NAFCON will hold nationally coordinated vigils in four cities on Thursday, November 15. Please join us in honoring and remembering the fallen victims, as well as offering our prayers for a speedy recovery for those injured.

New York:

6pm

In front of Philippine Consulate

556 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10036

Contact Person: Valerie Francisco (925) 726-5768

Los Angeles:

Exact time to be announced

In front of Philippine Consulate

3600 Wilshire Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90010

Contact Person:Terry Cervas (626) 476-0113

San Francisco:

5:30pm

In front of the Philippine Consulate

447 Sutter St. (cross street is Powell)

San Francisco, CA 94108

Contact Person: Joanna Maderazo (415-637-4129)

Seattle:

5:30pm

Westlake Plaza

4th & Pine Dowtown Seattle

Seattle, WA 98101

Contact Person: Donna Denina (206) 438-3521

Statements on Batasan Bombing

2007-11-15T04:03:00.000-05:00

Press Statement
November 14, 2007

Statement of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) on the Batasan Bombing

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan condemns in no uncertain terms the bombing of the Batasang Pambansa which resulted in the death of Comrade Marcial Taldo and the injury of Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela Women's Party. The explosion also claimed the lives of Rep. Wahab Akbar of Basilan and Maan Bustalino.

The bombing happens at a time when intense political crisis is besieging the Arroyo administration. The incident happened hours before a Senate probe on bribery allegations involving Malacañang as well as Congress hearings on the impeachment case against the President.

We call for an impartial and thorough probe on the incident even as we cry out for justice for the victims. We do not want the investigation to turn into another Glorietta probe wherein the results lack credibility. There should be no cover up. Even as the Philippine National Police (PNP) is popularizing the theory that Rep. Akbar was the target of the blast, it should not immediately and conveniently disregard other political angles that may be the reasons for the blast.

The PNP has the duty to determine whether or not the blast was also aimed at Rep. Luz Ilagan who is a known Arroyo critic, or if the blast was some form of diversionary tactic to cover up the impeachment issue and the Senate bribery probe happening today. All angles, even the highly political, must be looked into for the probe to be credible and acceptable to the public. To immediately limit the probe to the Akbar angle would only fuel public suspicion.

The recent series of explosions that have occurred in Makati City, Quezon City and nearby Cavite province are a cause for alarm insofar as these may be used by the Arroyo government as a justification for more repressive policies. We warn the Arroyo government that doing a Musharraf will be politically costly and will incite further resistance from the people. Whether it is through the draconian Human Security Act or a state of emergency, repressive measures are a totally unacceptable response to these incidents. These only betray the regime's self-serving drive to remain in power at whatever cost.

If the intention of the blast was to sow fear especially among critics of the administration, we can say with certainty that we will not be cowed. We will continue to fight for issues that we firmly believe in. We will continue to hold the Arroyo regime accountable for the many crimes it has committed against the people. ###

STATEMENT OF CONDEMNATION OF THE BOMBING AT THE PHILIPPINE CONGRESS

By the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)
For Reference: Rico Foz, Executive Vice President, email: nafconusa@yahoo.com

In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the latest bombing of the House of Representatives where at least three people – Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, an employee, and a driver - died, while two other solons were critically wounded along with at least five employees. It is reprehensible that this incident should happen in the premises of Congress and at a time when two impeachment complaints against President Gloria M. Arroyo are pending in the House, while investigation on the latest cases of corruption and bribery involving the President is likewise ongoing in the Senate.

We are concerned that one of the congressmen who was wounded – and possibly targeted for assassination – is a representative of the progressive Gabriela Women's Party (GWP), Mindanao lawyer Luz Ilagan. Her driver, Marcial Tando, died in the bombing of serious injuries. Along with other solons from the progressive group in the House, Ilagan this week moved for the impeachment of Mrs. Arroyo for corruption, human rights abuses, and other culpable violations of the Constitution. In her early stint in Congress, the Mindanao legislator has defended the rights of overseas Filipino migrant workers, including the labor case of the Sentosa 27 nurses in New York.

If we connect the dots, the explosion at the Batasang Pambansa complex (seat of the House) is the latest in a series of bombings and killings, particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR). Prior to this was the bombing of Glorietta at Ayala's financial district, which killed at least 11 persons and injured scores of others; the ambush-slaying of the Comelec's chief legal counsel; the mysterious vehicular accident of opposition leader and former senator, Rene Saguisag, that took the life of his wife, Dulce; the equally mysterious car accident of Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran; and death threats against certain opposition members of the House and Senate, including Speaker Jose de Venecia.

These incidents are taking place amid a renewed clamor by various sectors for the ouster, removal by impeachment, or resignation of Arroyo. The calls were precipitated by public outrage over the latest high-level corruption scandal and bribery involving the President, her husband, some Cabinet members, and political allies. Senate investigations and other accounts are beginning to tie the pieces that link the president to these scandals and briberies – the latest since Arroyo became president in 2001. Moreover, the Arroyo government is being called in the international community including the U.S. Congress to account for 890 victims of politically-motivated extra-judicial killings and other acts of atrocities, making it, after the Marcos regime, the object of worldwide indignation.

The Filipino people cannot but be alarmed by the fact that it is the Arroyo government that is, deliberately or otherwise, creating the conditions for destabilization that began with her alleged stealing of the presidency in 2004, the escalation of political repression and persecution of many outspoken critics, people's organizations, and progressive party-list groups, and last year's declaration of emergency rule along with repressive executive orders, among others.

We note with concern that these incidents could lead to the full implementation of the controversial Human Security Act and could be part of a bigger scenario to declare martial law. If these are the means by which the survival of the Arroyo presidency could be secured, then there is all the more reason for the Filipino-American community in the United States to once again be united and act as one in resisting attempts to sow a reign of terror in the Philippines leading to the declaration of another martial law.

As we have done so against the Marcos dictatorship of the 1970s-1980s, we cannot be cowed into submitting to another authoritarian rule.#

GABRIELA ON THE BATASAN BOMBING

2007-11-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

NEWS RELEASE

14 November 2007

Reference: Emmi de Jesus, Secretary General, 371-2302 / 0917-322-1203

GABRIELA ON THE BATASAN BOMBING

GABRIELA National Alliance of Women condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombing in Batasan Pambansa (House of Representatives) last night which killed Marcial Taldo and injured three other members of Gabriela Women's Party including Representative Luz Ilagan. (Marcial Taldo is GWP Rep. Ilagan's driver). We call for an immediate and independent probe on the bombing, fully aware of the inutility of the PNP on resolving matters of grave concern.

The haste by which Manila Police through National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Geary Barias and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales state that the bombing was intended for Basilan Representative Wahab Akbar and that the motive is personal is highly suspect. Their statements were baseless and irresponsible and could only be motivated by an immediate need to divert suspicions from the real perpetrator and mastermind of this heinous crime. They have employed the same ploy in the Glorietta 2 explosion and they are doing it again.

The bigger question that should be resolved on the Batasan bombing, just as in the Glorietta 2 explosion, is "who stands to gain?" The Glorietta 2 explosion came at the time when the Malacañang bribery case was exposed. The Batasan bombing came the day before Pampanga Governor Panlilio was set to testify on the bribery in the Senate and the day before the House Justice Committee Hearing on the impeachment case.

There is a political crisis and it is rooted from Malacañang, where sits a President whose authority has long festered through electoral fraud, graft and corruption, economic sabotage and unequalled human rights violations. We cannot expect for the truth to come out and for justice to be served for as long as there sits in Malacañang a lying, cheating, stealing and manipulative president.

For Marcial Taldo and the other victims of last night's bombing in Batasan, justice must be served.

GABRIELA Philippines
35 Sct. Delgado St, Brgy. Laging Handa
Quezon City, 1103 Philippines
TeleFax: (632) 374 44 23
E-mail: internationalrelations@gabrielaphilippines.org

GABRIELA is a grassroots-based alliance of more than 200 women's organizations, institutions, desks and programs in the Philippines. We seek to wage a struggle for the liberation of women and the rest of our people.

News References :

Congress bombing:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=100700

Glorietta Bombing:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view_article.php?article_id=95462

Malacanang Bribery:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=94677

Fil-Ams Condemn Batasan Explosion; Suspect Pro-Impeachment Solon Targeted

2007-11-13T04:13:00.000-05:00

News Release
November 13, 2007

Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

Fil-Ams Condemn Batasan Explosion; Suspect Pro-Impeachment Solon Targeted

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, condemned the most recent car explosion at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City a few hours ago that killed at least one Congressperson, one driver, and injured several. The explosion was set off at approximately 8:00 pm Monday at the South Wing driveway of the House of Representatives complex in Quezon City. Police investigations are ongoing.

"Like the Glorietta bombing, this is a deliberate offensive to justify the intensification of anti-terrorism measures such as the Human Security Act, and further crackdown on civil liberties and minimize democratic space. But the government clearly cannot provide real security for their duly-elected officials in Congress," stated BAYAN USA Chair Chito Quijano.

The blast immediately killed Marcial Tuadlo, a driver for Gabriela Women's Party Representative Luz Ilagan. Basilan Representative Wahab Akbar also died at Far Eastern University Hospital while undergoing treatment. Ilagan, one the House members who endorsed the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo that is now pending before the chamber's justice committee, is being treated for injuries at the Malvar General Hospital.

"The recent filing of the impeachment complaint in the lower House is now putting Malacanang in a power struggle. Although there is still an ongoing investigation, the fact that it is of primary interest for the highest seat to stop the impeachment complaint on its tracks makes us very suspicious. We hope this investigation is thorough and doesn't suffer the same ill fate as the so-called police investigations into the extrajudicial killings and abductions in our country. It must come to a definite end-- capture and prosecution of the bombers," Quijano ended.

Aside from the impeachment complaint against Arroyo, Representative Ilagan also participating in filing the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB), and has been active in issues of overseas Filipino workers, especially with the Sentosa 27++ campaign and the case of slain NYC domestic worker Fely Garcia.

Quijano also pointed out that Ilagan remains an outstandingly solid voice for the rights and dignity of overseas Filipinos in a mainly anti-migrant welfare administration. ###

GABRIELA JOINS FILING OF THIRD IMPEACHMENT COMPLAINT

2007-11-12T12:39:00.001-05:00

NEWS RELEASE
12 November 2007

Reference: Emmi de Jesus, Secretary General, 371-2304 / 0917-3221203

GABRIELA JOINS FILING OF THIRD IMPEACHMENT COMPLAINT

The militant women's group GABRIELA will join in the filing of an impeachment
complaint on Monday morning to once again register the group's stand that
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's crimes against the people and women should be
put to end.

"Every year, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo racks in more crimes against the people.
The impeachment complaint we will file tomorrow is buffered by more and stronger
evidences to prove that Arroyo no longer has the right to stay in Malacañang,"
said Emmi de Jesus, GABRIELA secretary general.

Among the cases included in the impeachment complaint is that of 63-year old
human rights advocate Angelina "Angie" Ipong who has been in jail since March
2005. "Angie's case is the epitome of how vicious Arroyo is against Filipino
women. An activist for more than three decades, Angie was illegally arrested on
an International Women's Day, tortured and sexually molested and is now being
tried for charges which are flagrantly fabricated," said de Jesus.

Ipong is currently detained in Pagadian City with charges of rebellion, arson,
frustrated double murder and double murder in three different courts. Ipong is
set to be arraigned in Dipolog City on the same date and time the impeachment
complaint will be filed in Congress.

De Jesus also said that they will not be detered by the "technical obstacles
being imposed by Congressman Matt Defensor," stating that "the people's right to
oust a much unwanted president should overrule any technicality."

"The numbers game Macapagal-Arroyo was so confident would favor her no longer
holds. With its shameless scandals rocking even its own people and causing more
rifts among the so-called 'pro-administration' legislators, this impeachment case
has better prospects," de Jesus said. ###

MAKING OUR COMMUNITY OF VOICES INTO A COLLECTIVE DEMAND FOR JUSTICE

2007-11-12T04:12:00.000-05:00

Note: The following text is a speech prepared and delivered by NAFCON's legal advisor Atty. Arnedo Valera, who also serves as the Executive Director of the Migrant Heritage Commission, NAFCON's member organization in Virginia. It was delivered last weekend at a National Filipino-American Leaders' Summit in Las Vegas.

Organizers of the Las Vegas Summit

MAKING OUR COMMUNITY OF VOICES INTO A COLLECTIVE DEMAND FOR JUSTICE

By: Arnedo S. Valera, Esquire
Legal Counsel – NAFCON
Executive Director – MIGRANT HERITAGE COMMISSION
Speech delivered: SUMMIT MEETING OF FIL-AM LEADERS 2007
CEASARS PALACE: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA : November 10, 2007

I have decided to rename my title to MAKING OUR COMMUNITY OF VOICES INTO COLLECTIVE DEMAND FOR JUSTICE to be more specific and set out the theme of what I will be talking about today.

Allow me to begin by saying that the issue about the ABC TV episode's "Desperate Housewives" has once again awakened us with one thunderous voice of indignation - proof that Filipinos in the United States have common grounds for unity and action. For weeks following the episode's showing last September, Filipino immigrants and U.S.-born Filipinos many of them professionals like doctors, nurses, and lawyers took to the streets to stage protest pickets, as well as sign online statements, issue news releases, and organize forums. For its part, the NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR FILIPINO CONCERNS (NAFCON), MIGRANT HERITAGE COMMISSION and its affiliate organizations throughout the U.S., took the stand that the short "apology" issued through email by the ABC management was inversely proportional to the racial slur that damaged the integrity and competence of Filipino professionals and institutions and henceforth, the nationwide alliance moved and called for the boycott of all ABC-Disney products unless TV network issued a real apology and adopted concrete measures to ensure that the incident will not happen again.

I believe, likewise, that the ABC racial spat episode should be seen as essentially an immigration issue because of its broader implications on the rights of Filipinos particularly the medical professionals and workers. It disparaged and damaged the career, rights, and future practice of the medical professionals, with an element of racial prejudice because it singled out the Filipinos as a whole. It was entirely farcical for ABC to talk about the unreliability of Filipino medical professionals when their competence and compassionate care for millions of patients not only in the U.S. but in other countries is known all over the world. Lies are lies, and it is legally and morally dangerous to use them as a butt of joke or a satire especially against a nationality.

It is, moreover, unconscionable for the Philippine government to accept ABC's short apology especially because the acceptance was issued contrary to the sentiments of many Filipinos in the U.S. and in the Philippines who were demanding justice and redemption in form and substance proportional to the injustice committed and in the same international and public venue – the TV network – used by the company to inflict the racial slur. This is a government that we know whose economic survival depends on the remittances of overseas Filipinos yet is short of performance when it comes to defending the hardworking Filipinos' rights and ministering to their needs in their countries of destination.

The ABC controversy is just one of many incidents – which are largely unreported – of racial prejudice, racial profiling, wage discrimination, unjust employment terms and conditions, and other acts of injustice that many of our fellow migrants in the U.S. suffer. That is why there is all the more reason for the Filipino-American communities to face up to these threats to our democratic and immigration rights, for these to galvanize us into action, and to be engaged in united though diverse forms of action. For instance, various organizations in the U.S., such as the Philippine Forum, the New York Committee on Human Rights in the Philippines, NAFCON, and the Migrant Heritage Commission have taken the cudgels of the Sentosa 27 nurses who face the threats of criminal convictions and deportation even if they were the ones victimized by illegal recruitment and unjust labor conditions. The deteriorating state of human rights in the Philippines, characterized by the spate of extra-judicial killings that resulted in the death of nearly 890 social activists, human rights volunteers, lawyers, health activists, church leaders, and other victims, from 2001 to the present is another issue that engages these U.S.-based organizations in coordination with human rights organizations and institutions in the Philippines and elsewhere. One other concern that has drawn the outrage of these organizations as well as other groups and communities in the United States is the corruption that continues to infest high officials of the Philippine government. Some of the most recent graft and corruption cases such as the ZTE national broadband scam and the multi-million "brown bag" bribery involving some members of Congress and local government officials have brought us to the realization about how rotten the government has become even as the country's economy has become irremediably stagnant, with the poor becoming poorer and the wealth more and more concentrated in a few families. Cases like these that involve the office of the presidency have made the Philippines the second country in Asia with the highest incidence of corruption. Until now, there are no exact figures how much of the remittances sent to the Philippines by Filipinos abroad in billions of dollars every year is lost to government corruption.

The remittances that overseas Filipinos, including us immigrants in the United States, send to our families and relatives in the Philippines may provide short-term economic relief to them or even as a fallback income for some of us who eventually will spend our retirement in our country of roots. But we know for a fact that the long-term stability and a secure future for our unfortunate brothers and sisters back home can only be ensured under a situation where the people are able to take control of their own economic future and under a government that truly represents the interests and aspirations of its broad constituencies.

It is under these circumstances that I invite you to look again at the current situation of the Philippine society which, I believe, is in a state of transition, where people are beginning to question the wisdom of maintaining a government – not only a President – that is beginning to lose its credibility; where the system of check and balance, as represented by Congress, does not function because the institution is itself plagued by corruption while it only maintains itself virtually as a social club for political dynasties; where the election continues to be just a fraudulent process of recycling the reign of power of the same political dynasties that have been in control of government for generations and decades; and where the dire economic conditions are driving people to leave everyday in their thousands in search of jobs in other countries. We cannot, I believe, insulate ourselves from the unjust rule and social injustice that continue to confront the Filipino people; or turn our backs while millions of our people face poverty or die in the process of advocating for reform.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a growing number of Filipino-American organizations working to lend their voice and support to the daily demands for economic rights and social justice back home, even as they also increasingly are involved in the defense of immigration rights and other issues here in the United States. Sometimes, their issues are inter-linked with the advocacy movements of other ethnic groups, such as in the fight for immigration rights where big Filipino contingents have marched in the streets alongside hundreds of thousands of immigrants. In the cases of the "Desperate Housewives" episode and Sentosa 27, the advocacy actions have elicited the support and participation not only of Filipino doctors and nurses but also other professionals , other service sectors, including lawyers. All these only show that issues and concerns that unite many Filipinos galvanize us to attend forums and other venues of discussions as well as into the streets for pickets and marches that serve to articulate our protests and demands for justice not only to the public but also to the media so that the voices are heard by thousands and even millions of people here and in the Philippines as well. It is through collective demands and unity such as these that Filipino expatriates in the United States gave effective support to the anti-Marcos dictatorship movement in the Philippines that was sparked by the assassination of Ninoy Aquino and culminated in the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986, as well as in the removal of the morally-bankrupt Estrada presidency in 2001.

At this point, I would like to say something about the concept of "constructive dialogue" in relation to the "Desperate Housewives" issue. The framework of "constructive dialogue" had been pushed supposedly in the spirit of drawing a "win-win" situation requiring, however, the cessation of peaceful pickets and other protest actions against the ABC TV network. What happened was that, "constructive dialogue," designed to be held behind closed doors, led to giving certain concessions (e.g., promise of jobs and employment opportunities Filipino artists) that, in effect, diluted the Filipino communities' agitation for a real apology and other concrete measures and, hence, essentially led to the unsatisfactory resolution of the issue about racial prejudice. "Constructive dialogue," as a mechanism for resolving an issue, may be valid in a situation where the aggrieved party, for instance, is an individual. However, the injustice committed in the "Desperate Housewives" issue is racial prejudice, and the victims are a whole country. Cries of indignation, demands for apology, and calls for boycott came from Filipinos based not only in the U.S. but also in the Philippines and many other countries. They were asking for justice and redemption, not job opportunities, and certainly they were expecting the demand for justice to be dealt with transparently where the sentiments of millions of Filipinos are heard and heeded. To insinuate that pickets, calls for boycott, and class suits are not "constructive" or "proactive" is to deny the aggrieved people their freedom of speech and to use other forms of avenues in seeking redress within the bounds of the law. To hold a "constructive dialogue" within the closed walls of the global company that committed the racial slur is to restrict our collective articulation of protests to a select few. Let us be reminded that justice is never given or begged for, you have to fight for it even if the one that stole it from you is a global enterprise with a powerful communication network.

This is also why, even if we support the initiation of class suits in the continuing quest for justice, the avenues for articulating our protest and indignation should remain open. More so, if the class suit being filed is against a company that has unlimited resources under a justice system that is not always favorable to the actual victims of injustice. Alternative lawyering and legal resources approach emphasizes going beyond the usual court centered approach, emphasizing our ethnic collective interests and recognizing the importance of combining two or all forms and courses of action to achieve justice and redemption.

Today, our collective demand for justice and other issues should also welcome any moral, legal, and political support from other organizations in the spirit of solidarity and on the basis of mutually accepted principles. But the leadership of our campaign against ABC should remain in our own hands and collective efforts as members of the Filipino-American community, and those ready to assist us voluntarily and without any pre-conditions should uphold this leadership and initiative. This is a defining moment of Filipino American Empowerment, let us cherish it and move forward.

Let me close with an anecdote about two lifelong friends, a chicken and a pig, who were going on their usual morning work together. The pig turned to the chicken and asked "What do you think we should have for breakfast today? Quick as a flash, the chicken answered: "Bacon and Eggs" The Pig said, hey wait a minute!! You only want to participate, yet from me you expect total commitment.

In making our community of voices into a collective demand for justice in this campaign, we need to render total and complete commitment … no less…

Sa inyong lahat, Isa pong makabuluhan at mapayapang araw. Mabuhay ang lahat ng ating mga doctor at pangkalahatang mangagawa sa sector ng kalusugan…….Mabuhay ang Migranteng Pilipino……

SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!

2007-11-12T04:08:00.000-05:00

She could be your mother, sister, tita, neice, or friend.....

Mga Kababayan sa New York at New Jersey,

This week, the Kuwaiti High Court of Cassation will begin hearing oral arguments for the case of Marilou Ranario, a 33 year old Filipina domestic worker from Surigao del Sur in jail and on death row. Marilou was convicted in 2005 for the murder of her employer, a man who was viciously abusing and raping her. The victim's family have since withdrawn their lawsuits against Marilou, yet she remains on death row (please see attached fact sheet.) and languishing in jail awaiting her sentence. She is currently supporting 2 children back in the Philippines while her husband can't find stable work as a jeepney driver.

Abuse, rape, and maltreatment are common experiences for our hardworking overseas Filipino workers, who are forced to choose a life abroad in order to escape poverty and provide for their families. Marilou represents all of us; yet despite this reality, the Philippine government is doing nothing to save her from execution by hanging. As was the case of Flor Contemplacion, a Filipina domestic worker who was executed by the Singapore judicial system in 1995, it is up to the worldwide community of Filipinos and migrant workers to stand up for justice when governments fail to protect their people, and show their might on the streets. Please visit and sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com / marilou/petition.html and join us for...

SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!
COMMUNITY PRAYER VIGIL TO SAVE THE LIFE OF MARILOU RANARIO, FILIPINA DOMESTIC WORKER ON DEATH ROW IN KUWAIT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH, 7PM
MEET IN FRONT OF KRYSTAL'S
6902 ROOSEVELT AVE, CORNER 69TH

Sponsored by Kabalikat-Philippine Forum (Filipina Domestic Workers Support Network), the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) and the Save Marilou Ranario Movement (SMRM)

SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!
NO TO ANOTHER FLOR CONTEMPLACION!
statement of concerned overseas Filipinos in New York City

We, NYC-based Filipina household workers, nannies, caregivers, along with other concerned overseas Filipinos and advocates of basic human rights, demand that our sister, Marilou Ranario, be released immediately from the Kuwaiti jail she continues to languish in since being convicted for the death of her employer in 2005.

Marilou, a 33-year old domestic worker who was viciously maltreated and abused by her employer, represents all of us overseas Filipinos who must leave our families back home in order to ensure they can eat. In order to escape poverty back in our homeland, we are left with little choice to but brave uncertain shores where we know abuse, exploitation, and maltreatment are common for Filipinos and other migrant workers. We also know a hard and lonely life overseas without the company of our families is better than a guaranteed life where our children will starve and have no opportunities. This was Marilou's story as well.

Marilou was a teacher from Surigao Del Sur that opted to leave to become a domestic worker abroad because she earned a more stable living doing so. She supported 2 small children back in the Philippines while her husband was unable to find stable work as a jeepney driver.

Back in 1995, the entire Filipino nation and overseas Filipino community struggled against the Philippine government's systemic neglect of the plight of overseas Filipino workers with the case Flor Contemplacion, a Filipino nanny who was hung after being wrongfully convicted for the death of her employer's child. As was the case with the high profile movement to set Flor free, the Philippine government made no political effort to save Flor's life. We fear the same will happen to Marilou.

Earlier this year, the mysterious and still-unresolved death of New York-based domestic worker Fely Garcia further proved the Philippine government's absence of concern and sympathy for OFW's abused and even killed.

Like Marilou, Flor and Fely, we are all victims of a Philippine government system known as the Labor Export Policy. This was originally established as a temporary measure to solve the country's crisis of joblessness and landlessness, forcing families to turn abroad for stable income, but the Philippine governments after Marcos turned it into a permanent fixture and means to keep the pathetic Philippine government afloat. Today, over 3000 Filipinos, mostly women, leave their children behind to work abroad. The total remittances that prop up the Philippine economy coming from overseas labor totals to more than $11 billion. These come from the suffering and toils of mainly Filipino women workers overseas.

The crime of the Labor Export Policy is that there is no program for protection for women like Flor and Marilou, who become victims of abuse, maltreatment, exploitation, rape, and indentured servitude. In many cases, Filipino workers are treated like animals, much less second-class citizens with no rights. Filipino women fall vulnerable to sexual abuse commonly.

But they are still Philippine citizens. Philippine embassies and consulate offices abroad are absolutely useless and fail to assert protections for our valued overseas workers, aggressively sending more workers overseas to face similar fates. The Arroyo administration has remained painfully silent while boasting of an economy sustained by migrant laborers like Marilou.

We say shame on the Philippine government for taking Marilou's remittances and doing nothing to legally protect her in a foreign land where she clearly has no rights as a human being. In this sense, the Arroyo government is no different than the foreign employers that treat Filipino workers like dogs in their host countries, and women workers as slaves.

We call on the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation, that will hear oral arguments this Tuesday, November 13th, on Marilou's case to strongly consider the united voice of Filipinos worldwide who today are taking the streets in defense of their Filipina sister, and decide not to execute her!

SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!
NO TO ANOTHER FLOR CONTEMPLACION!
JUSTICE FOR ALL OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS!
PROTECT THE RIGHTS AND DIGNITY OF OUR OFW'S!

Signed,
KABALIKAT-PHILIPPINE FORUM (DOMESTIC WORKERS SUPPORT GROUP)
NY COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR FILIPINO CONCERNS (NAFCON)

News Release
November 13, 2007

Reference: Lorena Sanchez, Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT (Domestic Workers Support), email: pf_kabalikat@yahoo.com

NY Filipinos Come Together to Say: Save Marilou Ranario!

New York-- The Filipina domestic workers support group known as KABALIKAT, a program of the community service organization Philippine Forum, spearheaded a solemn prayer vigil on the busy intersection of Roosevelt and 69th Street in Woodside, Queens last night as part of an international day of action to save the life of 33 year old Filipina domestic worker Marilou Ranario.

The group recited one full decade of the rosary for the Ranario, convicted of murdering her employer back in 2005 and currently on death row in Kuwait, despite large noise coming above from the 7 train. Marilou was also a victim of consistent abuse, maltreatment, and forced into indentured servitude by her employer.

"She represents all of us," states KABALIKAT Co-coordinator Shirley Cayugan-O'Brien. "We believe she is the real victim, not the criminal. We are all victims of a criminally-negligent Labor Export Policy."

Cayugan-O'Brien further explained it was the lack of protection offered by the Philippine government, particularly the overseas Philippine consular officers, that continue to victimize women workers like Marilou, who many fear will suffer the same fate as Singapore-based domestic worker Flor Contemplacion who was hung for a wrongful conviction of murder back in 1995.

November 13th was called as an international day of action by Migrante International, an alliance of overseas Filipino organizations of which KABALIKAT is a member. November 13th also marks the hearing of oral arguments of Marilou's case by the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation. The employer's family have since withdrawn their previous lawsuits against Ranario, a mother of two children from Surigao Del Sur.

KABALIKAT, Migrante International and the broader Save Marilou Ranario Movement (SMRM) claims the Kuwaiti Court will take into high consideration the public aspect of Marilou's case, in which strong public outpouring of support can also make a difference.

Actions were also held in Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, and throughout the Philippines.

Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT was joined by fellow concerned Filipinos from the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and Anakbayan. ###

SISTER STELLA L.

2007-11-11T10:15:00.000-05:00

Join the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and
Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE)
for a screening and discussion of the classic Filipino socially-relevant film

SISTER STELLA L.

Sister Stella L. is the award-winning masterpiece by Mike De Leon. It's about a nun, Sister Stella Legaspi, who becomes involved in labor strikes after learning about the government's neglect of the poor and the working class. Her sworn duty to fight for the poor and the oppressed turns personal when her journalist friend Nick Fajardo is tortured and the union leader Dencio is kidnapped and killed. What follows is her eye-opening and the tear-jerking battle against cruelty and injustice.

The film broke censorship barriers back in 1984, during the final years of the US-backed Marcos dictatorship, for its realistic portrayal of labor struggles, and extrajudicial killings, hauntingly mirroring the reality of Philippine society today under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Tuesday, Nov. 27th
Screening starts promptly at 7:00pm
at 55 West 17th Street, 5th floor
between 5th and 6th Avenues in Manhattan
Trains: F/V to 14th Street

Sponsored by the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and
Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE)
Member organizations of BAYAN USA (www.bayanusa.org)
For more info. email nychrp@yahoo.com

FILIPINA SISTERS UNITE! NATIONAL CONFERENCE EXTENDS PHILIPPINE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT TO THE U.S.

2007-11-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 7, 2007
Valerie Francisco, Secretary General, Filipinas for Rights and
Empowerment (FiRE), fire.nyc@gmail.com
Marisa Mariano, Chair, babae, San Francisco, info@babaesf.org
Joanne Alcantara, Chair, Pinay sa Seattle, pinayinfo@gmail.com

FILIPINA SISTERS UNITE!
NATIONAL CONFERENCE EXTENDS PHILIPPINE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT TO THE U.S.

Seattle, WA---On November 2, 2007, babae of San Francisco, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) of New York, and Pinay sa Seattle convened in a national conference entitled "Filipina Sisters Unite" and established a national organizing committee towards the formation of the first U.S. based chapter of GABRIELA, an alliance of over 250 women's mass organizations in the Philippines.

It has been a banner year with the international condemnation against the Arroyo regime. The need for Filipina women's organizing is needed more than ever to respond to the worsening human rights crisis in the Philippines. Since Arroyo has come into power in 2001, close to 900 political activists have been killed, and over 90 of those are women. Hundreds more are missing and continue to face harassment and repression by the military and police forces.

As an extension of the progressive movement of Filipina women in the Philippines, Filipinas in the U.S. will continue to expose the U.S.-Arroyo regime while addressing the needs of Filipinas locally. All Filipinas in the U.S. who are concerned for the rights and welfare of Filipinas in the Philippines, the U.S., and in the diaspora are invited to get involved in future campaigns and organizing projects.

In an effort to diligently push forth the militancy and fervor of Filipina women's organizing in the U.S. several projects and campaigns were planned over the course of the year such as nationally coordinated campaigns on the issue of political repression, addressing issues and concerns faced by Filipinas locally through a Women and Wellness campaign, and PINAY Stories--a project to collect and document the experiences and stories of Pinay in the U.S.

The organizing committee is also gearing up to launch a national speaking tour for Emmi de Jesus, Secretary General of GABRIELA in Spring 2008. Following her tour, the committee will coordinate exposure trips to the Philippines for the summer of 2008 in an effort to bridge the gap between women in the Philippines and in the US. The exposure trip will also bring to light the harsh conditions faced by the women in the Philippines through integrations with the various sectors including the urban poor, peasant women, indigenous and women workers.

FiRE, babae and Pinay sa Seattle are member organizations of BAYAN-USA, an alliance of progressive Filipino groups in the U.S. representing groups of students, scholars, women, workers, and youth. As the only international chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Philippines), BAYAN-USA serves as an information bureau for the national democratic movement of the Philippines and as a campaign center for anti-imperialist Filipinos in the U.S. who are committed to undoing over 500 years of colonial rule and to bringing freedom and justice to the people of the Philippines.

###

Bayan's Statement of Solidarity for the People of Pakistan

2007-11-09T04:24:00.000-05:00

Bayan's Statement of Solidarity for the People of Pakistan
Against the Emergency Rule of Musharaff

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan ( New Patriotic Alliance ), the largest multisectoral alliance in the Philippines, condemns in the strongest terms the emergency rule recently imposed on Pakistan by Prime Minister Pervez Musharaff.

Musharaff has declared a state of emergency purportedly " to curb terrorism " and to contain the "extremist Islamic groups". Everyone knows that the real agenda for martial rule is Musharaff's desperation to stay in power and quash any group seeking his removal. Militant and progressive secular leaders as well as Opposition groups in Pakistan are being arrested under the so-called emergency rule. In essence, Musaharaff, the Chief of the Pakistani Army has declared martial law.

Peaceful meetings inside offices are being raided, while a vast number of people are being held under house arrest. All international and private news channels have been curt off while news can only be accessed thru the state's channel.

Bayan calls for the immediate and unconditional lifting of emergency rule, the reinstation of the Judiciary, press freedom, and the release of all persons detained by the Musharaf fascist dictatorship.

Bayan also urges everyone to take note of the role of the US in instigating the current situation in Pakistan. The US has supported the dictatorial regime of Musharaff in exchange for the latter's support for the US war on terror, including the invasion of Afghanistan and the setting up of US bases in Pakistan. United States aid to the Musharaff fascist regime has reached $10 billion since the 9-11 attacks in 2001.

Anti-imperialist groups in Pakistan have reported that the objective of the US in its so-called "war on terror" is to encourage mayhem in Muslim states to change the map of a so-called Broader Middle East. The US plan is to create or transform three whole countries into permanent US bases. The countries are Afghanistan with Pashtun areas of Baluchistan, Kurdistan carved out of Iraq and Turkey, and a new Baluchistan carved out of Pakistan and Iranian Baluchistan.

Bayan joins the people of the world in expressing solidarity with the Pakistani people in their struggles against the strongarm rule of the US-Musharaff regime. Bayan hopes that the very broad united front of all sectors fighting this rule will triumph and will persevere until US imperialism and all reactionary forces in this large country be defeated ultimately.###

Sharing on the Philippine Human Rights Situation from the Church's Perspective

2007-11-08T18:38:00.000-05:00

Sharing on the Philippine Human Rights Situation from the Church's Perspective
(w/ special guest from the Philippines, Ms. Norma Dollaga of the PCPR)
Thursday, Nov 8, 7pm
CAAAV/Nodutdol office
53-22 Roosevelt Ave., Second Floor.
Woodside, New York 11377

US-based rights lobby group says nothing is sure yet on $30M aid

2007-11-08T04:26:00.000-05:00

http://www.malaya.com.ph/nov08/news2.htm

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US-based rights lobby group says nothing is sure yet on $30M aid
By ANTHONY IAN CRUZ
Malaya
Nov. 8, 2007

NOTHING is sure yet after all with the purported $30 million in fresh
military aid from the United States, a lobby composed of Filipinos and
Americans, including members of US churches, said yesterday.

The Arroyo government might not even get any increase at all and could
face more preconditions on every dollar coming from the US if
political killings and human rights violations continue, said the
group Katarungan Committee for Peace, Justice and Human Rights in the
Philippines.

"Both houses of the US Congress have yet to meet and reconcile their
versions of the US budget appropriations bill for 2008 and that means
that the Arroyo government actually still has nothing concrete to brag
about," it said.

"The Arroyo government is focusing only on the bright side of the US
Senate version of the bill while at the same time airbrushing the
historic portions that paint it as a human rights violator," said
Bernadette Ellorin, secretary general of Bayan USA, one of the groups
involved in the lobby efforts to limit US military aid because of what
is seen as continuing extrajudicial executions and human rights
violations.

Katarungan and Bayan USA said they want to "prevent US public funds
from financing the reign of terror in the Philippines."

Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said the
Philippines has clinched $30 million in fresh military aid and
immediately expressed thanks to the US government.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the "the increased
United States funding assistance levels to the Philippines "contains
no preconditions" or strings attached," referring to "an almost
three-fold increase to Foreign Military Funding (FMF) for the
Philippines – from the $11 million proposed by the Executive
Department, to $30 million."

Malacañang and the DFA released the statements on increased military
aid soon after an October 31 posting on the official website of the
office of Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial
killings, which featured news on the US Senate's pre-conditions in the
article "US Congress tying assistance to Sri Lanka and the Philippines
to progress against extrajudicial executions."

According to Ellorin, "Malacañang is obviously doing a media blitz
based on old news on a US Senate proposal approved two months ago and
which is not yet final. Perhaps this is to cover up the failure of
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita to dampen the UN report delivered
by Alston."

Ellorin also said "the US House version only allots $23 million in
military aid for the entire East Asia and Pacific region."

"With both Houses yet to reconcile their versions of the budget bills,
it thus remains uncertain whether the Arroyo government will get the
$30 million that Philippine officials have bandied about," Ellorin
said.

Katarungan said no bicameral committee meeting has been scheduled
because "to date, only the Senate has publicized who their conferees
are."

REENACTED BUDGET

Katarungan also said the US government is now running on a reenacted
budget, after the US Congress failed to enact a new budget measure
before October 1, the start of the US fiscal year.

"This turn of events is creating havoc for government agencies, which
are operating under a 'continuing resolution' that provides the same
amount of money as in the last fiscal year. By November 16, when the
continuing resolution expires, Congress will either need to have
passed the funding bills or come up with more short-term answers for
programs that still do not have their appropriations approved," it
said.

Katarungan also said the US Senate approved in plenary on September 6
"restrictive language" or pre-conditions introduced by Sen. Barbara
Boxer on an additional $2-million military assistance to the
Philippines.

Ellorin said the "restrictive language" means that the Arroyo
government's human rights record is now under closer scrutiny by the
US Congress but "Malacañang is airbrushing this important, historic
fact in yet another act of cover-up."

REAL ACTION

According to documents provided by Katarungan, Boxer, using strong,
pointed language recorded in the US Senate journal, said "this binding
legislative language is critical. I hope that Secretary [Condoleezza]
Rice is able to produce a report that states that the Philippine
government is taking real action and the Philippine military is no
longer responsible for the deaths of innocent persons."

Boxer also told the Senate that "for too long, the government of the
Philippines has not taken sufficient action to address extrajudicial
killings and bring those responsible to justice."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, responding to Boxer's query on the Senate floor
whether he will work with her to put additional limitations on future
US military assistance to the Philippines if the Philippines fails to
meet the conditions, said: "I share Sen. Boxer's concern about
extrajudicial violence in the Philippines and will continue to monitor
this situation carefully."

SETTING CONDITIONS

Leahy, who chairs the US Senate committee handling the budget bill for
the State Department and Foreign Operations, warned that he "will
consider additional limitations on future US military assistance if
the Philippine government fails to adequately address this issue."

Leahy and Boxer introduced the second pre-condition to the budget bill
under Amendment No. 2762 "to clarify conditions on assistance for the
Philippines," according to a document obtained by the Katarungan.

Under Section 688 of the Senate-approved budget bill, the $2 million
in additional military aid may be made available only when the
Secretary of State reports that:

• The Philippine government is implementing the recommendations of the
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or
Arbitrary Executions.

• The Philippine government is implementing a policy of promoting
military personnel who demonstrate professionalism and respect for
human rights, and is investigating and prosecuting military personnel
and others who have been credibly alleged to have committed
extrajudicial executions or other violations of human rights. – With
Reinir Padua

Manila's lies and cover up on US military aid, human rights record

2007-11-07T04:22:00.000-05:00

PRESS STATEMENT
Nov. 7, 2007

Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

Manila's lies and cover up on US military aid, human rights record

BAYAN USA strongly condemns the Arroyo government's latest lies and
act of cover-up on US military aid.

The Arroyo government is lying to the public by claiming that it will
get $30 million in US military aid, up from $11-million this year.
Malacanang is obviously doing a media blitz based on a US Senate
proposal approved two months ago -- a proposal which is not yet even
final.

In fact, the US House version only allots $23-million in military aid
for the entire East Asia and Pacific region.

With both Congressional bodies yet to reconcile their differing versions
of the budget bills, it thus remains uncertain whether the Arroyo government
will get the $30-million that Philippine officials have bandied about.

BAYAN USA has been linked to broad overseas opposition efforts to
lobby US legislators in order to prevent US public funds from going to death
squads in the Philippines or misused as endorsement of a government
accused of abetting extrajudicial executions.

We likewise deplore the Arroyo government's attempts to airbrushing
its record as a human rights violator. Malacanang is desperately
trying to conceal the adoption by the US Senate of "restrictive
language" or preconditions to the $2-million in additional military
aid to the Philippines.

The "restrictive language" means that the Arroyo government's human
rights record is now under closer scrutiny by the US Senate, an outcome
of strong legislative advocacy coupled with a stronger mass movement
outside of Congressional halls.

We urge US Congress to implement stricter monitoring on the
compliance by the Arroyo government on the three preconditions adopted
by the Senate, which now includes "a policy of promoting military personnel
who demonstrate professionalism and respect for human rights, and
investigating and prosecuting military personnel and others who have been
credibly alleged to have committed extrajudicial executions or other
violations of human rights."

Without the outlining of a strict and tight mechanism for monitoring, the
Philippine government will make many more attempts to twist the facts
and spin new media stories to its favor. After all, even the US government
has a long history of funding overseas dictatorships. The Philippines
remains a strategic location for the Bush administration's plan to expand
the War on Terror into Asia.

Perhaps the ongoing media blitz seeks to cover up the failure of
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita's feeble attempt to dampen the
impact of UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston's damning report and to
conceal the undeniable fact that no one has ever been convicted for
the nearly 900 extrajudicial executions under Arroyo's watch. ###

Migration no guarantee out of rural poverty

2007-11-06T18:42:00.001-05:00

Migration no guarantee out of rural poverty -WB
ISAGANI DE LA PAZ, OFW Journalism Consortium
11/02/2007 | 03:36 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/66919/Migration-no-guarantee-out-of-rural-poverty--WB

MANILA – Contrary to popular beliefs, migration, despite the volume of money it brings, has neither brought rural folks out of poverty nor is it a sure fire way for farm people to clamber aboard the prosperity wagon.

"Where migration is more or less permanent, income from migration depends on the success of the migrant and the reason for migration. So migration is not a guaranteed pathway out of poverty," the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in its recently released report, debunking several myths on agricultural development.

The Washington, United States-headquartered IBRD, popularly known as The World Bank, cited in its 386-page report that "despite massive rural-urban migration, rural poverty will remain dominant for several more decades in Asia."

The bank''s World Development Report 2008 that focused on identifying ways for governments to lift some 600 million rural people from extreme poverty has said that while this has been achieved, it is not due to migration.

"More than 80 percent of the decline in rural poverty is attributable to better conditions in rural areas rather than to out-migration of the poor," the report titled "Agriculture for Development" said.

"So, contrary to common perceptions, migration to cities has not been the main instrument for rural (and world) poverty reduction," it added.

In fact, authors of the World Bank report noted that out-migration of people from rural areas has even contributed to the constant rate of poverty rate in cities.

The report, released October 19, noted that while the poverty rate of US$1-a-day has been declining in developing countries –from 28 percent in 1993 to 22 percent in 2002- , this "has been mainly the result of falling rural poverty (from 37 percent to 29 percent) while the urban poverty rate remained nearly constant (at 13 percent)."

The report also noted that during the period under study, 1993-2002, there was an 81-percent reduction in rural poverty worldwide. But this is "ascribed to improved conditions in rural areas; migration accounted for only 19 percent of the reduction."

Migration, the report said, "lifts some of the rural poor out of poverty but takes others to urban slums and continued poverty."

Notional

Even remittances from abroad are downplayed by the report on contributing to national poverty rate declines.

While the report acknowledges that there are "indirect effects of urbanization on rural poverty through remittances and rural wage changes," this is "through tighter rural labor markets."
But this argument, the report's authors said, has a conservative but unlikely assumption: all rural-urban migrants are poor.

The bank computed migration's contribution to rural poverty reduction using the US$2.15 poverty line rather than the US$1.08 extreme poverty line "because it is unrealistic to think that all migrants are extremely poor."

Even so, using the same assumption that all those who migrate are poor, the report noted that reduction in rural poverty would still hit 81 percent, "not to migration."

"Indeed, almost all the decline in South Asia and East Asia is because of a genuine decline in poverty in rural areas. Even when China is excluded from the sample, 67 percent of the reduction in rural poverty is from causes other than migration," the report said.

According to data compiled by the Institute for Migration and Development Issues (Imdi), there is no direct correlation between the number of Filipinos going overseas for temporary or permanent work and stay, and the poverty incidence levels.

For example, the National Capital Region, composed of more than a dozen cities, has posted a 4.3-percent poverty incidence level in 2003. In an eight-year period beginning 1998, almost a million overseas Filipinos came from this region.

However, the data that the nonprofit group Imdi compiled couldn't cite if these Filipinos just used the NCR as temporary residence prior to going overseas or which rural area they came from if they, indeed, migrated from farm villages.

It is difficult to determine so since the NCR is the reservoir of major government agencies processing the export of Filipino labor as well as the receptacle for the air travel and remittance industries.

Likewise, despite Davao del Sur, for example, posting a 24-percent poverty incidence rate and having recorded 55,117 Filipino migrants, Batanes island posted only a 9.2-percent poverty incidence level despite only 72 of its residents having left that fishing and farming province that's the tip of the Philippines.

Another example is Pampanga, President Gloria Arroyo's home province, which posted a six-percent poverty incidence level. It is second to the NCR for having the most number of Filipino migrants at 125,226. Compare this to Pangasinan, home province of former President Fidel V. Ramos, which had 111,029 of its citizens migrating in the eight-year period ending 2005. Still the province posted a poverty incidence level of 18.6 percent, more than double neighboring Pampanga's.

With the exception of Batanes, 14 provinces have poverty incidence levels above the national average of 25.7 percent.

"The high poverty levels of these provinces can perhaps explain why citizens from these areas cannot easily migrate overseas," the Imdi scoping study on migrant philanthropy released last August said.

Impacts

Even the World Bank report admits it is difficult to establish migration's direct impact on rural poverty reduction levels.

"Migration can be a climb up the income ladder for well-prepared, skilled workers, or it can be a simple displacement of poverty to the urban environment for others," the report noted.

The report also cited that while remittances from migrants back to the farm household "can relax capital and risk constraints, the relationship between migration and agricultural productivity," for one, is "complex."

"The (temporary) absence of household members reduces the agricultural labor supply. Agricultural productivity can therefore fall in the short run but rise in the long run as households with migrants shift to less labor intensive, but possibly equally profitable, crops or livestock," the report said.

Remittances, the report noted, "often drastically change the composition of the rural population" and "can pose (their) own challenges for rural development, because migration is selective."

"Those who leave are generally younger, better educated, and more skilled. Migration thus can diminish entrepreneurship and education level among the remaining population," the report said.

Likewise, the report cited there are evidence suggesting migration "is most accessible for the wealthiest and best educated of the rural population, as moving requires means to pay for transportation and education to find a good job."

"Moreover, better-educated migrants are the most likely to have a successful migration outcome," the report added.

It particularly cited the Philippines as having more female migrants to urban areas faring better than the less-educated males.

The report estimated some 575 million people migrated from rural to urban areas in developing countries over the past 25 years.

Of these, it said, "400 million lived in transforming countries, where migration flows increased to almost 20 million a year between 2000 and 2005."

Migration flows as a share of the rural population have been traditionally highest in urbanized economies, but they have fallen over 2000–05 to an annual rate of 1.25 percent. In transforming and agriculture-based economies, the annual flow of out-migration steadily increased to 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent of the rural population, respectively.

The report also noted that international migration out of rural areas is male-dominated in Ecuador and Mexico, but female-dominated in the Dominican Republic, Panama, and the Philippines. - OFW Journalism Consortium

Note: To download the complete World Development Report 2008, go to this link: http://siteresoruces.worldbank.org/INTWDR2008/Resources/2795087-1192111580172/WDROver2008-ENG.pdf

Ermita, Malacanang Spinning Lies About UN Officials' Take on Human Rights Situation-- NYCHRP

2007-11-06T18:35:00.000-05:00

News Release
November 1, 2007

Reference: Jamie Mapa, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, email: nychrp@yahoo.com

Ermita, Malacanang Spinning Lies About UN Officials' Take on Human Rights Situation-- NYCHRP

New York-- It seems Philippine Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita's claims of praise from United Nations officials Philip Alston and Louise Arbor are different from what is actually reflected on paper. After a recent trip to New York with members of the Presidential Commission for Human Rights, Purificacion Quisumbing and Coco Quisumbing, Ermita claimed the Philippine delegation was able to "convince" both UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that "the Philippines' human rights record is not that bad as earlier claimed", as reported in a recent Philippine Daily Inquirer last October 26th.

Ermita was deployed by Malacanang to New York last week to answer to a prelimary report drafted by Alston indicating the Philippine military's role in perpetrating the nearly 900 killings and 200 enforced disappearances of broad civilian opposition forces since 2001.

Alston is scheduled to release a final report in the coming weeks.

"The Ermita visit was mainly a desperate attempt to get Alston to revise what a really damaging preliminary report for the Philippine government," states Gary Labao of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines or NYCHRP. "Arroyo wants the final report to be sanitized and clean, for her administration's sake. The first report opened up the floodgates for an outpour of worldwide condemnation to the human rights situation in the Philippines."

Labao also pointed out that during Alston's statement to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly back in October 25th, nowhere in his documented statement was an indication of him being convinced that the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines is improving through Malacanang's measures.

"The bottom line is that only the elimination of such killings and the ending of the impunity enjoyed to date, by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in particular, will signal that the situation has turned the corner. Yet I continue to receive deeply disturbing reports," Alston stated.

"It's really pathetic that Malacanang is pressuring Philippine media to paint a promising picture about their UN visit, when the reality is Alston remains unconvinced. This should only deepen the public's distrust of Malacanang's spin on the human rights situation," Labao ended. ###

AVALON 11-SENTOSA 27 STAY UNITED & STRONG DESPITE STALL TACTICS OF LONG ISLAND COURT

2007-11-06T18:26:00.000-05:00

News Release
October 31, 2007

Reference: Rico Foz, Executive Vice President, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, email: nafconusa @ yahoo.com

AVALON 11-SENTOSA 27 STAY UNITED & STRONG DESPITE STALL TACTICS OF LONG ISLAND COURT
New York-- The 10 former nurses with Avalon Gardens Nursing Home in Long Island who resigned from their positions as contract nurses with the SentosaCare LLC and their lawyer Felix Vinluan maintained a firmness of morale and spirit as they faced the Judge Robert Doyle together in the Suffolk Criminal Courthouse Monday morning, despite new tactics to stall the date of their criminal hearing to December 17th.

The hearing followed a Sunday townhall meeting in Queens in support of the nurses and lawyer organized by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns or NAFCON.

Also known as the Avalon 11, the nurses and attorney face criminal charges of patient endangerment filed by SentosaCare LLC and its owner and CEO Bent Philipson. The 10 nurses have written documentation proving they did not walkout on their patients mid-shift, but completed their shifts before submitting their resignation letters to the Sentosa-owned Avalon Gardens in Long Island.

The Avalon 11 are also members of the Sentosa 27++, a group of Filipino nurses who are waging a justice campaign against Sentosa and Philipson for workplace abuse, withheld wages, and large-scale breach of contracts that constitute massive illegal recruitment.

The Avalon 11 were joined by their families, friends, and members of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), Philippine Nurses Association, and staff members Mount St. Vincent's Hospital. Vinluan was represented by his attorney, Oscar Michelen, while the former Avalon Gardens nurses were represented by their attorney, James Druker.

After a more than one-hour conference with Michelen and Druker, Judge Doyle moved to postpone the hearing till Monday, December 17.

"These stall tactics are often used to demoralize," stated Michelen and Druker as the explained the judge's decision to the nurses in a caucus outside the courtroom.

The Avalon 11 have been able to withstand for the past year various stall tactics by the court system to postpone dates and divide-and-conquer attempts of the Sentosa camp, but agreed to not let this latest postponement diminish their morale and unity.

"We will just come back with more supporters," stated Felix Vinluan, who was joined by his children. "We are not disheartened by this. We draw great strength from our many supporters and allies."

An online petition accessible at www.petitiononline.com/j4s27 has already garnered thousands of signatures calling for the State of New York to drop all criminal and civil charges on the Sentosa 27 and investigate the operations of the SentosaCare LLC and Philipson.

Vinluan and the nurses have filed a pending special request with Governor Spitzer requesting for a special prosecutor, unconvinced they will receive a fair and objective trial with the Suffolk County District Attorney, given Philipson's big political connections and interest to divert public attention from his own company's criminal operations.

Upon leaving the courtroom, the Avalon 11 were welcomed by an energetic picket led by NAFCON. Chanters shouted "Prosecute Sentosa, not the nurses!" Picketers were marked by bright yellow t-shirts that read: THESE NURSES ARE NOT CRIMINALS! THEY SAVE LIVES! The picket ended with the group singing of "Solidarity Forever" led by NYSNA.

"We will never let up. We believe that justice will be served, no matter how long or winding the road is. The Avalon 11 have the truth on their side. Sentosa does not," stated NAFCON representative Rico Foz. ###

SENTOSA, PHILIPSON ARE THE REAL CRIMINALS! DROP THE CHARGES ON THE AVALON 11!

2007-11-06T18:24:00.000-05:00

Press Statement
October 29, 2007

Reference: Rico Foz, Executive Vice President, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, email: nafconusa @ yahoo.com

SENTOSA, PHILIPSON ARE THE REAL CRIMINALS! DROP THE CHARGES ON THE AVALON 11!

The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, a national alliance of Filipino-American organizations spanning 23 cities across the United States, fully supports the 10 criminally-charged nurses and their attorney known as the Avalon 11. In fact, we support all the Sentosa 27 nurses who have been disgustingly victimized by Sentosa Care LLC, its owner Bent Philipson, and its scheme of illegal recruitment from third world countries such as the Philippines to staff its facilities with cheap labor in New York City.

Today, the Avalon 11 are being charged with patient endangerment from the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. But these charges are trumped up and politically-motivated by Sentosa and Philipson in retaliation to the 10 nurses standing up for their rights after working under gravely violated contracts for months.

The 10 have documented proof that they did not abandon their shifts midway. They each finished their shifts completely and made sure there were nurses to take over. This does not constitute patient abandonment or endangerment. In fact, it is SentosaCare and Philipson that are guilty of endangering patients. By understaffing their nursing facilities, coupled with withholding wages from their nurses, patient-to-nurse ratios in Avalon Gardens reached as high as 60:1. Under these dangerous conditions, the child patients of Avalon Gardens are in more peak danger than if the nurses had actually walked out midshift.

Sentosa and Philipson are the real criminals because they are in the business of illegal recruitment, human trafficking, and indentured servitude. We demand a full investigation of Sentosa's criminal operations by the State of New York.

Under this context, we support the demand for a Special Prosecutor from Suffolk County to take the case as we believe the strong anti-immigrant sentiment and Sentosa's big political connections make impossible a fair and impartial criminal trial for the Avalon 11.

We salute the bravery of the Avalon 11 and the rest of the Sentosa 27 for standing up against immigrant discrimination, workplace abuse, illegal recruitment, indentured servitude, and Philipson using his political connections to Senator Charles Schumer and then-Philippine Cabinet Secretary Mike Defensor to stall the Sentosa 27 civil charges filed against Sentosa through the Department of Justice in Washington DC and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) in Manila.

The Filipino immigrant community is the 2nd largest immigrant community in US, while the Philippines is the #1 healthcare professional exporting country in the world. Our community will not let up until justice is served.

DROP THE CHARGES IN THE AVALON 11!
JUSTICE FOR THE SENTOSA 27 & ALL MIGRANT CONTRACT WORKERS!

Filipino and Japanese activists meet and disucss Subic and Iwakuni rape incidents

2007-10-29T14:03:00.000-05:00

News Release
October 30, 2007

Filipino and Japanese activists meet and disucss Subic and Iwakuni rape incidents

OSAKA -- Three days before the anniversary of the Subic Rape incident in the Philippines involving four United States Marines, Filipino and Japanese activists convened in the small city of Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture to discuss what appears to be striking similarities between another rape incident in the city.

Filipino activists met with anti-bases groups in Iwakuni City to discuss US military presence in the region which has resulted in October 14 alleged rape of a 19-year old Japanese woman by four US Marines. Like the Subic rape incident two years ago, the Iwakuni rape case happened when the four US Marines met a local Japanese woman and invited her to ride with them in their vehicle. She was reportedly raped while inside the vehicle.

The four US Marines belong to the US Marine Airbase in Iwakuni City, an important US military facility Japan, together with the Kanagawa military base and the Okinawa base. They are currently being investigated by Japanese authorities but like in the Subic Rape case, they remain under US custody. The small coastal city of Iwakuni has a population of only 152,000 people.

In November 1, 2005, four US Marines raped a Filipino woman whom they picked up in a bar in Subic base. Last year, a Philippine court convicted one of the Marines for the crime of rape.

Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr. and Anakbayan chair Eleanor de Guzman joined more than 250 union leaders, youth activists and foreign delegates in denouncing the continued presence of the US military in Iwakuni during a rally last Sunday. The groups were able to reach the main gate of the Marine base. The marchers included delegates from the anti-war movement in the US as well as labor activists from Taiwan and South Korea.

"What is definitely disturbing here is that the US response in the Subic rape incident seems to be repeated in the Iwakuni incident. Again the US government refuses to give custody of their soldiers to local authorities," Reyes said.

"What is also alarming is that the cavalier attitude of the US government when these incidents happen seems to be encouraging the abusive behavior of American servicemen. That they feel they can pick up just any girl in Subic or Iwakuni and gang rape her in a van is a symptom of sheer arrogance and utter disrespect for our peoples," the Bayan leader added

In the Subic rape incident, while one of the servicemen was convicted, he remains under the custody of the US government while the case is pending appeal.

In the Iwakuni rape case, the four US Marines have yet to be charged by Japanese authorities who cited inconsistencies in the statements of the alleged rape victim. "There appears to be an effort by some local authorities to shift the blame on the rape victim just so protests against US military presence will die down. This is very similar to the Subic rape case wherein 'Nicole', the victim was blamed for her actions," Reyes said.

Reyes said that it was important for the people of Iwakuni to know of the sad experience of the Filipino people when it comes to unequal relations with the US.

"We told the Iwakuni residents and participants of the protest how under the Visiting Forces Agreement, even a convicted American serviceman could not be placed under Philippine custody. We were told that the same rule operates in Japan, wherein the Japanese
government would have to request custody of offenders," the Bayan leader said.

"It seems that under no circumstances will the US government allow its soldiers to be placed under the custody and criminal jurisdiction of any country," Reyes added.
Japan and the US have a very long security alliance which includes the positioning of troops in Japan and the use of bases for military operations overseas.

"The common experiences with American troops in our two countries strengthens our resolve to work together for the removal of US military bases and troops in Japan, Philippines, Korea and Asia as a whole," Reyes added. ###

Renato Reyes may be temporarily contacted through this email or thorugh nato.reyes@gmail.com.

Migrants group, OFW families slam Sentosa Agency

2007-10-27T13:25:00.000-05:00

News Release
October 25, 2007
For reference: Maita Santiago, Secretary-General (0916-513-4366)

During picket-dialogue at POEA:
Migrants group, OFW families slam Sentosa Agency

An alliance of organizations composed of overseas Filipinos and their families today slammed anew the Sentosa Recruitment Agency (SRA) with a picket-dialogue at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. The dialogue delegation was led by Gabriela Womens Partylist Rep. Liza Maza and along with Migrante, the relatives of the victims of the SRA and the Alliance of Health Workers participated in the protest.

"The Sentosa Recruitment Agency is clearly guilty of large-scale illegal recruitment. Its operations should be suspended immediately and its license revoked permanently. We demand no less from POEA Admin. Rosalinda Baldoz," says Maita Santiago, Migrante International Secretary-General.

The Migrant Workers Act (section 6) deems that illegal recruitment is committed in large scale if it is committed against three or more persons. Large scale illegal recruitment is considered an offense involving economic sabotage. The Act (section 7) further states that the penalty for economic sabotage is life imprisonment and a fine of not less than P500,000 and not more than P1 million.

"We also call on Admin. Baldoz to divulge the full extent of the political interventions at play which resulted in the grossly biased actions by the POEA against victims," she added, citing the letters by US Senator Schumer to POEA Admin. Baldoz, then-Labor Sec. Patricia Sto. Tomas, NY Consul General Ceclia Rebong and Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in behalf of the SRA and the subsequent phone call reportedly made by then. Sec. Admin. Baldoz just prior to the POEAs lifting of the preventive suspension order against the SRA on June 8 last year.

"We wouldnt be surprised kung may suholan sa Malacanang, mayroon din sa DOLE o sa POEA. Since the political interference by the powers that be into this case has already been admitted, the full extent of it must be exposed, investigated and the relevant charges filed against those guilty of this shameless abuse of power," remarked Santiago, citing the recent bribery expose at the Palace.

At least 32 nurses and a physical therapist have filed complaints at the POEA against the SRA. Currently, a Motion to Appeal the POEA's order to dismiss the first batch of complaints (Order dismissal released 4 September 2007) and an illegal recruitment case filed by a second batch (24 November 2006) are still pending.

During the dialogue, the families of the nurses submitted their Unity Statement and demands to POEA Admin. Baldoz.

"Apart from this dialogue, we commit to intensifying global actions for this campaign through our member organizations and networks. In the US , the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns continues to gather widespread support for the nurses with the very influential NY State Nurses Association being the latest to affirm their support," said Santiago .

This October 29th, the NAFCON will lead a picket in front of the NY courthouse where ten of the nurses and their lawyer will face their first hearing on the criminal charges baselessly filed against them by Sentosa. For its part, Migrante International will also lead various actions to highlight the continuing oppression of our kababayans at the hands of Sentosa. #

* a detailed fact sheet is available upon request.

*************************************************

UNITY STATEMENT

By the families of the victims of the Sentosa Recruitment Agency to

the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration

October 25, 2007

We, the families of the victims of the Sentosa Recruitment Agency (SRA), unite to express our alarm and opposition to recent POEA decisions which heighten the injustices committed against our loved ones by the SRA.

We believe that the SRA is clearly guilty of the illegal recruitment charges filed by the 26 nurses and 1 physical therapist against it last year 2006. The filing of similar charges by additional victims of the SRA strengthens this fact.

As such, we demand that the POEA issue an immediate preventive suspension order against the SRA at the minimum and at the maximum, their license should be revoked and their operations shut down. Otherwise, we fear that even more health professionals and their families will be victimized and forced to endure the grief, anguish and hardship that we now live daily.

As with countless other Filipino families, we were filled with great pride when our loved ones finally graduated as nurses and as a physical therapist. Given the worsening economic conditions in our country, we were also hopeful when they were given the opportunity to migrate to the United States as health professionals.

But instead of a better life abroad, our relatives were forced to endure a range of contract violations, discriminatory and unfair labor practices at the hands of the SentosaCare Agency in New York . Unable to suffer in silence and work under breached contracts any longer, they united and resigned from their positions.

It is deplorable that in Sentosa's bid to intimidate and criminalize our relatives, they retaliated by filing trumped-up criminal charges against 10 of the nurses and their lawyer. It is indeed a bitter reality that while the SRA continues to operate in the Philippines and its owner Francis Luyun remains scot-free our relatives are being criminalized in New York .

We salute the courage of our loved-ones to stand up and speak the truth. We affirm our commitment to forward the campaign for justice for the Sentosa 27++ and all Filipino migrant workers.

Together with the growing number of people's organizations, other community-based groups and supporters of these health professionals from around the world including the more than 2,000 who have signed an online internet petition for the victims of the SRA, we demand the following from POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz:

1. Immediate preventive suspension of the Sentosa Recruitment Agency;
2. Genuine investigation into the full extent of the SRA's illegal recruitment activities;
3. Permanent revocation of the license of the SRA and shut down of its operations; and
4. Investigation into Malacanang's intervention in the illegal recruitment case through a phone call by then-Sec. Michael Defensor to POEA Admin. Baldoz which led to the swift lifting of the suspension order against the SRA and the long-delayed release of decisions in the complaints filed by the initial 27 health professionals and a subsequent batch of complainants.

Justice for the Sentosa 27++!

Justice for all Filipino migrant workers!

Signed:

Francis Tulang

Step-father of nurse Noralyn Ortega

Elmer Gamiao

Father of nurse Claudine Gamiao

Maritess Delos Angeles

Sister of nurse Jennifer Lampa

Rhia Maulion

Sister of nurse Rizza Maulion

Mariano Morales

Father of nurse Juliet Anilao

Wilfreda Avila

Mother of nurse Harriet Avila

Mr. Garcia
Father of nurse Carlo Garcia

Arroyo's Pardon for Erap's Crimes Prove She Should Be Next in Ousting-- BAYAN USA

2007-10-27T11:43:00.001-05:00

News Release
October 26, 2007

Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

Arroyo's Pardon for Erap's Crimes Prove She Should Be Next in Ousting-- BAYAN USA

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, a national Filipino-American alliance with over 12 member organizatons, indicated that Arroyo's recent pardon of former Philippine President Joseph "Erap" Estrada is the height of her administration's condonement and practice of corruption, bribery, and disastrous economic policies, qualities that eventually kicked Erap's administration out of Malacanang.

"For an educated economist, she is making stupid decisions that go against the grain of what the Filipino people have worked hard for," states BAYAN USA Chair Chito Quijano. "Perhaps she is already forgetting that she stood among the thousands flocking out of the Malacanang gates back in 2001 to oust her former boss after his crimes were exposed to the nation. How can she grant him pardon, when the Filipino people have not?"

While the Arroyo herself and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo have been the recent targets of corruption accusations for their direct roles in the ZTE-NBN Broadband scandals, at least 196 public officials such as Pampanga Governor 'Among Ed' Panlilio are coming forward with the Arroyo government's attempt to bribe them out of supporting her impeachment case. She is also proving to be a "mini-Erap" in scope with her own plunder of Malacanang's charity funds for critical social services as reported by the Commission on Audit (COA).

"She may be attempting to gain more allies onto her corner, but she won't succeed in doing so," Quijano added.

The alliance expressed its disgust over Arroyo's attempt to set a new standard of "public acceptance of plunder and corruption", which are the qualities Erap exuthed before his demise.

The alliance also indicated Arroyo's pardon of an former ousted president proves she must face the same fate.

"It's presidents like Erap and Arroyo that substantiate the world branding of the Philippines as one of the most corrupt governments in the world. From afar, Filipino-Americans are disgusted and shamed," Quijano ended.

DESPERATE MOVES FOR DESPERATE PRESIDENT

2007-10-27T11:42:00.001-05:00

NEWS RELEASE
26 October 2007

Reference: Emmi de Jesus, Secretary General, 371-2302 / 0917 - 3221203

DESPERATE MOVES FOR DESPERATE PRESIDENT

"Joey de Venecia's recent testimony on President Arroyo and her
husband's hand in the NBN Broadband scam further strengthens the
widespread clamor for her resignation." This was the statement today
of Emmi de Jesus, GABRIELA secretary general.

"With all these shameless crimes and scandals rocking Gloria's
presidency and the renewed growing calls for her resignation, she and
her cohorts consistently use drastic and desperate tactics to save her
face. The most recent is the unconditional pardon to ousted president
Joseph Estrada. " added de Jesus.

" The act is tainted with Gloria's interest for Erap to capitulate at
the expense of the Filipinos hard won struggle against plunder. But
the people should not be disheartened for we learn our lessons from
every struggle -- Marcos was ousted but not tried; Estrada was ousted,
tried and convicted but pardoned by a treacherous president. This
time, Gloria will be ousted, tried, convicted and will serve her due
sentence for all her crimes against the people," de Jesus concluded.

The women's group held a snake march and noise barrage in Barangay
Tatalon, Quezon City in protest of Arroyo administration's crimes and
corruption. On Sunday, GABRIELA will be holding a protest action in
Malacanang in commemoration of the National Women's Day of Protest. ###

“Pardon for Erap Unpardonable!” - HEAD

2007-10-27T11:39:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

Kindly forward this to our medical practitioners here in the US.

Thanks,
Rico Foz

Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD)
2/F Doña Anita Bldg, 284 E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon City
Telefax: (02) 725 4760
Email: headphil@gmail.com

Media Release
26 October 2007
“Pardon for Erap Unpardonable!” - HEAD

The executive clemency granted by Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to former President Joseph Estrada is the height of hypocrisy and an insult to the Filipino people. The crime of plunder for which Estrada was found guilty cannot be absolved by someone who is guilty of even bigger plunder and worse corruption.

Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), the 3,000-strong national organization of health professionals, workers, and students believes that the issue of presidential pardon is being used for political expediency and has absolutely no basis in terms of dispensing justice.

“On the contrary, Mrs. Arroyo has undermined the entire judicial process and exposed how her administration condones, rather than condemns, plunder.” According to Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos, HEAD secretary-general.

“Can Mrs. Arroyo actually say that the grant of pardon was for the national interest? Who, aside from Erap and Gloria, stands to benefit from this?”

HEAD believes that the pardon is merely a “carrot-and-stick” approach of the administration not just for Erap but to woo his followers, neutralize the Opposition, and stem the rising tide of popular dissent against Mrs. Arroyo. After several influential Catholic bishops demanded her resignation “for lack of moral ascendancy”, pressure continued to rise due to a series of scandals of bribery and anomalous deals that point directly to her.

“Mrs. Arroyo has shown that she will literally beg, steal, or borrow in order to stay in power,” added Dr. Nisperos. “She barters the interests of the Filipino people to save her own skin, and she must be held accountable for such treachery. Our people demand nothing less than justice.”

“What Mrs. Arroyo has done is unpardonable!”

HEAD is joining calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation. “The current dispensation has lost all semblance of moral and political ascendancy. What is obvious is Mrs. Arroyo’s blind ambition to remain in power at all cost. Given the brazen arrogance and unscrupulous behavior of Mrs. Arroyo and her men, the litany of corruption scandals will only continue.”

The suffering of the Filipino people will also continue. Based on what happened over the last few years, Mrs. Arroyo will only wait for her regime to regain a semblance of stability before she unleashes the hounds of war and viciously persecute those who oppose her.

“The lies being peddled must stop now!” Dr. Nisperos ended. “We call on all members of the health sector and the Filipino people to unite and stand up against a corrupt, immoral, authoritarian, and demented president.”###

References:
Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos
Secretary-General, 0916 214 5724
Dr. Geneve E. Rivera
Deputy Secretary-General, 0920 460 3712

Kin of dismissed workers push for Sentosa suspension

2007-10-27T11:37:00.000-05:00

Kin of dismissed workers push for Sentosa suspension
Posted 11:57pm (Mla time) (Mla time)
By Jerome Aning
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- An alliance of organizations representing the welfare of overseas Filipino workers and their families held a picket at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Mandaluyong City on Thursday to ask for the suspension of operations of the controversial Sentosa Recruitment Agency. [ Read more ]