SiGAw mobilizes on May Day to defend workers and human rights
On this May 1, International Workers Day, SiGAw links arms with workers and im/migrants of the world to fight for dignity and livelihood. While the working class suffers the brunt of heavy job losses and a downward spiraling economy, the Obama administration chooses to continue George Bush Jr.’s assaults on im/migrant and worker rights, ultimately allowing the big corporate thieves off the hook with a mere slap on the wrist. Instead of funding social services and education that the public needs, the government is redirecting taxpayer funds to beef up its military forces in Asia Pacific. The Secretaries of the State and Defense of the US and the Philippines met yesterday to discuss how they can amass more US troops, war machines and virtual bases in the Philippines to keep a firm check on China and gain access to the world’s largest market of consumers and cheap labor.
At the forefront and most impacted by the US military buildup in the Philippines are the majority of the oppressed Filipino people. The unfaltering stream of US military aid to the Philippines trains the Benigno Aquino administration and its armed forces in its implementation of anti-poor and anti-people government policies, which continue to cause the steady rise of prices for basic necessities such as oil, gas, electricity, and water. For those that are fortunate to have a job in the country, low wages and lack of benefits as a contractual worker only leaves people in the never ending cycle of debt and uncertainty. Women, because of lack of jobs at home and under increasing pressure to find livelihood for their family, seek jobs abroad and face dangerous work conditions and sexual exploitation.
The plight of internal refugees in the Philippines has only intensified under the Aquino administration as violent confrontations between state armed forces and civilians continue with demolitions and forced evictions. Human rights alliance, Karapatan, has documented more than 6,500 people who have fallen victim to forced evacuation and forced eviction since Aquino took presidency through the first quarter of this year. The violent clashes have resulted in injuries, arrests and even extrajudicial killings such as those of urban poor leader Antonio Homo and 20 year-old Arnel Leonor.
Aquino’s Public Private Partnership Projects (PPP) only affirms the ongoing practice of running the government like a money-making business by prioritizing the capitalists and foreign partnerships all the while neglecting to provide for the people’s basic necessities and housing projects for the poor.
Undeclared Martial law has not ended as human rights violations continue to be committed by state forces against those that speak up for justice and truth. The role of the government and its military forces in killings, enforced disappearance, rape, and torture has been condemned by organizations such as Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, and United Nations Human Rights Commission but the failure of the government to hold anyone accountable clearly protects such heinous crimes against humanity.
We, working class and im/migrant women and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer people, must unite with others to protect and uphold the rights of working peoples here in the US, the Philippines and the rest of Asia, Central and South America, Middle East, Africa, and across the globe. We must oppose the continuing US intervention in the Philippines, masked as a mutually beneficial US-Philippines Alliance. We must demand that the Obama administration not use our tax dollars to create virtual bases and deploy more troops and weaponry to the Philippines. Instead, this money should be used to create jobs and social services for the people. Through continued education, organizing and mobilization of the people, like the May Day march this afternoon, we can bring down the imperialists and build a society which truly upholds a genuine democracy that meets the needs of the 99%!
Workers of the World Unite!
Stop scapegoating immigrants! Legalization for all!
Stop funding human rights violations in the Philippines!
US troops out of the Philippines, Asia Pacific and everywhere!
Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC) May Day march & rally (http://immigrationcoalition.org/)
Tues, May 1 gather at 4pm at Olympic and Broadway
Look for the blue BAYAN USA and purple GABRIELA USA flag
Contact: sigaw.la@gmail.com (213) 537-8278
More on human rights under Noynoy
Demolitions and forced evictions: 2012 has so far witnessed violent clashes and forced evictions monthly, beginning in January with the demolitions in San Juan that left about 40 people injured (http://youtu.be/LF50Tau9Dfc). 466 families were affected in Barangay San Roque in Navotas from February to March where the first case of extrajudicial killings claimed the life of urban poor leader Antonio Homo. The recent upheavals in Paranaque city’s Silvero compound of 25,000 families have left 33 arrested and the death of 20 year-old Arnel Leonor.
Attacks on human rights workers: Ending this vicious cycle of state repression has become tantamount to perilous work, where community organizers, activists, and advocates of human rights have become subject to harassment and slapped with fabricated charges of being terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. From Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya to Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan, nothing has changed as an atmosphere of impunity continues to reign under the Philippine’s so-called “democracy.” The inhumane killings of those that speak for the voiceless have only amplified as 2012 saw the extrajudicial killings of human rights advocates like Italian Fr. Pops Tentorio, who fought for indigenous rights, and anti-mining activist, Gerry Ortega. All the while, those who commit the violations continue to roam free as is seen with the recent developments of General Jovito Palparan who was in overall command during the kidnapping, torture, and execution of the 2 missing UP students, Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan. In a slap to the face of victims of torture, Major General Jorge Segovia who carried out the illegal arrest of the Morong 43 health workers in February 2012, has now been promoted as the Eastern Mindanao Command chief. In addition, Captain Donilo Lalin of the Highlander 86 of the 50th Infantry Batallion continues to roam free despite reports of him raping 2 teenage girls.
Political prisoners: President Aquino still refuses to acknowledge that the country has political prisoners despite numerous reports and documentation. The Center for Women’s Research has documented 356 political detainees in the Philippines. 78 are reported by the institution to have been arrested and illegally detained under the Aquino administration. In considerable disgrace, almost half of them are women, adding onto the reported 153 women who have been victimized by extrajudicial killings since 2001.
For more information, click here and read the Karapatan report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review.
SiGAw is an organization serving Filipinas in the Los Angeles community. We strive to build a strong Filipina women’s mass movement, recognizing that the problems of the Filipina diaspora are linked to the root problems of the Philippines. SiGAw addresses the rights and welfare of women through education, organizing, campaigns, and cultural work. SiGAw is a member organization of GABRIELA-USA and BAYAN-USA.
