SiGAw! | SISTERS OF GABRIELA, AWAKEN!

Rallies to hold VP Binay & Pres. Aquino accountable

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 07:37:51 -0700

Vice President of the Philippines Jejomar Binay puts on the charade that he supports Overseas Filipino Workers but his actions will speak louder than words as he proceeds to cross the picket line of the many Filipino workers at the LAX Hilton who have called for a boycott of the hotel for its exploitative working conditions and anti-union activities. On Saturday, June 2^nd Binay will attend a Philippine “Independence” gala at the LAX Hilton, and SiGAw will be there to fight for the 99% by upholding workers rights and by exposing Binay for crossing the picket line. Binay shows he does not really care for our kababayan, otherwise he would uphold their right to unionize. Binay should also address the root problems of the Philippines, which cause the mass exodus of Filipinos from our homeland, and stop the Labor Export Policy, as well as the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. Join us as we take on the 1% on June 2^nd, 6pm at the LAX Hilton (5711 W. Century Blvd, LA 90045). Free 2 hour street parking available on 98^th street (behind the Hilton).

On June 8^th, SiGAw will protest Philippine President Benigno Aquino for trampling on our homeland’s sovereignty by continuing to allow US troops on our country’s soil and drones to fly overhead while allowing the endless bloodshed of our people at the hands of the Philippine military and mutli-national corporations. Come voice out against these injustices as we slam the door on Aquino on his first presidential visit to LA. Time and location to be announced – stay tuned through our website sigawla.tumblr.com or contact us at (213)537-8278 or sigaw.la@gmail.com.

Rights Victims Recount Ordeal Before Philippine Review by UN

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:11:00 -0700

NEWS RELEASE

 May 26, 2012

Reference: Marie Hilao-Enriquez and Fr. Jonash Joyohoy  Co-Heads, Philippine UPR Watch Phone: +41 76 792 4973, +63917 561 6800 Email: peoples.upr@gmail.com

GENEVA–They could not hold back tears as they recounted their experiences before a crowd of international human rights organizations and representatives of foreign missions.

Ernan Baldomero, a municipal councilor in Aklan and son of Fernando Baldomero, the first victim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino regime in 2010, recounted his last days with his father. He spoke of how his father was repeatedly tagged by the military as a communist rebel before he was gunned down by two men riding on a motorcycle. He broke down as he recounted how the military had even insisted that his father was killed by the New People’s Army in an alleged “purge”. He laments to this day that justice has not been fully served.

For Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas, her abduction and torture was also painful to recall. She spoke of being abducted in La Paz, Tarlac along with two others, then being subjected to torture and other forms of indignities while in detention. Throughout her detention in what she believed to be was a military facility, she was blindfolded and handcuffed and forced by her captors to “return to the fold of the government”. She laments how none of the perpetrators of her abduction and torture have been held to account.

Baldomero and Roxas spoke at a side-event at the United Nations in Geneva that was organized by the Philippine UPR Watch and CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The forum comes just days before the UN’s review of the Philippines’ human rights record on May 29. The Philippine UPR Watch is composed of Filipino human rights defenders who traveled to Geneva for the universal periodic review and session on the Philippines. The Philippine UPR Watch has submitted alternative reports to the UN to dispute the Philippine government claims of an improving human rights climate in the Philippines.

For the second time, the Philippines will undergo a process whereby member countries of the UN Human Rights Council will examine the Philippines’ compliance with its human rights treaty obligations. During the first review cycle in 2008, the Philippines came under serious scrutiny for the spate of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances under the Arroyo regime.

Now it’s the Aquino government’s turn to face the UN. The Philippine UPR Watch reports that some 76 cases of extrajudicial killings and 9 cases of enforced disappearances have taken place under the Aquino government. Meanwhile, no convictions of perpetrators have taken place under the Aquino administration, the group said.

Baldomero and Roxas both assert that rights violations continue under the Aquino government.

“The most painful thing right now is not recounting our experiences but knowing that there is still no justice after all this time. Victims live with the pain of injustice every day,” Roxas said.

“We came here to Geneva to tell the international community that impunity and injustice are continuing in the Philippines. We have spoken to different country missions here in the UN and hopefully they would ask the tough questions to the Philippine government,” Baldomero said.

Filipinos join massive protest vs. NATO in Chicago

Thu, 24 May 2012 07:20:00 -0700

For Immediate Release

May 23, 2012

Reference: Jessica Antonio, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

FILIPINOS JOIN MASSIVE PROTEST AGAINST NATO IN CHICAGO; DEMAND FOR US TROOPS OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES

CHICAGO, IL— Over 230 Filipinos from across the US and the Philippines joined over 15,000 more last Sunday in downtown Chicago to march in protest against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit taking place just blocks away in McCormick Place. It was the largest outdoor anti-war demonstration in the US in years.

The Filipino contingent was led by BAYAN USA, a US-wide alliance of 18 Filipino social justice organizations and a founding member of the Coalition Against the NATO & G8 War and Poverty Agenda (CANG8), the main organizer of last Sunday’s demonstration against NATO. Founded in 2005, BAYAN USA is the oldest and largest overseas chapter of BAYAN Philippines.

BAYAN USA joined the ranks of the 500+ marching contingent of the US chapter of the International League of Peoples Struggle (ILPS-US), which included Palestinians and Puerto Ricans projecting the role of national liberation struggles as key in the fight against the US-NATO agenda.

“Filipinos are here today because the US-NATO agenda seeks to intensify militarization in the Asia-Pacific region,” stated Bernadette Ellorin of BAYAN USA at the opening noon rally in Grant Park. “As I speak, the US is sending drones, nuclear warships, nuclear submarines, and more US troops to engage in military exercises in the South China Sea. They say this is to contain the threat of China, but that is a distortion.”

Ellorin spoke of the worsening global economic crisis driving US-NATO powers to secure critical economic investments in the Asia-Pacific region, where the US export position accounts for approximately $1 trillion of the US economy. Therefore, the US-NATO military pivot to Asia is to enforce a new free-trade agreement— the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)— that would ensure US economic dominance in the region.

BAYAN USA 4th Congress

Sunday’s protest action against NATO was preceded by the 4th congress of BAYAN USA and the founding assembly of ILPS-US. Both were held at the Centro Autonomo, a Mexican Solidarity Center located in the working class, immigrant neighborhood of Albany Park.

Themed ”In the Spirit of Ka Bel, Malcolm, Ho, and Yuri: Filipinos in the US Unite to Confront US-NATO Intervention, Build Anti-Imperialist Solidarity and Advance the Movement for Freedom and Democracy in the Philippines”, approximately 250 participated.

Special guest in attendance was Philippine Congresswoman Emmi De Jesus of the Gabriela Women’s Party-list. BAYAN Philippine Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. addressed the congress via skype and delivered a presentation on the two years of the Benigno Aquino III administration in the Philippines. Solidarity messages were also delivered by Loubna Qutari of the Palestinian Youth Movement, Kazem Azim of Solidarity Iran, Bill Doares of the International Action Center, Lyn Meza of Chelsea Uniting Against the War, and Lorena Buni on behalf of the Eastern USA Diocese of the Philippine Independent Church.

The events were followed by Road to Resistance, a cultural showcase featuring BAYAN USA artists and guest performers such as Rebel Diaz.

Campaign Against Increasing US Military Presence in the Philippines

Responding to the recent high-level talks in Washington DC between US Secretary Hilary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin regarding the Philippines strategic role in the US military shift to the Asia-Pacific region, BAYAN USA also participated in a speaking panel on US bases one week prior at the People’s Summit, presenting the social impact of over 114 years of US military presence in the country.

Since its founding in 2005, BAYAN USA has campaigned consistently against continuing US militarization in the Philippines, including cutting US military aid to the country. It has worked in alliance with Philippine and US-based human rights organizations in drawing clear links between increased US military presence and increased human rights abuses in the country.

In 2009, BAYAN USA founding member Melissa Roxas was abducted by elements of the Philippine military while on a medical mission in a rural community in Tarlac, Central Luzon and subjected to 6 days of blindfolded secret detention and torture before surfacing. BAYAN USA spearheaded the Justice for Melissa Roxas campaign and continues to fight for justice. ###

May Day - defend workers and human rights!

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:39:21 -0700

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.

Join SiGAw on Int’l Worker’s Day this May 1st as we...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:36:01 -0700

Join SiGAw on Int’l Worker’s Day this May 1st as we march with the Southern California Immigration Coalition and demand:

Full Legalization for All!

Stop ICE Raids!

No Guest Worker Program!

Workers Right to Organize!

Driver’s Licenses for All!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 4pm gather at Olympic & Broadway in Downtown LA

Rummage Sale - Sunday, April 22nd 8am-2pm, 2267 31st St.,...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:53:01 -0700

Rummage Sale - Sunday, April 22nd 8am-2pm, 2267 31st St., LA 90405

US Intervention, NOT CHINA, is the Greatest Threat

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:44:17 -0700

News Statement

April 16, 2012

Reference: Bernadette Ellorin, Chairperson, BAYAN USA, email: chair@bayanusa.org

US Intervention, NOT CHINA, is the Greatest Threat to Peace & Security in the Philippines— BAYAN USA

Filipino-American Alliance Calls Aquino Gov’t to Junk the VFA, Stop Balikatan Exercises

As today marks the formal opening of the 28th US-Philippine Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) Exercises in Palawan, Filipino-Americans across the US, under the banner of BAYAN USA, are joined by their American allies in condemning intensifying US military intervention in the Philippines as the greatest threat to peace and security in the country and the Asia-Pacific region.

US is the Real Bully

Contrary to Washington’s line, the Chinese government is not flexing its military might to bully other countries in the region in order to expand its economic interests. It is the US government that fits said description, as US military’s so-called “rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region” is motivated by the Obama administration campaign to push the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a new free trade agreement akin to NAFTA that would ensure US economic and political domination in the region, as well as contain super rival China’s emerging economic power and growth.

Decades of US military presence in the Philippines in the name of peace-keeping and anti-terrorism have proven that it is the US troops, not China, that are guilty of pointing their own guns at Filipino civilians, raping Filipino women and children, patronizing and encouraging sex tours and increased prostitution, polluting and destroying the environment, requiring the massive displacement of rural communities in order to accommodate their military operations, advising and training the same Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) documented and denounced by international human rights organizations as perpetrating gross human rights abuses in the country, not to the least of which is the blatant violation and disrespect to Philippine national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Under Obama, the Philippines is now being used as testing grounds for US drone air strikes, in line with its historical role as a strategic launching pad and fueling station for US military offensives in nearly all of its wars of aggression. The US is also hyping up anti-China sentiment in the region by intervening in regional territorial disputes over the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, of which China is a stakeholder, clearly aimed at provoking military aggression with the Philippines at the crosshairs.

Hearts and Minds Campaign

Characteristic of this year’s Balikatan Exercises is the so-called focus on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HA/DR), including a Civil-Military Operations (CMO) component that started in March 12 with an engineering program to construct schools and facilities in the most marginalized areas of Palawan. Reminiscent of the same tactics used by the US military campaign to “win the hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people and gather popular support for direct US military intervention during the Vietnam War, the HA/DR focus of the Balikatan Exercises is actually in line with the 2009 US State Department’s Counter-Insurgency (US COIN) Guide. The said US COIN guide purports the need for a population-centric approach, or low-intensity conflict (LIC), wherein “the margin of victory will be measured in far different terms than the wars of our past. The allegiance, trust, and confidence of populations will be the final arbiters” as stated by US Army General William B. Caldwell IV in the US Army Field Manual on population-centric COIN.

With a strong Philippine movement for sovereignty and democracy gaining ground, including an armed revolutionary movement popular with the country’s poor and explicit in its aim to fundamentally change the current failing system in favor of a self-sufficient system implementing genuine land reform and national industrialization, the US government is driven to apply LIC tactics to win support away from the cause national liberation and keep the Philippines as its most reliable hub for power projection in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. The US government, and its ruling financial oligarchy, is also driven to maintain the Philippines as a valuable export position for vast natural resources and cheap human labor power in the midst of a worsening global economic crisis it is grappling, but failing, to overcome.

NoyNoy’s Bankruptcy Exposed

The US-Aquino regime is becoming increasingly isolated as its promise of change is exposing itself as bankrupt through Aquino’s inaction and “NoyNoying” over crucial domestic matters of public interest requiring attention. At the same time Aquino unflinchingly steps to the plate to bat for Uncle Sam’s quest to rattle his saber in the region under the deceptive line of defending the region against China.

It is obvious that Aquino is desperate to keep enjoying the spoils of US puppetry by continuing US-funded state repression against civilians who criticize his policies and championing the US government’s initial steps toward direct US military intervention in the country in the face of a raging civil war between those wanting to maintain the status quo, and those wanting to change the system and build a brighter future.

It is in this regard that BAYAN USA calls on all in the US who are burdened by the effects of the economic crisis to hold the Obama administration accountable for its maneuvers to invest billions in beefing up it military presence in the Asia-Pacific region through expanding its network of military bases, facilities, operations, and agreements in the region when it could be investing in jobs, education, healthcare, housing, and social services for the American people. We call on all who are against US wars of aggression to demand the Obama administration withdraw its military presence in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region. We call on all in the US who have been victimized by US counter-insurgency, including COINTELPRO, and the onslaught of repressive legislation criminalizing dissent and curtailing democratic rights to condemn US counter-insurgency in the Philippines, home to the world’s longest-running armed revolution against US imperialism. Lastly, we call on all who are for freedom to stand in solidarity with the Filipino people’s struggle for genuine national sovereignty and democracy, a mass movement so widespread and historical in its challenge to US imperialist power projection in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

US TROOPS OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES

JUNK THE VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT

STOP THE BALIKATAN EXERCISES

UPHOLD PHILIPPINE SOVEREIGNTY

LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

——————————————-

BAYAN-USA is an alliance of 15 progressive Filipino organizations in the U.S. representing youth, students, women, workers, artists, and human rights advocates. As the oldest and largest overseas 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. For more information, visit www.bayanusa.org

Marines Poised for More Philippine Tours: Filipino Women’s Rights Groups in the U.S. Poised to Protest

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:19:00 -0700

San Francisco, CA – U.S. based Filipino women’s rights groups are outraged over a recent article published by Marine Corps Times, a print and online publication that caters to the Marine Corps community.

According to its online website, Marine Corps Times claims to be an independent source for information on news affecting the Marines, and provides “quality, unbiased reporting on the important issues for the military community.” But an April 8 article written by staff writer Gidget Fuentes declaring that the Philippines is “known for their raunchy party atmosphere,” and “feature notorious red-light districts where alcohol and scantily clad women have attracted many Marines and sailors over the years” has offended Filipinos, especially women and children’s advocates. The article reports on the upcoming plans of the U.S. to deploy more troops to the Philippines over the coming the years, starting with 4,600 this Monday, April 16.

“Filipino women and children are the first to suffer anytime U.S. troops arrive in the Philippines,” says Raquel Redondiez, Chairwoman of GABRIELA-USA. “For generations Filipino women like Nicole have never seen justice against their American rapists, and orphaned Amerasian children have continually been abandoned by their American fathers.” Nicole was raped by U.S. marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith in 2005, but did not serve time because of U.S. intervention despite being convicted by Philippine courts.

Irma Bajar, Chairwoman of New York-based Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment says “It is disgusting that P-noy’s administration would roll out the red carpet for thousands of U.S. military troops knowing full-well the commodification and abuse that Filipino women and children will suffer.”

Member organizations of GABRIELA-USA in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle will be participating in a national day of action against U.S. military presence in the Philippines on April 16, 2012, when the Balikatan U.S. Philippine military exercises will begin.

GABRIELA, a Philippine based alliance of hundreds of Filipino women’s organizations have long protested against the Visiting Forces Agreement which have allowed for return of U.S. troops to the Philippines despite constitutional provisions banning foreign military bases in the Philippines.

Photo

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:31:26 -0800

Women, Sow the Seeds of Resistance!

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:24:48 -0800

Celebrate International Women’s Day & Get Human Rights Updates from the Philippines

Speakers include Filipina survivors of human rights violations: Dr. Merry Mia-Clamor, Angelina Bisuna Vda. de Ipong and Melissa Roxas

Thurs, March 8, 2012

11:30am - 1pm

Community forum

@ Claremont School of Theology

1325 N. College Ave, Claremont CA 91711 (Haddon Conference Center in the Butler bldg)

Thurs, March 8, 2012

6:30pm - 9pm

Community forum

@ Rosewood United Methodist Church

4101 Rosewood Ave, LA, CA 90004

Fri, March 9, 2012

6:30pm - 9pm

Community reception

@ spaceLUNA

2404 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 1B (cross street S. Park View St), LA, CA 90057

SHORT BIOS:

Dr. Merry Mia-Clamor is the Director of the Health Education, Training and Services Department of Council for Health and Development. As the national secretariat of the Community-Based Health Programs in the Philippines, it is one of the tasks of the Council for Health and Development to conduct free community clinics all over the country in partnership with its member programs.

On February 6, 2010, Dr. Clamor and 42 other health workers were illegally arrested, detained and tortured and held political prisoners for over 10 months. The Free the 43 Healthworkers campaign became an international campaign that drew support from all around the world. Today, the 43 are still demanding justice for the injustices they suffered and for those political prisoners who are still languishing in prison across the country. http://freethehealthworkers.blogspot.com/2010/02/dr-merry-mia-clamor.html

Angelina Bisuna Vda. de Ipong, or Angie to her friends, is a long time human rights and peace advocate who has devoted her life to the cause of peace with justice. She has decade more than 3 decades of her life to the struggles for the rights of peasants and indigenous people. On March 8, 2005, Angie was illegally arrested, detained and tortured while doing human rights work in Misamis Oriental. After 6 years as a political prisoner at the age of 66, Angie was finally released after a long campaign to demand her freedom. Angie has penned her experience in prison her book, Garden Behind Bars.

Angie graduated from Ateneo de Naga University in Naga City with a Bachelor of Arts, Major in History. Afterwards, she taught at Maryknoll College in Lucena City. In 1965, Angie became a member of the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP) in Dumaguete City where the MSP was based under the auspices of the late Bishop Surban. She was one of the pioneers of the women’s lay missionary division under the MSP Secular Institute from 1966 to 1976. In 1968-1970, Angie was sent to study theology in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. While abroad, she passed through Europe and parts of Asia and she was exposed to different mission groups, lay institutes and the like. After two years, she was back in the Philippines and went straight to Cebu where the new base of the MSP was located and taught for a year at San Carlos University and St. Theresa’s College.

http://www.hustisya.org/videos/torture-victim-angie-ipong.html

Melissa Roxas is a poet, community health worker, and human rights activist. While conducting community health work on May 19, 2009 in the province of Tarlac, Philippines, she was abducted and enforcedly disappeared by agents of the Philippine military and was held in secret detention and tortured for six days. She continues to write and speak out for truth and justice.

www.justiceformelissa.org

Sponsors (partial list):

GABRIELA USA, SiGAw, Claremont School of Theology, Rosewood UMC, BAYAN, NAFCON, Habi Arts, AnakBayan LA, Filipino Migrant Center, Jersey Mike’s Subs - Orange and Laguna Woods (owned & operated by Ed Castaneda & Naida Castro), Filipino Ministry of Diocese of San Bernardino, Karapatan, National Council of Churches in the Philippines

As part of our week-long iVOW vs. VAW activities, please join...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:27:12 -0800

As part of our week-long iVOW vs. VAW activities, please join SiGAw and Kappa Psi Epsilon in fighting the economic violence facing thousands of Filipina, and other women, domestic workers by updating your social network status with the statement “iVOW against Violence Against Women” along with a link to this video on the plight of caregivers created by our sisters and brothers of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) in Northern California. You can take action to help these caregivers, and thousands of workers like them, gain more rights by signing onto the petition to pass the California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights at domesticworkers.org.

iVOW to fight VAW

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:05:00 -0800

Kappa Psi Epsilon and SiGAw (Sisters of GABRIELA Awaken!) have come together to present the iVOW vs. VAW Week Campaign! It is a national campaign created by GABRIELA-USA to fight violence against women, to build community power towards the end of violence, and to build a broad network of advocates in the U.S. and beyond.

1. Coming out to our Film Screening:

When: Thursday, February 16

Time: 6:00pm-9:30pm

Where: CSULB Multi-Cultural Center located at the rear end of the Faculty Office 3 Building

What: We’ll be showing the film “Modern Heroes, Modern Slaves” and have a special guest, who helped edit the film, provide updates on our own modern heroes — the domestic workers & victims of trafficking who are fighting for their rights!

2. Spread the Word:

When: Friday, February 17 all day and all night

What: Join the worldwide movement against Violence Against Women using your Social Networks such as FaceBook, Tumblr, Twitter, Path, Google+, Etc.

Simply change your network statuses with the following post: “I __(Fill Name Here)__ vow to fight Violence Against Women (VAW)”

and attach the following link: sigawla.tumblr.com (which will be featuring an interview of Pinay domestic workers and their experiences of harassment, violence and a variety of other issues on the job)

3. Support:

If you can’t physically attend the events, show your support by clicking ATTEND this event & invite your friends & family! or visit the Campaign Website:

http://gabusa.org/campaigns/ivow-to-fight-vaw/.

Violence Against Women is defined as:

- The use of intimidation, threat, forced or coerced physical, sexual, psychological or emotional abuse against women.

- This may happen or occur inside the home, in the community, or at the hands of the state or government.

- This is a violation of basic human rights.

For any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to contact:

Community Action Chair: Jackie Liao :)

Phone: (650) 269-6983 E-mail: kpsie.jliao@gmail.com

Or any Alpha Chapter Kappa!

Sisters of SiGAw:

E-mail: sigaw.la@gmail.com

For more information go to gabusa.org/campaigns/ivow-to-fight-vaw/

etmm: anakbayanla: TYPHOON SENDONG Benefit Show THURSDAY,...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:31:15 -0800

etmm:

anakbayanla:

TYPHOON SENDONG Benefit Show

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH
6:00pm - 10:00pm
ALL AGES

On December 17, 2011 Typhoon Sendong hit the Southern Philippines killing over 1,500 people and displacing thousands of others from their homes.

Join Anakbayan Los Angeles, Filipino Migrant Center (FMC) & the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) as we come together for a night of food and music to raise money for those affected by the typhoon. All proceeds from this show will go directly to aiding typhoon victims through Panday Bulig Inc. ( www.cdrc-phil.com/pandaybulig), a disaster relief organization in Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines.

LIVE PERFORMANCES BY:

Jaclyn Rose
Jumakae
Krystle Tugadi
L.U.V
Matthew Parry Jones
Nathan Concepcion
ReVision
Shining Sons

$5 donation at the door (no one turned away for lack of funds)
20% OF ALL FOOD PURCHASES will go towards typhoon relief efforts

**If you’re unable to attend but would still like to donate, you can do so online at: tinyurl.com/bayanihanrelief OR you can write a check made payable to “Tulong Sa Bayan (TSB)” and mail it to: 519 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013

For more information, visit:

anakbayanla.org
bayanusa.org
fmcsc09.wordpress.com
habi-arts.org
nafconusa.org
sigawla.tumblr.com

anakbayanla: YOUTH AND STUDENT MOVEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES This...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:01:05 -0800

anakbayanla:

YOUTH AND STUDENT MOVEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES

This video was filmed during an exposure trip of July 2011 in the Philippines and featured at the Anakbayan Seattle report back multi-media show “Halong” in November 2011.

An exposure trip is a program designed to expose people to the harsh realities and true living conditions experienced by the people of the Philippines through educational discussions, integrations, mass actions and community organizing.

Anakbayan members from the Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and New Jersey chapters had the opportunity to learn about the youth and student conditions in the Philippines and the movement of young people demanding basic human rights for their future.

We were able to integrate with various youth and student organizations including Anakbayan chapters at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, as well as other youth groups, alliances and fraternities, including out-of-school youth, working youth, and youth organizing in the women’s movement, workers movement, cultural movement, and other sectors of Philippine society.

Filmed by: Nicole Ramirez
Edited by: Janelle Quibuyen
Music: From Monument To Masses - Comrades and Friends

To learn more about the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines and get involved in Anakbayan Los Angeles, visit anakbayanla.org or email anakbayanla@gmail.com

Filipina Women in the U.S. Call for Relief Donations for Victims of the Natural and Man-Made Disaster that has Taken the Lives of Thousands of Women and Children in Southern Philippines

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:36:00 -0800

Hello friends!

As many of you have likely heard, Typhoon Sendong brought an onslaught of destruction to our Kababayan in the Philippines at the end of December. Family and friends of SiGAw members lost homes and loved ones from the typhoon. SiGAw, along with allied BAYAN-USA organizations in Southern California, immediately took action following Typhoon Sendong and have already raised over $1000 in much needed funds. Please join us in raising additional funds, to support the continuing emergency relief efforts! Your donations can easily be submitted via the GABRIELA USA website. To donate on the GABRIELA USA website, please scroll down part way through the page, until you find the yellow Paypal Donate button on the right side. Thanks in advance for your contributions and for more information on the disaster, please check out the GABRIELA USA statement below.

**********

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 31, 2011

Reference: Raquel Redondiez, Chairperson, GABRIELA USA gabrielawomen@gmail.com

Filipina Women in the U.S. Call for Relief Donations for Victims of the Natural and Man-Made Disaster that has Taken the Lives of Thousands of Women and Children in Southern Philippines

Just days before the Christmas holiday, Typhoon Sendong (Tropical Storm Washi) hit two major cities of the northeastern region of Mindanao in Cagayan de Oro and Ilagan. It is confirmed that more than 1,200 lives have been claimed thus far, and more than one thousand people are left unaccounted for. Hundreds of thousands are left homeless as rampant rainfall and flash floods swept away and destroyed whole villages in what many weather experts claim to be the worst storm to hit Mindanao in over 60 years and the world’s deadliest storm of 2011.

A majority of the victims killed by the massive typhoon were women and children. Already in a state of economic crisis, the climatic tragedy has exacerbated the worsening livelihood of many of the people of this region, whose lands have been overtaken by mining and logging corporations, destroying the environment. The flash floods following the massive rainfall was caused primarily by deforestation which allowed the rain water to easily slide down the mountainside, when typically having trees help control the flow of water. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the Cagayan de Oro River also failed to hold the huge amount of rainfall brought by tropical storm Sendong that eventually poured into the 2 low-lying cities.

Multinational corporations which are backed by the Philippine government under the Mining Act of 1995, have continued to plunder the Philippines of its natural resources, bloating the pockets of big businesses and corrupt politicians who benefit from it, while the majority of the Filipino people suffer from poverty. Mining and logging have been detrimental to the people of this region and other part of the Philippines, and the cause for rampant human rights abuses by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in attempts to clear the land.

Raquel Redondiez, Chair of Gabriela USA states “This is not only a natural disaster, but a man-made calamity caused by government neglect and corruption and corporate greed. Like Typhoon Ondoy, the human toll would not have been so severe if not for the decades of environmental denigration and if the basic infrastructure was in place for the communities affected.”

GABRIELA USA and its member organizations are working together with Bayan USA and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) in relief efforts to help the people of Mindanao hit hardest by this calamity. Fundraising events are being held in major cities in the U.S., including a New Year’s Eve fundraiser tonight in San Francisco.

Any donation amount will help! Please submit your donations via the GABRIELA USA Paypal Donate button: http://gabusa.org/

anakbayanla: BUILD A BRIGHTER FUTURE!An International Cultural...

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:30:28 -0800

anakbayanla:

BUILD A BRIGHTER FUTURE!
An International Cultural Night of Hope and Peoples’ Struggles

A commemoration of International Human Rights Day, with stories shared by local activists that immersed in oppressed and exploited communities in the Philippines this past summer, conducted a medical mission in an indigenous village, and participated in international progressive conferences in Manila. It’s not going to be your average reportback, it’ll be more of a cultural night with performances and multimedia presentations. Come and join us for an amazing night of progressive culture!

Conference reportbacks include:
International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) 4th International Assembly
International Migrants Alliance (IMA) General Assembly
International Women’s Alliance (IWA) General Assembly
International Conference on Progressive Culture (ICPC)

Sponsoring organizations:
International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS)   www.ilps.info
BAYAN USA bayanusa.org
Anakbayan Los Angeles anakbayanla.org
Sisters of Gabriela Awaken! (SiGAw) sigawla.tumblr.com
Habi-Arts habi-arts.org
International Action Center iacenter.org
Union of Progressive Iranians
Union del Barrio uniondelbarrio.org

When:  Friday, Dec 9, 2011, 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Where:  Echo Park United Methodist Church, 1226 N. Alvarado, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Suggested donation: $5 - $10. No one turned away for lack of funds.

PLEASE RSVP! Bring the kasamas, homies, fam! It’s going to be a full night of inspiration!

November 25th, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:12:04 -0800

November 25th, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women:

GABRIELA-USA, an alliance of organizations representing Filipino women across the U.S. commemorate Nov 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) with a slideshow of their members and supporters exposing the role of the 1% in perpetrating violence against women throughout the world.

Read the full statement here:

GABRIELA-USA women highlight that economic violence… poverty, hunger, joblessness, lack of housing and healthcare, etc. is a result of the same imperialist system imposed on the people in the U.S., the Philippines and all over the world. Click on the link to see more stories.

WE ARE GABRIELAS, AND WE ARE A PART OF THE 99%!
WOMEN OF THE 99% vs. 1%MPERIALISM

……………………………

Want to share your GABRIELA story? Take a photo and post it on the GABRIELA USA wall or Tag us!

Pinay Stories Friday 11/18/11

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:32:42 -0800

In commemoration of the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women (IDEVAW), on November 25th, this month’s Pinay Stories will be focused on issues of violence against women.

Pinay Stories is a safe space for honest self-reflection and dialogue about issues affecting us and our communities. We come together in dialogue to support each other and become powerful advocates for economic, political, social, racial and gender justice. This discussion group is Pinay focused and is open to women and gender non-conforming persons. Come hungry & support the café (larosecafehollywood.com – like them on Yelp!). Street parking only (please do not park in the Wendy’s lot).

Friday, November 18, 2011 7:00-9:00pm @ LA Rose Cafe (4749 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90029)

SiGAw Open House @ Salakot

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

SiGAw Open House @ Salakot

Occupy International Day of Action update

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:28:03 -0700

Occupy LA SiGAw members joined the International Day of Action with the global occupy movement against corporate greed. Check out Arkibong Bayan for pictures of Filipinos from all across the world as we took a united stand for the 99%!