SiGAw! | SISTERS OF GABRIELA, AWAKEN!

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.

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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/

News Statement

September 21, 2011

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

AQUINO SHOULD DECISIVELY END HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS, VESTIGES OF MARTIAL LAW, IN THE PHILIPPINES— BAYAN USA

Sign the online petition to FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE PHILIPPINES 

Sign the online pledge for JUSTICE FOR MELISSA ROXAS

Filipino-Americans, under the banner of BAYAN USA, and their allies are seriously doubtful over the integrity of Philippine President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III’s so-called commitment to human rights, peace and justice in the Philippines. As today marks the 39th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines by the former Marcos dictatorship in 1972, BAYAN USA warns that the Aquino administration has so far failed to scrap the vestiges of martial law, including an ongoing human rights crisis throughout the country and state corruption, since its inception. It will continue to fail and break its promises on this for as long as it remains loyal the structural framework at the root of rampant human rights violations and corruption— US intervention in the country’s economic, political, and military affairs. 

US Intervention & the Philippine Human Rights Crisis

A series of cables between the US Embassy in Manila and the US State Department recently released by the whistle-blowing online site Wikileaks reveals the disturbing extent of US government interference in Philippine affairs, as well as a general compliance to the country’s deteriorating human rights and peace situation. This includes strong affirmation and multi-million monetary support for counter-insurgency programs Oplan Bantay Laya I and II that international human rights organizations have patently criticized for perpetrating extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests and torture in the Philippines. The cable communications also revealed the US and Philippine government’s lack of concern for the well-being of Melissa Roxas, a US citizen who was abducted, secretly-detained, and tortured for six days by the Philippine military in 2009, as well as a distortion of the facts of the high-profile case that has spurredinternational uproar and support for Roxas.  

As with the previous Arroyo government, human rights violations have continued under Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan. The Philippine human rights monitoring group Karapatan has documented 48 politically-motivated killings, 5 abductions, 29 torture cases, 151 illegal arrests, and 3010 victims of forced evacuations in rural villages in the first year of the Aquino administration alone. In addition, Aquino has failed to exert any serious effort to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the scores of human rights violations committed under the Arroyo administration. A culture of impunity for human rights abusers remains intact in the country.

Posing Roadblocks to a Just and Lasting Peace 

As revealed in the Wikileaks cables, the US, Philippine, and Dutch governments collaborated inframing Professor Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), on trumped charges of murder, as well as in keeping Sison on the US Foreign Terrorist List. The 2002 listing of Sison, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military wing, the New Peoples Army (NPA) contributed to jeopardizing the peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP. The NDFP-GPH peace negotiations were set up with the aim of resolving the 40+ year-old civil war between the AFP and the CPP-NPA.

While the resumption of peace negotiations under Aquino led to the release of some NDFP consultants in detention such as Jovencio Balweg, Angelina Ipong, Glicerio Pernia, Maria Luisa Pucray and Jaime Soledad, there remains 13 NDF peace consultants and 340 political prisoners still in detention. The detention of NDF peace consultants remains in violation of the GPH’s obligation to uphold the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and The Hague Joint Declaration.

Ninoy was a Political Prisoner

On the 39th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, it is important that Aquino remember that his own parents were victims of martial law. The son of a political prisoner who was detained, tortured, and assassinated for his political convictions, as well as a widow who after ascending to the presidency acted on behalf of her martyred husband and released all political prisoners, including Sison, Aquino can and should decisively scrap the vestiges of martial law in the country by releasing all NDF peace consultants in detention and all political prisoners in the country. Instead, Aquino is in the United States this week with the objective of lobbying for more economic aid, including military aid, from the US government. It is this loyal subservience to US imperial dictates and lack of patriotism in the form of asserting Philippine sovereignty that not only perpetuates, but necessitates state violence and repression against those who struggle for genuine nationalism and democracy.

But those who were victimized by killings and disappearances perpetrated by the Philippine state have not been silenced. Their voices resound even louder through the Filipino people’s continuing mass struggle for a truly sovereign and democratic state— a country with an industrialized, self-reliant national economy providing of jobs for its citizens as well as a fair and just land distribution program for the majority of Filipinos who live and work off of it. It is a struggle that echoes even from the Filipinos in the US, as BAYAN USA and allies are meeting Aquino’s US visit with stronger demands for the assertion of Philippine sovereignty by way of rejecting US military, economic, political interference and justice for the victims of human rights violations in the country.

JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS & ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES!

 NEVER AGAIN TO MARTIAL LAW!

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

etmm:

“Justice & Peace”, linocut print by Hiyasmin Saturay

(via titotibok)

Bayan marks 20^th anniversary of US bases rejection by Philippine Senate

Anti-US bases activists and campaigners held a gathering today to mark the 20^th anniversary of the Philippine Senate’s rejection of a new bases treaty with the United States. Twenty-years ago in September 16, amid intense public pressure and protests, 12 Philippine senators voted to reject a new treaty. 

Umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, the League of Filipino Students and Gabriela were at the forefront of the efforts to oust the bases. Past and present leaders of these and various cause-oriented groups gathered at the University of the Philippines College of Law to remember the hard-won victory of booting out the US bases in the country.
 
Bayan said that the United States continues to maintain an extensive global network of more than 700 military bases in more than 60 countries worldwide. US troops are also deployed in around 156 countries engaging in various military operations, overt and covert.  

The group said that it was important for the country to remember this “historic act of patriotism and sterling achievement in the assertion of our national sovereignty.” Among the speakers in the forum/gathering were Nathaniel Santiago, former LFS chair and Bayan secretary general, Gabriela chair Liza Maza and anti-bases campaigner Prof. Roland Simbulan. 

“We should be proud of this accomplishment. Not many countries in the world can say that they successfully booted out foreign military bases. We did it through unrelenting and militant struggle, through a mass movement that spanned several decades. It was a rare occasion for Philippine lawmakers to stand up for national sovereignty and national interest,” said Bayan chair Carol Araullo. 

“The younger generation should know of this historic moment when the Filipino people triumphed over decades-long foreign imposition. It was a major victory against US imperialism in Southeast Asia,” she added.   

Bayan however lamented that the people’s victory of the US bases continues to be undermined by what it described as “lopsided agreements” such as the Visiting Forces Agreement. 

“While US bases have left, US troops remain in the Philippines through the VFA and the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement. Truth is, US troops have been permanently stationed in Mindanao since 2002, when the US initiated Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.


“The Aquino government has uncritically accepted the permanent and continuing presence of US troops in Mindanao. These foreign troops have set up forward bases in Zamboanga and smaller facilities in Jolo and Tawi-Tawi. They are no longer visitors and are engaged in military operations. They are stationed in the country 365 days a year. This is a reversal of the gains we made in eliminating US bases in the Philippines,” Reyes added. ###

Heinous rape and molestation of 4 minors by a retired US Navy enraged GABRIELA-ST


GABRIELA members from Laguna felt the point of fury with the heinous crime committed by Ret. US Navy Alexander Maurice Holt, 40 years old and is married to a native of  Sta. Cruz, Laguna. 

The event of rape and sexual molestation done by Holt can’t only be as an ordinary crime, it is direct attack to the lowly treated gender and is a clear human rights violation. His crimes involve 4 minor girls whom were nieces and family friends of his wife. 

Rape and Molestation of 4

Ana and Andy, not their real names, have been forced not to pursue their case because of Holt’s imposition of threat with their lives. The two had chosen their silence in order to protect themselves from further shame. 

On the other hand Beth (16) and Rina (16), not their real names, have pursue their case in search for justice. They have filed the violation of Anti-Rape Act (R.A 8353) and Anti-Child Abuse Act (R.A 7610) at Branch 26 of Regional Trial Court of Sta.Cruz in Laguna. 

On their statement, repeatively they were raped, molested and threatened that if they will not cooperate with Holt, battering and death will befall to their auntie. 

It has been a common sight that Holt’s wife and their 8-year-old son were occasionally beaten by Holt. 

Beth had her case dismissed because her testimonies are not parallel to the result of the medico-legal conducted in the Provincial Hospital. Stating in layman’s term that there is no abuse and violence inflicted to her. She is now in pursuance for a motion of reconsideration. 

Her first Medico Legal showed positive signs of the alleged abuse. The second Medico Legal is done, it stated that no abuse or rape has been done and the complainant is not telling the truth. The Regional Trial Court honored the second opinion, though both the Medico Legal were done on the same medical facility. In order to proved that an abused and rape have been done, a third opinion of the Medico Legal was conducted last June of this year and has showed evidence parallel to the victim’s statement. 

A motion for reconsideration was filed, but is denied by the court without any further consideration of the Medico Legal conducted on a different medical facility. 

While Rina’s case is still undergoing trial, the perpetuator is jailed but the fact that his influenced and power of money still lure their town blocks the ray of hope that justice will be served. Sadly, even the justice system shows its bias on Holt; their family has been receiving malicious and unethical remarks from the authorities of the court. 

On their sworn statement, many times they were forced to take medicines not known to them after their series of sexual contact. Holt, using cellphone cameras also documented the abuses inflicted to them. How could be someone in his sanity do these heinous acts? 

The abuse inflicted to the two minors had caused them blatant wounds. They were not able to continue their schooling, malicious words had been thrown to them and to their family. They were also having infections, which need medical attention. 

Beth, had been impregnated and pushed into a forced abortion by Holt and still have not received full medical attention, because of their lowly means of living.

 Alarming threat

Though the US bases had been gone for so long, the decadent culture injected by the American soldiers since American-Filipino war had not been cleansed. 

The fact that with Visiting Forces Agreement is still on going gives a stronghold to the American government that they still have the control with the Filipino people militarily, culturally and even on the social aspect. 

What has happened to the 4 girls is not at any American bases, but on the safety of their home. Because of the feudal and lowly treatment to women it results to such violence and pain. Thus, this violence and pain cannot be treated and will remain as obscure wounds as they reach adulthood. 

Our militant stand

We will not cease until justice is served. It not only now that an American soldier had been accused and is guilty of rape. The result had been all the same, all perpetuators were proven innocent and have had their freedom reinstated. We will not let it this time, and will have Alexander Holt behind bars, not only with his crimes to the 4 girls but also the the insult and shame she had caused to every Filipina. What he has done is a clear violation of human rights, using his power and authority to twist the justice system and to inflict pain in others. 

The militant women of Southern Tagalog will not let this disdain of our dignities to be just dismissed by the laws of court. We are geared to do the parliamentary battle in the court and at the courses of the streets. 

Ref. Rjei B. Manalo+639481277892gabrielasoutherntagalog@yahoo.com
bayan.st@gmail.com