Contact: Rhonda Ramiro
Secretary General, BAYAN-USA
secgen@bayanusa.org

Weight Loss Plan for Aquino: Drop Arroyo’s Baggage and Adopt the 4K Program
Filipinos in the U.S. Urge Philippine President Aquino to Present Plan to Address the People’s Needs at This Year’s State of the Nation Address

BAYAN-USA will conduct actions in four cities across the United States on Monday, July 26, to mark the first annual State of the Nation Address delivered by Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. President Aquino’s term began ominously this month with the killing of five activists in less than two weeks, a troubling sign in the wake of the violence-ridden presidency of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“We want action, not excuses, from President Aquino,” said Bernadette Ellorin, Chair of BAYAN-USA. “If President Aquino feels weighed down by the mess left by Arroyo, he can shed the former president’s legacy by abandoning Arroyo’s failed policies and implementing programs that provide decent jobs, redistribute land, safeguard national sovereignty, and end state-sponsored terror by the armed forces and paramilitary.”

The demonstrations in the U.S. will coincide with actions conducted by BAYAN in the Philippines as well as in Hong Kong, Canada, and Australia where millions of overseas Filipino workers reside. Demonstrators will express their concern about the continuing human rights violations targeting activists, as well as present the “People’s Agenda for National Survival.” The Agenda includes specific recommendations to increase the “4K’s”:

• Katarungan [Justice] – investigate and prosecute Gloria Arroyo and all perpetrators of human rights violations; free the Morong 43 and all political prisoners; justice for victims of human rights violations
• Kalayaan [Sovereignty] – terminate the U.S.-R.P. Visiting Forces Agreement; eject all foreign military personnel from the Philippines; repeal the Mining Act of 1995
• Karapatan [Rights] – end state-sponsored violence; stop the killings of activists; terminate Operation Plan Bantay Laya and all counter-insurgency programs; advocate for the rights of Filipino migrants abroad including comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S.
• Kabuhayan [Livelihood] – institute a living wage increase; end the Value Added Tax on basic commodities; implement a genuine agrarian reform program; scrap the unfair stock distribution option

“The Filipino people suffered far too long under the deepening crisis of poverty and rampant state-sponsored violence perpetrated by the US-backed Arroyo regime. We need immediate relief, and President Aquino has the power to deliver it, if he so chooses,” stated Ellorin. “Aquino needs to stop the killings, prosecute GMA, and end the culture of impunity by conducting thorough investigations of past human rights abuses and prosecuting the abusers now.”

Contact: Rhonda Ramiro
Secretary-General, BAYAN-USA
secgen@bayanusa.org

Nationwide Actions Demand a Reversal of the Failed Bush-Arroyo Doctrine and Call for REAL Change in US Policy Toward the Philippines

During nationwide actions this week marking the annual “State of the Nation Address” in the Philippines, BAYAN-USA declared that it would demand accountability from the Philippine government for the illegal abduction and torture of American citizen Melissa Roxas and call on President Barack Obama to discuss the human rights crisis in the Philippines in his meeting with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on July 30. Roxas, who is the first US citizen known to be tortured in the Philippines during the Obama administration, was abducted, held in captivity and tortured by alleged military agents in the Philippines from May 19-25, 2009.

The Arroyo-Obama meeting also coincides with a hearing of the Court of Appeals in the Philippines on Roxas’ case, at which Roxas will testify about the violent abduction and torture including repeated beatings and asphyxiation with plastic bags that she endured during her six days in captivity in what she believes was a military camp. The meeting of President Arroyo and President Obama also occurs as the US Senate and House deliberate over next year’s military aid package to the Philippines; the current year’s military aid package is $32 million. US military aid to the Philippine grew a staggering 1,500% during the Bush administration and is widely believed to have funded the Philippine military personnel that committed the human rights atrocities, which includes a body count of at least 1,013 people killed and 1,036 people tortured.

“Neglecting to question Arroyo about Melissa Roxas and the thousands of human rights violations being committed by the Philippine military makes the Obama administration complicit in the perpetration of these heinous crimes,” stated Rhonda Ramiro, Secretary General of BAYAN-USA. “Granting tens of millions of US tax dollars to the murderous Philippine military would make President Obama just as guilty as Bush in the continuing torture and murder of innocent people.”

BAYAN-USA and representatives of churches, community organizations, labor unions, and other concerned groups are appealing to President Obama to live up to his declarations of “change,” by asking President Arroyo what action she intends to take about the rampant human rights violations that continue to plague the Philippines. They are also calling on President Obama to specifically ask President Arroyo, as Commander in Chief, to ensure that the Philippine military cooperates with the investigation into Roxas’ case.

“On the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims, President Obama declared, ‘Torture is contrary to the founding documents of our country and the fundamental values of our people. The US must stand against torture wherever it takes place.’ We are asking President Obama to live up to his words by taking a stand against the state-sanctioned torture used by the Philippine military against government critics,” said Ramiro.

During her meeting with President Obama, President Arroyo is expected to make a pitch for support of her proposed changes to the Philippine Constitution, known in the Philippines as “Charter Change.” Despite widespread popular opposition, President Arroyo has relentlessly campaigned for Charter Change for over two years, including during today’s State of the Nation Address. Charter Change would wipe out constitutional protections that protect Philippine sovereignty by allowing 100% foreign ownership of Philippine land and key industries, as well as open the door to a power extension for President Arroyo beyond the end of her term in 2010.

Recent polls show extremely low approval ratings of President Arroyo. Since Arroyo became president in 2001, the Philippines has experienced the longest period of sustained high unemployment in its history, at 11.2% or 10.8 million people unemployed and underemployed; a cumulative national government deficit of P1.29 trillion, which is triple the deficits of the Aquino, Ramos and Estrada administrations combined; more human rights violations against innocent civilians than under any previous president including Ferdinand Marcos; and at least 16 documented government corruption scandals amounting to $430 million in kick-backs and pay-offs to government officials and relatives.

“If President Obama is serious about promoting peace and supporting lasting change in the Philippines, he should oppose Arroyo’s Charter Change,” stated Ramiro. “Charter Change would result in less security for Filipinos and Americans alike, because it would worsen poverty and pave the way for an Arroyo dictatorship.”

We want REAL CHANGE NOT Charter Change
We want HUMAN RIGHTS NOT Torture
We want DEMOCRACY NOT Dictatorship
We want SOVEREIGNTY NOT Foreign Rule
We want REAL SECURITY NOT State Terrorism
We want JUSTICE FOR MELISSA ROXAS AND ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS NOT Denials and Cover-Ups
No US Military Aid for Torture, Abductions and Killings in the Philippines
Investigate the Abduction and Torture of Melissa Roxas

BAYAN-USA Actions being held in the U.S

New York
The Real State of the Nation: Community Forum, Play, and Action
Monday, July 27, 2009, 6:00 PM
Bayanihan Community Center
40-21 69th St.
New York, NY

San Francisco
Cha-Cha-Cha Change We Can Believe In: Action to Demand REAL Change and Justice for Melissa Roxas
Monday, July 27, 2009, 4:00 PM
Federal Building
Corner of Mission Street and 7th Street
San Francisco, CA

Los Angeles
Justice for Melissa Roxas and State of the Nation Action
Coincides with Melissa Roxas’ Writ of Amparo Hearing in the Philippines
Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 7:00 PM
In front of the Philippine Consulate
3600 Wilshire Blvd (between S Harvard Blvd and S Kingsley Dr)
Los Angeles, CA

Additional Actions being held in the US

San Francisco
Vigil for Human Rights in the Philippines
Thursday, July 30, 2009, 6:00 PM
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church
756 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA
Sponsored by the USA-Philippines Ecumenical Advocacy Network

Washington DC
Justice for Melissa Roxas Action and Prayer Vigil
Coincides with Meeting of President Barack Obama and President Gloria Arroyo
Thursday, July 30, 2009, 11:00 AM
Sponsored by Katarungan: Center for Peace, Justice and Human Rights in the Philippines
In front of the White House

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

BAYAN USA Statement on Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address ‘08

Today, in several cities across the US, Filipinos and solidarity allies will be convening in front of Philippine consulates and community centers to register their opposition to the rotten, corrupt, and morally bankrupt regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We do so on the same day Arroyo delivers her  deceptive version of the so-called State of the Nation Address or SONA and the same day hundreds of thousands across the Philippines are taking to the streets to reject another year of lies, deception, and treason from a government that continues to fail them, and us. They will also be telling the true state of the nation through vibrant protest and struggle.

Today, the Arroyo government will boast of so-called economic growth and progress for the Filipino people, but the streets and countryside will tell a different story. The streets of Manila and other cities in the Philippines will tell the story of long lines to buy the basic staple food of rice from the National Food Authority, it will tell the story of long power outages and brownouts due to skyrocketing energy rates, it will tell the story of squatter children picking garbage to find food, and of families from the countryside moving into the cities because they can no longer afford to pay rent to their landlord, for whom they till the soil.  It will also tell the story of long lines at the Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for visa processing for those looking to find work abroad. Behind government corridors backhanded deals will be made, and corrupt politicians will count the money they have plundered from public funds. The countryside will tell stories of civil war, US and Philippine militarization, human rights violations, hunger and forced displacement. These sights, not the speech of President Arroyo, paint the true state of the Philippine nation.

For the over 4 million Filipinos in the United States, the largest Filipino population outside of the Philippines, much as not improved under the Arroyo administration. For the most part, migration to the US has increased considerably since neo-liberal policies imposed on the Philippine economy by Arroyo have eradicated the potential for industrialization and employment in the Philippines. Because of the need to survive deepening poverty in the Philippines, Filipinos in the US have no choice but to make ends meet for them and their families in the US by any means necessary, including living under the shadows as undocumented immigrants without any rights if need be. We are also subject to raids and deportations at the hands of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), human rights violations that occur without any intervention from Philippine consular officers representing the Arroyo government in the US.

Filipino World War II Veterans, who have been fighting for their equity for over six decades now, have little to thank the Arroyo administration for, as the regime used the issue only as a token ruse to cover up its intention to beg for more US military aid as the main reason for it’s recent trip to the United States. The Arroyo government has never advocated or intervened on behalf of the interests of the Filipino veterans, who continue to suffer from a historical wrongdoing of the US government, nor has the Arroyo government advocated or intervened on behalf of the interests of Filipino immigrants suffering from a broken and exploitative US immigration system.

The Arroyo clique, however, has wasted no time in collecting the billions of US dollar remittances from Filipino workers in the US to sustain the failing economy and contribute in giving a “semblance” of economic growth that Arroyo shamelessly takes the individual credit for.  Now she is even taxing us for each dollar we remit! This is to produce another plunderable fund for election season and bribery fund to win loyalty from politicians.

Philippine consular officers in the US not only plunder public funds meant to go to programs for overseas Filipino workers via the OWWA, but they assist the forced migration of Filipinos to the US by implementing corrupt schemes of human trafficking under the radar. Such has been the case with the Sentosa 27 healthcare workers, teachers, and domestic helpers such as Marichu Baoanan.

The answer for Filipinos in the US is clear: the struggle to remove Arroyo, as the President of the Philippines by impeachment, resignation, or ouster is a just and necessary struggle, but we must hold no illusion that it is the only means to end the Filipino people’s suffering. It is only the first step to pressuring for a new type of Philippine government– one that is inclusive of the voices of workers, peasants and urban poor, one that is cognizant of the rights and welfare of Filipino migrants and not just interested in collecting our remittances, one that will industrialize the country for the creation of jobs so Filipinos don’t have to look abroad, one that will redistribute Philippine lands to the hands that till them, and one that will kick all foreign troops out of the country and uphold patrimony. This will take a new and improved type of “People Power “. To save the Philippines from suffering the fate of the sunken MV Princess of the Stars, we must start first and foremost with unseating Arroyo from her seat of power.

OUST THE US-ARROYO REGIME!
END GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION!
ROLLBACK RICE & OIL PRICES; ABOLISH THE RICE CARTELS!
US TROOPS OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES!
END HUMAN TRAFFICKING!
SCRAP THE OVERSEAS REMITTANCE TAX!

Contact: Christina Hilo
Northeast Regional Coordinator, BAYAN USA
ny@bayanusa.org

NEW YORK– New Yorkers will join Filipino organizations on Monday, July 28th, 6pm in front of the Philippine Consulate (5th Ave bet. 45th and 46th Sts.) in Manhattan to launch a “People’s State of the Nation Address” or “People’s SONA” and expose the lies and deception to be sown by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the same day in Manila. According to Filipino-American alliance BAYAN USA, Arroyo will use the day as a platform to desensitize the Filipino people to the true economic and political state of the Philippine nation, which has been undergoing a severe and intensifying economic crisis, manifested by rising prices of oil, rice, and other basic commodities.

“SONA is a time not only for lies from Malacanang, but the largest street demonstrations in the Philippines the whole year round. Social unrest over the true state of the nation is at an all-time high,” states Gary Labao, a member of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines or NYCHRP, also a member organization of BAYAN USA. “Even though we are overseas, the call to remove Arroyo from her presidential seat is a worldwide sentiment. She is a traitor to the Filipino people and a failure as a state leader.”

Ironically a US-educated economist, the Philippine economy under Arroyo’s presidency has weakened considerably. High government demand for remittances from overseas Filipino workers has pushed more and more Filipinos to work abroad than ever before. With only these remittances keeping the Philippine economy afloat, more and more overseas Filipino workers are disapproving of Arroyo-style governance and calling for a change in leadership.

Overseas Filipino groups in New York will also highlight the reality of human trafficking by various means, including the case of the Sentosa 27++, illegally recruited Filipino teachers, and domestic helpers.

The New York demonstration will be part of a nationwide day of action for BAYAN USA, with same day actions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. BAYAN organizations in Canada will also be launching coordinated actions.

The US-based mobilizations will feature visuals such as the the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars, which tragically sank last month when a major typhoon swept through the Philippines, killing hundreds and devastating thousands more. The US groups will liken the tragedy to the state of the Philippines as a country sinking under the throes of the Arroyo government, while the Arroyo herself ignores the crisis and goes to the US looking for more financial aid, as she did last month during the ship’s sinking.

BAYAN USA member organizations in New York include NYCHRP, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) and Anakbayan New York/New Jersey.