In the Phoenix terror, the US saw the shape of gore and mayhem to come. In the twisted mindset of the US military establishment, Phoenix did right and well. It thus became the foil for future US-directed so-called counter-insurgency schemes against national liberation movements elsewhere in Asia and Latin America. Military operation plans supervised by the US military in its neocolonies thereafter would systematically include as a key component Phoenix's "non-traditional" approach of recruiting, training and unleashing death squads to prey on impoverished unarmed civilians residing in militarized countrysides. Thus did the spectre of Phoenix stalk the Philippines, Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and other US-oppressed countries.

This infamous US covert program may well have been the forerunner of all the so-called counter-insurgency programs launched by the Philippine reactionary state since the Marcos dictatorship. The various Orwellian-labeled "oplans"—from Marcos' "Katatagan" to Macapagal-Arroyo's "Bantay-Laya"—aimed to coordinate the state's US-directed counterrevolutionary efforts for every administration, just like Phoenix sought to do.

As in Phoenix, all these Philippine oplans seem to have been laid down in tight coordination with the US military establishment, from the US-RP Mutual Defense Board during Marcos' heyday to the US-RP Defense Policy Board and the current US-RP Security Engagement Board, though the newly-formed security engagement board stands on shaky legal grounds as the agreement that formed it has not gone through the constitutionally-mandated approval of both the US and Philippine Senates.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 12:30 at Place Schuman in front of the European Commission

On Tuesday Sept. 12, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo will visit the European Commission in Brussels. She will meet Commission Chair Jose Manuel Barroso, among others. Solidarity workers, human rights advocates and trade union activists will meet her arrival with a protest action in the middle of the European neighbourhood in Brussels. They call for decisive action against political killings in the Philippines.

Since Arroyo came to power in 2001, almost 750 people fell victim to extrajudicial killings. Many of them are leaders of people's organizations, trade unions and progressive political parties but also journalists, lawyers and ordinary civilians are killed by death squads.

Several international agencies have criticized the government of Arroyo recently:

* The ICFTU warned Arroyo on July 11 that the Philippines is already in the same category as Colombia when it comes to murders on trade union activists.

* Amnesty International reminded Arroyo on Aug. 15 that the government has to take decisive action to stop the political killings if it wants to give peace a chance.

* The International Federation of Journalists declared on Aug. 22 it is appalled by the continued inaction of the Philippine government although it is ranked as the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists, after Iraq.

* On Sept. 5, the World Council of Churches called on the government of the Philippines to disband "death squads", private militias and paramilitary forces operating with impunity in the country.

Also diplomatic pressure on the Philippine government is mounting. The European Commission's representative in the Philippines, Jan De Kok, already said that human rights will be on the agenda during Arroyo's visit. The demonstrators will remind Barroso that, towards the Arroyo government, a critical attitude is appropriate.

The protest action is also an opportunity to launch the broad "Stop the killings in the Philippines!" campaign. Solidarity groups, human rights advocates and trade union activists are defending in this campaign their Philippine colleagues' right to life. More information at www.stopthekillings.be

It does not look good. This was how the Southeast Asia Team of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International (AI) assessed the Philippines’ record on reporting obligations to United Nations (UN) treaty bodies.

FULL STORY HERE

The passage of the anti-terror bill is expected to spur more economic and military aid for the Arroyo government, in exchange for deepening its involvement in the US-led "War on Terror" and protecting America's economic stake in the Philippines, independent think-tank IBON Foundation said Sept. 1.

Historically, US assistance to the Philippines had been directly affected by government decisions that impact on American geopolitical or economic interests. For instance, the Senate rejection of the extension of the Military Bases Agreement in 1990 set off the yearly downfall in US aid to the country until the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was approved by the Senate in 1998 and reversed the downward trend in US aid. The sharpest increases in US aid happened after 9/11, with US military assistance to the Philippines growing by an overwhelming 1,639 percent between 2001 and 2002.

READ FULL STORY

The stories do not end with the deaths and disappearances. Beyond the names and faces of the victims are the equally tragic stories of their families who are left to face not only the loss or absence of their loved ones but also a life permanently scarred and a shattered family longing to be whole again. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA

Part 1: Breaking Ties, Wounding Lives

Part 2: Children Victims of the All-Out War

RELATED STORY:

Refugees of the All-Out War BY JHONG DELA CRUZ

Over recent years reports of an increased number of killings of political activists, predominately those associated with leftist or left-orientated groups, have caused increasing concern in the Philippines and internationally.

The attacks, mostly carried out by unidentified men who shoot the victims before escaping on motorcycles, have very rarely led to the arrest, prosecution and punishment of those responsible. Amnesty International believes that the killings constitute a pattern and that a continuing failure to deliver justice to the victims represents a failure by the Government of the Philippines to fulfil its obligation to protect the right to life of every individual in its jurisdiction.

The organisation is also concerned that the killings have played a major role in the break-down of a protracted peace process and an accompanying human rights agreement, between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), representing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).

The common features in the methodology of the attacks, leftist profile of the victims, and an apparent culture of impunity shielding the perpetrators, has led Amnesty International to believe that the killings are not an unconnected series of criminal murders, armed robberies or other unlawful killings. Rather they constitute a pattern of politically targeted extrajudicial executions taking place within the broader context of a continuing counter-insurgency campaign. The organisation remains gravely concerned at repeated credible reports that members of the security forces have been directly involved in the attacks, or else have tolerated, acquiesced to, or been complicit in them.

READ FULL REPORT HERE

Merging Executive Policy and Military Strategy
First of three parts

In the long-drawn war against the Marxist guerrillas where force takes the lead, the country’s security forces have had a reproachable record in human rights threatening even legitimate political dissent, the peaceful advocacy of radical reform and, now, the use of the legislature to push for patriotic and progressive legislation. BY BOBBY TUAZON

The U.S. Doctrine of Counter-insurgency in the 'Silent War'
Second of three parts

The deliberate use of terror is “a legitimate and highly effective tactical tool of unconventional warfare.” This unconventional warfare is designated as a “national policy” with the military assigned the primary responsibility in “the conduct of punitive operations” backed by police, paramilitary and civilian agencies. BY BOBBY TUAZON

What Drives Macapagal-Arroyo's 'Silent War'?
Last of three parts

The issue of political murders is tied to the issue of regime survival. BY BOBBY TUAZON

“US President George W. Bush is exploiting the recent surgery on Fidel Castro and the temporary transfer of his leadership to Raul Castro as a ‘perfect’ scenario to agitate the anti-Cuba forces, ‘to invade’ Cuba and to oust the anti-imperialist leader,” Rita Baua, Secretary-General of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) Philippines Chapter, said at a rally held in front of the US Embassy on Aug. 11.

Baua quoted Condoleeza Rice, head of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba and current US Secretary of State, who wrote in her June ’06 report ,” the urgency of working today to ensure that the Castro regime’s succession strategy does not succeed.”

“We condemn in the strongest words possible this arrogant and militarist mindset of a war monger who, like her boss, George Bush, imagines that the US government can bring down the Cuban people to their knees, “ Baua stated. FULL STORY

A Catholic bishop said that the all-out war declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) is a promotion of death. He also said the declaration of all-out war after the abolition of the death penalty is a “contradiction of policy.”

Bishop Emeritus Julio Xavier Labayen of the Roman Catholic church’s Prelature of Infanta, Quezon made this observation in an interview with Bulatlat on June 26, during the launching of The GRP-NDFP Peace Negotiations: Major Written Agreements & Outstanding Issues, a book published by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Human Rights Monitoring Committee containing all 17 major written agreements in its peace negotiations with the Philippine government.

Both Labayen and NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison criticized the proposal by Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, Jr. of solving the “insurgency” through what he described as development.

FULL STORY

Members of the two Houses of the Philippine Congress have crossed party lines to support the Filipino people's demand for the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement that allows renewed US military presence in the Philippines in the guise of military exercises with the local police and military. Public uproar and the resulting joint action by Members of Congress were spurred by the refusal of the US to turn over custody over four US Marines accused of raping a 21-year old Filipina at the former Subic Naval Base in Nov. 2005. Rape is a heinous, non-bailable offense under Philippine law. In its note verbale in response to a Philippine request for custody, the US Embassy justified its continued custody over the four rapist US Marines on the basis of provisions of the VFA. Dated Jan. 16, the note verbale came after exactly two months from the filing of the Philippine request. The League of Filipino Students immediately responded with a lightning rally near the US Embassy and burned a US flag to dramatize nationwide uproar over the US decision. Bayan Muna Representative Satur C. Ocampo, the House Deputy Minority Leader, said the US refusal to turnover custody shows “US arrogance and disrespect of Philippine interests and laws” and confirms the “master-slave” relationship between Washington and Manila. Ocampo, a long-time critic of US imperialism, has vowed to lead House sponsors of the joint resolution for the VFA's termination. “The case before us today should finally erase all doubts that the VFA is a fair agreement. It is a very unfair and onerous agreement that should be terminated in defense of our national interests.” US military bases were shut down in 1992 after the Philippine Senate voted to junk a proposed treaty. US military forces were allowed reentry under the Arroyo government by virtue of the VFA. Philippine and US military officials claim that military exercises were aimed at improving local defense capability to defeat the Abu Sayyaf Group, a bandit group which was first organized by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and US military advisors as a foil to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front waging a war for independence in Southern Philippines.

The recently-concluded 21st Annual Conference of the Philippine International Forum (PIF), a network of foreign nationals working in solidarity with the Filipino people in their struggle for sovereignty and social justice, produced the following statement:

From February 24-26, 2005, we internationals from Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States who are living and working in the Philippines, gathered for the 21st Annual Conference of the Philippine International Forum (PIF) with the theme, Globalization and Domination: Building a Culture of Resistance and Exploring Alternatives. We listened to workers, peasant farmers, women, and overseas Filipino workers as they shared their hopes, their pains, and their experiences with oppressive structures resulting from the offensive of neo-liberal/imperialist globalization. They also shared with us the concrete actions they are taking in resistance to the present institutionalized, unjust world order. We were deeply moved by the inspiration they draw from small victories amid overwhelming problems--something we all can learn from.

We condemn neo-liberal globalization as a system of domination that further impoverishes the world's majority, ever widening the gap between the rich and the poor. Through our sharing, we identified the ways in which globalization negatively impacts small farmers, workers, women, and small businesses around the world. Neo-liberal globalization has meant a dangerous decline in people's health and access to health care in both the industrialized countries and developing countries; it has caused the bankruptcy of small farms, the conversion of agricultural land into tourist areas and for industrial use, and has ushered in the dominance of big agri-business through mono-cropping and the imposition of genetically modified organisms. Neo-liberal globalization has introduced and promoted policies of labor flexibility (such as contractual labor) which results in loss of job security and increasing obstacles to the basic rights of workers around the world, including the right to organize. Globalization promotes a mono-culture consumption pattern which is destroying cultural identity the world over. FULL TEXT

On March 19-20, BAYAN USA organizations marched proud with allies and supporters in Seattle, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles carrying the same call "From Iraq to the Philippines, End U.S. War Now!" Hundreds of peace-loving Filipinos held high many bright blue and red BAYAN USA flags which represent Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) in the Philippines, the mass movement for a just and lasting peace through genuine national sovereignty.

These Filipino contingents added to the hundreds of thousands of protestors throughout the world voiced their opposition on the second anniversary of the Iraqi occupation. In the U.S., California reported the highest figures of attendance with 25,000 in San Francisco and 20,000 in Los Angeles. Seattle, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles each ascended multiple large dark blue BAYAN USA and BAYAN flags branded red with their respective logos.

Bright yellow International of League of Peoples Struggles (ILPS) flags were also flaring throughout the different regions in solidarity with 136 organizations throughout the world that are aligned under the anti-imperialist global alliance of which both BAYAN USA and BAYAN are members. FULL STORY

Bayan-USA Statement on the Second Annivewrsary of the US Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

On the second anniversary of the US-led war on Iraq, QC Indymedia shares the following statement from Peace for Life, released during an anti-war rally in Manila on March 20. We support the international campaign against US-led wars of aggression.

March 20 marks the second year of the occupation of Iraq by the Unites States. It also, in a sense, marks the anniversary of the biggest anti-war protest rallies the world has ever seen. On this day, the United States—with its coalition of the willing—armed with some of the deadliest weaponry in its arsenal proceeded with the invasion of Iraq despite worldwide protests, despite absence of U.N. sanction, despite any justifiable reason, despite the cost in terms of lives and human suffering.

In the course of this period, some 100,000 Iraqi civilians and combatants have died as a result of the war, perhaps even more as no one could say for certain. Around 1,500 U.S. troops have been killed, with over 25,000 wounded. All these presumably because the world needed to be rid of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, which after a two-year search costing millions of dollars ended with the White House acknowledging that they couldn’t find any.

Read full statement here

Related:

Filipinos and Solidarity Friends Call for US Withdrawal From Iraq at New York Demo by Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign

Photos of anti-war rally in Manila by Arkibong Bayan

In the light of George W. Bush's recent inauguration as "reelected" US president, QC Indymedia shares this statement from the broad US-based coalition Not in Our Name. QC Indymedia is one with the American people's campaign against US wars of imperialist aggression and its regime of fascism at home and abroad.

As George W. Bush is inaugurated for a second term, let it not be said that people in the United States silently acquiesced in the face of this shameful coronation of war, greed, and intolerance. He does not speak for us. He does not represent us. He does not act in our name.

No election, whether fair or fraudulent, can legitimize criminal wars on foreign countries, torture, the wholesale violation of human rights, and the end of science and reason.

In our name, the Bush government justifies the invasion and occupation of Iraq on false pretenses, raining down destruction, horror, and misery, bringing death to more than 100,000 Iraqis. It sends our youth to destroy entire cities for the sake of so-called democratic elections, while intimidating and disenfranchising thousands of African American and other voters at home. MORE

Related articles:

Amnesty International: Human Rights Not Hollow Words
Dancing the War Away
Mock Coffins and Jeers as Bush Sworn In

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Central Committee today ordered the New People's Army to go on a 10-day ceasefire nationwide, even as it said that the Arroyo government "has made a permanent ceasefire impossible."

The rejection of a longer-term truce was made in reaction to statements by Malacanang calling for a permanent cessation of hostilities between the government and the NPA.

The Christmas ceasefire, which takes effect from midnight of December 23 until midnight of January 2, 2005, was made "in unity with the Filipino people's traditional celebration of Christmas and the New Year" and "to pave the way" for the celebration of the CPP's 36th anniversary on December 26.

The CPP, however, has instructed NPA fighters to continue to bear arms and "remain alert and ready to fight and defeat any attacks and harassment" by government armed troops.

The CPP said it issued the declaration despite the Arroyo government's continued violation of past agreements reached in the now-suspended peace talks. The government, said the CPP, has failed to fulfill its commitment to take concrete measures to oppose and rectify the malicious inclusion of the CPP, NPA and NDF Peace Panel Chief Political Consultant Jose Ma. Sison in the US list of so-called terrorists.

The CPP also accused the Arroyo regime of "relentlessly violating" provisions of the human rights agreement signed by the NDF and the Philippine government.

It likewise condemned "successive brutal attacks by fascist forces of the reactionary government against unarmed people," citing the the November 16 Hacienda Luisita massacre and the more recent killing of peasant leader Marcelino Beltran, a vital witness to the massacre. It also condemned state forces for indiscriminately firing at a human rights day demonstration in Daet, Camarines Sur.

The CPP also scored the Arroyo regime for "duplicity" in declaring a Christmas ceasefire even as AFP and PNP continue with their military campaigns and operations against NPA guerrilla fronts across the archipelago. The CPP reported ongoing AFP offensive military operations in Cagayan Valley, Mindoro Occidental, Surigao del Sur and Negros Occidental.

No permanent ceasefire

Saying that the "puppet, corrupt and antipeople" Arroyo government has made a permanent ceasefire impossible, CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal cited the regime's extreme subservience to US interests and its antipeople acts.

"In the face of its relentless attacks against the people, calling for a long-term truce is a psywar ploy to camouflage its militarist war of terror and crimes against the people," said Rosal.

Rosal likewise cited the regime's policy of freezing wages amid soaring prices and allowing foreign oil companies to raise oil prices with impunity, as well as worsened corruption and criminal activities by government officials as added factors that make a long-term truce untenable.

"A just and lasting peace can only be achieved by resolving the roots of the armed conflict, primarily by carrying out land reform and national industrialization," Rosal added.

"The Arroyo regime's puppetry to US interests, its worsening corruption and criminal activities, the intensified hardships and oppression of the masses and the brazen use of fascist state violence all justify the intensification of revolutionary armed struggle," Rosal said.

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) declared a ceasefire with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Dec. 16. Made in time for the holiday season, the government's ceasefire declaration is good for 20 days.

The government expected the NDFP to reciprocate "in respect to the essence of the Yuletide season," said Malacañang spokesperson Ignacio Bunye in a news briefing.

"Any move to reciprocate the unilateral ceasefire declared by the government is welcomed, but we believe that it would be more beneficial if both the government and the CPP-NPA can come up with a lasting ceasefire like the one that we have with the MILF," Bunye added in a Dec. 18 statement.

The NDFP, however, is wary about Malacañang's ceasefire declaration.

Fidel Agcaoili, NDFP co-chair of the Joint Monitoring Committee for human rights, lambasted the government for setting capitulation as precondition.

NDFP chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni, meanwhile, accused the government of poisoning the backchannel line of communications. "Based on past experiences with so-called unilateral ceasefire of the GRP and the regime’s proven record of anti-people and anti-national policies and actions," Jalandoni said, "the regime’s unilateral ceasefire for Christmas and New Year holidays must be considered a tricky psywar scheme."

On the prospect of a long-term truce, NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said that it is possible if there are basic reforms.

The Socksargen chapter of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) has voiced concerns that the police and military investigations of the Dec. 12 bombing of General Santos City may lead to a spate of human rights violations. This developed even as the human rights group registered strong condemnation of what it called a terrorist attack that has left 14 dead and more than 60 others injured as of Dec. 13.

On the other hand, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Labor Center) hopes that the bombing was not the handiwork of the military and is not a pretext for an escalation of the presence of state forces in the city. The KMU calls for an independent investigation into the bombings.

The Quezon City Independent Media Center (QC Indymedia) stands in full solidarity with the Operation: Hard Drive By activity that is being organized in protest against the Oct. 7 seizures of the hard drives of two Indymedia servers in London at the request of the US Justice Department, apparently in collaboration with Italian and Swiss authorities.

The seizures led to the closure of an Indymedia radio station and around 20 Indymedia websites including those serving Ambazonia, Uruguay, Andorra, Poland, Western Massachusetts, Nice, Nantes, Lilles, Marseille, Euskal Herria (Basque Country), Liege, East and West Vlaanderen, Antwerpen, Belgrade, Portugal, Prague, Galiza, Italy, Brazil, UK, and parts of Germany Indymedia. While the hard drives were returned on Oct. 13, the entire Indymedia community is still in the dark as to the legal reasons for the seizures, as there has been no explanation from the US, Italian, and Swiss authorities involved.

But one thing is for sure: the hard drive seizures had among their objectives the intimidation of a media network specializing in reportage and analysis exposing the canards behind the US-led war on “terror.”

We in QC Indymedia condemn the US-led international genocidal war and its perpetrators in the Coalition of the Willing, among them Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In our particular capacity as media-makers, we stand against the suppression of press freedom led by a government that claims to defend democracy, especially in furtherance of a war that sheds blood for gold.

We support Operation: Hard Drive By and are committed to the defense of press freedom and democracy against imperialist terrorism.

Yesterday, the 59th anniversary of the end of World War 2, the women's group GABRIELA reiterated its call to end the US-led war of aggression on Afghanistan and Iraq.

“The end of World War 2 ushered the colonial influence and continuing dominance of the United States in world politics and economy,” said Emmi de Jesus, GABRIELA secretary-general. “Under the guise of the War on Terrorism, the US continues to impose its imperial armed might to Afghanistan and Iraq. As a second front of this war, the US continues to justify its intervention in our political, economic and even military affairs, even after we supposedly declared independence more than fifty years ago.”

The reiteration of the call is timely, especially since reports of rapes of Iraqi civilian women by US occupation forces have been spreading over the Internet. Backing such reports are photos from confidential sources, with similarities to pictures of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib released by CBS News.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has recently announced her intention to pull out Filipino troops from Iraq, and the foreign affairs department claims that eight of the 51-strong contingent of soldiers and police deployed as part of the US-led international peacekeeping force have been sent home.

Such has been the response of the Arroyo administration to the demand of Iraqi resistance fighters who held Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz hostage, threatening to behead him if Filipino troops are not pulled out of Iraq by July 20.

It was definitely the right thing to do, Angelo de la Cruz being a clear victim of a patently unjust war.

But it remains to be seen if Arroyo will live up to her promise and not turn out to be dishing out a deception, as she turned out doing so with De la Cruz's family. As Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis recently said, protest must continue until all Filipino troops in Iraq are sent home and Angelo de la Cruz is actually freed.

If Arroyo's announcement turns out to be a mere ploy to quell mounting protests against her government's support for the Iraq war, which has recently taken the form of labor conscription for war efforts, it will be very difficult to resist the possibility of once again taking to Edsa and Mendiola.

Calls to pull out Philippine troops from Iraq are mounting as the life of Filipino truck driver Angelo De la Cruz is still in limbo. Angelo was taken hostage on July 8 by Iraqi rebels who are demanding the pullout of the 51 Filipino soldiers and policemen by July 20.

At least 3,000 Filipino's are currently working in Iraq, many of them on US military bases. They are part of the almost one million Filipino migrant workers in the Middle East who fled the poverty and lack of job opportunities in their own country. Angelo De la Cruz, for example, is a poor 47-year-old father of eight from the town of Mexico, Pampanga. According to family members he had no choice but to go abroad after five years of unemployment to send his children through school and repair the shabby hut the family is living in.

Subservient to its imperialist masters in Washington, the Philippine government stubbornly refuses to withdraw its troops from Iraq and even endangered Angelo's life when cabinet members prematurely announced his release on July 10. Meanwhile, many Filipino's are convinced that the Philippine government should withdraw support for the US war of aggression. Progressive groups are calling on the people to join vigils and protest actions to put pressure on the Philippine government and save the life of Angelo. They likewise reiterate their continuing solidarity with the people of Iraq who are resisting the US-led occupation of their country.

Pictures: 1 | 2 | 3

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said she will not order a troop pull-out after Iraqi rebel forces abducted overseas Filipino worker Angelo dela Cruz, who will be beheaded if the Arroyo government will not submit to their demands to withdraw Filipino troops in Iraq in less than 32 hours.

Yesterday, overseas workers' alliance Migrante International together with the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) picketed the Department of Foreign Affairs. They lambasted the Macapagal-Arroyo regime for its continued puppetry to United States President George Bush and for supporting a senseless and unjust war and occupation of Iraq.

Bayan's Southern Tagalog chapter said that if this Filipino dies without any actions from the government, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO and her administration will be responsible for it. This will be time to prove herself if she really protects our people’s interest and lives rather than her vow to support this war. This will be a great parameter if this president serves the masses.

Candle lighting and prayers for Angelo are now being held all over the country.

Related articles:
> The US-GMA regime should act with dispatch – Pull out the Filipino Troops from Iraq NOW!
> CPP: The Head of the Puppet Regime Must Fall Should Angelo dela Cruz be Beheaded
> President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Should Heed Calls for Pull-out of Filipinos from Iraq

Michael Berg, father of Nick Berg, has recently issued a scathing statement condemning unjust US war policies which, he says, brought people like his son to Iraq and sent them to their deaths.

Nick Berg, a young American businessman, was taken prisoner by Iraqi rebels and beheaded earlier this month in retaliation for US military abuses of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib.The abuses had been exposed after an investigation by Filipino-American Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba.

The Filipino Youth for Peace, a broad Internet-based group, had earlier issued a statement expressing outrage at the barbarities that provoked such appalling incidents as Berg's beheading, and expressing sympathy for Michael Berg. The statement, published as is by QC Indymedia and in slightly modified form by Inq7.net, is also a reply to a letter to the editor of the latter publication, written by a Gloria Parillas Earl, which tries to justify the US-led war on Iraq.

Quezon City, Philippines (Indymedia QC) -- While the country was in the midst of the election campaign, the outrage about the evidence of US troops' torture of Iraqi prisoners went largely unnoticed. Our country's involvement in the occupation was not an election issue even if the success of the Iraqi resistance might be more important for our future than the outcome of the presidential elections.

Overseas workers in Iraq were the first Filipino casualties of the government's support for the occupation. Migrant organizations called for their immediate repatriation while church groups called on the government to withdraw its support for US aggression.

Quezon City, Philippines (Indymedia QC) -- Eman Ahmed Khammas, the director of the International Occupation Watch Center in Occupied Baghdad released an urgent appeal to the peoples of the world for international solidarity with the Iraqi people as they resist attacks by US-led Occupation Forces. "These attacks are designed to terrorize entire populations of Iraqi towns and neighborhoods," she testifies.

According to journalist Naomi Klein and photographer Andy Stern, who are currently in Baghdad, Donald Rumsfeld's claims that the resistance is just a few “thugs, gangs and terrorists” are false. "The war against the occupation is now being fought out in the open," they say, "by regular people defending their homes and neighborhoods - an Iraqi intifada."

Meanwhile, the International League of People's Struggle (ILPS) Philippines Chapter picketed the US embassy in Manila in condemnation of US atrocities in Fallujah. According to Rita Baua, secretary-general of the ILPS-Philippines Chapter, the protest march was also an expression of solidarity for the resisting people of Iraq.

Pictures by arkibong bayan

Quezon City, Philippines (Indymedia QC) -- All over the world, overseas Filipinos joined last week's mass protest against US war and occupation. Pictures of Filipinos joining protest actions in San Francisco and Los Angeles were posted on local indymedia centers' websites. UK-based Filipinos joined the contingent of the International League of People's Struggle in London. In New York, the Justice not War in the Philippines Campaign mobilized Filipino domestic workers, professionals and solidarity friends behind a streamer that said "US Troops out of Korea and the Philippines!"

Manila--Church-based groups and international solidarity organizations urged all peace-loving Filipinos to express their indignation on the continued US-UK occupation of Iraq by junking pro-war politicians and candidates in the upcoming national elections in May.

This was expressed during today's Global Day of Action for Peace in Manila, which was met with repressive force employed by state policemen in the afternoon against peaceful marchers. Read news article.

The People's Forum on Peace for Life, an international ecumenical network resisting state terrorism and global hegemony and striving towards inter-faith and multi-religious solidarity, called on Filipinos to emulate the Spanish people for using their votes to unseat Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, a pro-war leader. Read the PFPL statement.

The solidarity group Amistad Philippines condemned the continued economic embargo on Cuba imposed by the US.

The International League of Peoples Struggles, meanwhile, warned that the US is now aggressive to erect a so-called American empire.

More than a thousand people from various faiths and persuasions held a mobilization in Manila in commemoration of the US-led attack on Iraq. It is a war that has implications not just for Iraq but for the whole world.

Aside from the usual speeches, there were also a good number of cultural presentations, where songs by Musikang Bayan were among those performed.

In a related development, the International Association of People’s Lawyers is set to sue U.S. President George W. Bush, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Aroyo, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the destruction of Iraq.

The broad, Internet-based Filipino Youth for Peace sent a statement to the QC Independent Media Center.

Pictures of the mass action

Articles originally posted at Bulatlat.com

One year ago, a US-led coalition initiated the unjust, illegal and illegitimate war on Iraq. Today, more than 10,000 civilians have already died in the war and the subsequent military occupation. While the Iraqi people are escalating both armed and peaceful resistance against the occupation, the world is preparing for another Global Day of Action on March 20. As the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestine is part and parcel of the US larger colonial project targeting the people of the Middle East, the protest actions will also show their support for the sovereignty of Palestine. Several big coalitions have already signified their participation, including the International League for People's Struggle (ILPS), A.N.S.W.E.R. and United for Peace and Justice.

In the Philippines, the Justice Not War Coalition has called for a mobilization on March 20 in support of the Global Day of Protest. Thousands will converge at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila at 9:30 am for a mobilization and march to the US embassy at 2 pm.