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ppt phils - 10/28/2006
Full Circle: The Philippines and the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal
After Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia, the Philippines will only be the third country in history to be the subject of a session twice by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT).
In 1980, the PPT convened a Session on the Philippines to hear the case filed by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) against then President Ferdinand Marcos, the U.S. government, and U.S.-controlled financial institutions, multi-national corporations and commercial banks. The Marcos dictatorship, which was supported by the U.S. government, was specifically charged with violation of human rights and peoples rights, and crimes under international law.
After a trial, the PPT delivered a “Guilty” verdict on Marcos and his government – in effect becoming the first international body to condemn the Marcos dictatorship. It also recognized the NDFP and the MNLF as the “legitimate representatives” of the Filipino and Moro peoples, respectively.
Convening in The Hague this Oct. 30 is the PPT’s Second Session on the Philippines. In March next year, the PPT will be hearing a case filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the U.S. government, and multi-national agencies “acting as their accomplices in violating the individual and collective rights of the Filipino people.”
Filing the indictment on behalf of the Filipino people are: Hustisya (Justice), an organization of human rights victims under the Arroyo administration and their relatives; Desaparecidos, a group of relatives of victims of enforced disappearances; Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA or Society of Ex-Detainees Against Detention and for Amnesty); and the multi-sectoral Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance).
FULL STORY HERE
Related:
Verdict of the First Session on the Philippines (1980), Permanent Peoples' Tribunal
An Urgent Appeal to the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) of the Lelio Basso International Foundation for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples
lawyers under attack - 10/25/2006
So Young, So Committed, and So Much in Danger
Even as young lawyers, they have witnessed injustices being committed as they chose to defend the oppressed. And because they persist in handling “controversial” cases, Jobert Pahilga and Noel Neri have earned the ire of some of the country’s most powerful landlords and capitalists, as well as state security forces, and have become victims themselves of political retribution. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
FULL STORY HERE
Communique of the 3rd IAPL Congress
iapl - 10/16/2006
Veteran Filipino human rights lawyer Edre U. Olalia is now the new president of the International Association of People’s Lawyers, a global organization of human rights and public interest lawyers. Olalia’s election is one of the highlights of the third congress of the IAPL held In Davao City from Oct. 12-14. The IAPL also condemned the Arroyo government’s inability or refusal to protect its citizens from extrajudicial killings. It likewise batted for an independent investigation into the political killings. The group likewise assailed the curtailment of civil liberties and human rights brought about by the US-led war on terror. In a statement, Olalia said his election is both a tribute to the commitment and good fighting record of people’s lawyers in the Philippines and a symbol of IAPL’s resolve to help Filipinos seek an end to extrajudicial killings and human rights violations under the Arroyo government. Olalia is a member of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) and a convenor of the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL). Also elected were Julio Moreira of Brazil as vice president, Raf Jespers of Belgium as secretary-general, Hakan Harakus of Turkey as auditor, and Samina Kabir of Afghanistan and Bhusal Surendra as board members. Sebastian Pallisery of India was elected honorary chairperson. Romeo T. Capulong, former ad litem judge in the United Nations Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia, was elected IAPL Eminent Person. The IAPL congress also helped pave the way for a national consultation of Filipino human rights and public interest lawyers that came up with concrete responses to slays and assaults against activists and even lawyers and judges. A National Union of People’s Lawyers is set to hold its founding congress in February 2007.
climate of fear - 09/28/2006
Philippines: Climate of Fear Impedes Probe into Killings
(New York, September 28, 2006) – As a Philippine government task force nears its October 7 deadline to solve a number of high-profile killings, it has made little visible progress amid a climate of fear and a lack of cooperation by military authorities, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since February, dozens of killings, many widely thought to be politically motivated, have taken place. None of the recent cases have been brought to trial yet and only a handful of cases have been filed.
The special 10-week investigation, headed by Task Force Usig, began August 1 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to jail suspects in at least 10 killings before the October deadline. At the time, President Arroyo said, “I continue to condemn media and leftist killings in the strongest terms, and I have ordered law enforcement to dig deeper into the motives involved.” No updates on Task Force Usig’s or other authorities’ efforts have been made public, however.
“The government’s special investigation in the killings must be effective. Otherwise, justice is in jeopardy in the Philippines,” said Sophie Richardson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Prompt and thorough investigations, credible prosecutions and public access to justice should be the norm, not the exception.”
FULL TEXT HERE
muddling issues, exonerating afp - 9/25/2006
A Media Plan to Muddle Issues and Exonerate AFP
CODAL is seriously concerned that people without any track record for human rights advocacy, such as Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, Justice Melo and Rep. Bienvinido Abante, are heading human rights bodies tasked with investigating human rights violations of Arroyo government.
CODAL condemns the shameless lack of remorse and sensitivity of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile for his role as the implementor of martial law. He misses the point when he justified his role by using the ‘constitutionality’ of martial law, since the issue is not merely whether Pres. Ferdinand Marcos had the power to declare martial law but whether he had the power to close Congress, to conduct political killings, illegally arrest and detain the opposition and enrich his family through graft and corruption. Surely, many of the acts Hitler may have constitutional basis in Germany, but they were crimes against humanity under international law just the same.
CODAL is seriously concerned that the Melo Commission is contributing to the military’s media counter offensive when it allowed the AFP to explain why they are not guilty of the political killings rather than asking the victims what actually happened. Any serious, competent and genuine fact finding body or court for that matter must first establish the facts of the incident before interviewing the suspects. The prosecutor must first lay the basis of the case before the accused or the respondent is allowed to present his or her defense. This major mistake of the Melo Commission is a serious blow to its already tattered credibility, from which the Commission may not be able to recover. From the conduct and composition of the Melo Commission, it is no longer surprising to expect that it will come out with a decision declaring that there is no evidence proving government involvement in the killings, using the killing of journalists as a basis. It may sacrifice an individual soldier or two as perpetrators but will point to the NPAs and criminal syndicates as the main perpetrators of the killings.
The sinister inclusion of the Committee on Defense and the Public Order Committee headed by former military officers in the House of Representatives’ investigation of the political killings is one more proof of the malicious effort by government to derail the ongoing investigation and discourage witnesses from testifying. Rep. Abante, who chairs the human rights committee, shows his lack of human rights advocacy and sensitivity by inviting former military officers to join in his committee’s investigation.
FULL TEXT HERE
unhrc - 09/24/2006
UN Rights Body Hears Raps vs Arroyo Government The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva has been in session to receive and deliberate on complaints filed by several people’s organizations in the Philippines against the Arroyo government for the string of extra-judicial killings, abductions and other human rights violations.
Although the complaints focus on major unsolved killings and enforced disappearances, latest reports show that the number of summary executions allegedly perpetrated by Arroyo military, police and paramilitary forces has reached 755 and 184 for enforced disappearances. The figures do not include other types of crimes against humanity reportedly perpetrated by the Arroyo security forces including torture, forcible evacuation of villages, illegal arrests and others.
The complaints could go all the way to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and thereafter for appropriate action. As an organ of the UN General Assembly, the 47-member UNHRC may vote to suspend the membership of the Philippines in the said council for gross and systematic violations of human rights.
FULL STORY HERE
vs slays intl - 09/24/2006
Political Killings in RP Draw Int’l Condemnation From Europe to the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo received relentless criticisms for the unabated extrajudicial killings under her regime.
During her recent trip to Europe, leaders of various countries expressed concern over the Arroyo government’s bad human rights record.
From Europe, Arroyo flew to Hawaii. Again, she was confronted with protests. Members of Anakbayan at the University of Hawaii and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-United States chapter led a picket outside the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.
Other international groups who have expressed alarm over the human rights situation in the Philippines include the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, London-based Amnesty International, the Asian Human Rights Council in Hong Kong, the Fact-Finding Mission of Dutch and Belgian judges and lawyers, the United Church of Canada, and the Uniting Church of Australia, among others.
Condemnation from other countries did not end with Arroyo’s arrival in Manila on Sept. 18.
Murphy also called on the Australian government to review its $4.2 million annual aid to the Philippine military.
Moreover, an Australian senator said that the continuing detention of Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran is a sign of the Philippines’ “dying democracy.”
In an article published in Socialist Objective (v.18 n.2), Senator Gavin Marshall, Labor Senator for Victoria, wrote, "Most of us assume that democracy is alive and well in the Philippines, yet there are some very worrying signs that the Philippines is becoming once more a nation where the government can and will abuse its power and citizens.”
Marshall expressed concern over the mounting repression of progressive Philippine lawmakers such as Beltran, saying that "If the Parliamentarians cannot even feel safe in the Philippines, then what hope for ordinary citizens?"
FULL STORY HERE
PHOTOS OF ACTIONS ABROAD
ai memo to gma - 09/14/2006
Philippines: Towards Ensuring Justice and Ending Political Killings Memorandum submitted to Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International
14 September 2006 AI Index: ASA 35/010/2006 (Public)
The work of the Melo Commission should assist and should not prejudice current or future criminal proceedings. If the Commission obtains information indicating that identified individuals may have been responsible for committing, ordering, encouraging or permitting unlawful killings, abductions and enforced disappearances, that information should be passed to the relevant judicial or law enforcement bodies for investigation without delay, with a view to bringing those individuals to justice. Principle 8(e) of the updated Set of Principles to Combat Impunity states:
"Commissions of inquiry shall endeavour to safeguard evidence for later use in the administration of justice."
In carrying out their mandate, the Commission should bear in mind the rules and conditions for the admissibility of evidence in the criminal process and should ensure that they produce admissible evidence for later criminal proceedings.
The government should ensure that persons identified by the investigation as having participated in the unlawful killings, abductions and enforced disappearances investigated are brought to justice. The Commission should recommend modalities of bringing to justice alleged perpetrators from both sides.
READ FULL TEXT HERE
brussels protests vs. killings - 09/13/2006
Protests over Political Killings Hound GMA in Brussels Belgian, Dutch, and Filipino protesters, numbering about 100, gathered at the Schuman plaza fronting the European Commission building, September 12, to denounce Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) as “the masterminds” behind the spate of killings and forcible disappearances of unarmed activists and their supporters now numbering 752 and 181 respectively.
The protesters carried a big banner, in full view of many motorists and pedestrians, which read “Stop the Political Killings.” They also paraded placards that read: “GMA, Norberto Gonzales, War Criminals, R.I.P. (Rot in Prison)” demanding that they be tried before the war crimes tribunal in the Hague, and “GMA, AFP, PNP -- masterminds of political killings.” They occupied the small plaza and laid out wooden crosses and photos of some of the more than 752 persons murdered by military death squads allegedly directed by GMA herself and the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security.
Inga Verhaer and Eloi Glorieux, members of the Belgian and Flemish Parliaments, respectively, were among the protesters. They spoke to the crowd about the need to defend human rights and democracy in the Philippines and to stamp out repressive regimes.
FULL STORY HERE
PHOTOS OF THE PROTEST ACTION IN BRUSSELS
atb and us military aid - 09/02/2006
Anti-Terror Bill OK Seen to Spur More US Military Aid 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
slays and probe - 8/27/2006
Extra-judicial Killings and Sham Investigation
Unless the Melo Commission gets to the bottom of the extra-judicial killings, it will suffer the same fate as previous presidential probe bodies. The task that challenges the commission is to make itself credible by holding an impartial and independent investigation of the political killings even if this would mean summoning the president for “command responsibility” as the armed forces’ commander-in-chief. The commission was formed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Aug. 21 – the 23rd anniversary of the assassination of Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr. – to investigate the spate of extra-judicial killings that, since 2001, have claimed the lives of 730 civilians as well as the disappearance of 181 others. Although under Administrative Order No. 157 the commission is authorized to summon witnesses and to deputize military, police and justice officials, it is unclear whether this includes the power to summon top government officials alleged to have a key role in the killings. Suspected to be behind the killings are military death squads and paramilitary and police forces. Victims’ families, cause-oriented groups and rights watchdogs allege that the killings of church leaders, party-list organizers, youth activists, lawyers and rights volunteers are part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL or operation plan freedom watch). Designed to end the 37-year-old leftist armed struggle, this internal security plan had been approved by Arroyo’s Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COC-IS). After a long silence, Mrs. Arroyo was forced to form the commission on the heels of strong concerns about the killings raised by Amnesty International (AI), Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Asian Human Rights Council (AHRC) and other reputable international organizations. Church and lawyers groups and legislators in the United States have also urged President George W. Bush to withdraw support for the Philippine president, who just weathered a second impeachment in Congress on charges of violating the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption. In September, the UN Commission on Human Rights convenes in Geneva to receive and hear complaints on the extra-judicial killings in the Philippines. The results of the Geneva hearings could affect the membership of the Philippines in the new UN Human Rights Council to the embarrassment of the president herself who is set to attend the UN session in October. However, there is little independence or impartiality to be expected from the commission. The association of many if not all members of the commission with the appointing authority thus stains the integrity and impartiality of the body. This being so, the probers cannot expect victims’ relatives, rights volunteers and witnesses to pin any hopes on the investigation.
FULL STORY HERE
'reds' in media - 8/21/2006
Media will not be Cowed
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales spouts an old, tired line in attributing news reports of human rights violations and other government anomalies to a communist conspiracy. This government has a track record of blaming the media for its troubles -- if not the communists, it blames "terrorists," or "destabilizers" -- never mind that investigations later validate so-called propaganda. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) warns Gonzales of the repercussions of his irresponsible remarks. With the spate of killings of legal activists, groups behind the murders could interpret his remarks as a green light to make journalists fair game for more of the same. This can only worsen the tragedy of a country already infamous for being second only to Iraq as the world's most murderous place for journalists.
Mr. Gonzales' statement is great cause for concern, especially as it comes on the heels of a recent Philippine National Police briefing that blamed the bad press about journalists' killings on an International Media Organization that allegedly receives its reports from the National Democratic Front.
READ MORE
Related article:
Communists have Infiltrated Media, Says Gonzales
rights complaints - 08/20/2006
UN Body Set to Hear Rights Complaints vs Arroyo
Just as the Macapagal-Arroyo government is hounded by international protests over the spate of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines, victims’ relatives and rights groups are set to file complaints against the Macapagal-Arroyo government with the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) and other world bodies.
In its concluding observations in 2003, the UNHRC lined up several questions on the Philippine government's poor performance in its compliance to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The UN body instructed the Philippine government to reply to these observations on Nov. 1 this year.
Karapatan is also set to lobby for the review of the pledges the government promised as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
According to the rights alliance, 729 persons, many of them confirmed to be identified with cause-oriented organizations and progressive party-list groups, were killed extra-judicially allegedly by military, paramilitary and police forces since Macapagal-Arroyo took power in early 2001. The number does not include 181 abduction cases during the same period.
Reports of political killings, where not one case has been investigated or suspects brought to courts, have increasingly alarmed international bodies. Nobel Peace Prize winner Amnesty International, the World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s Papal Nuncio in Manila, the International Parliamentary Union and several other groups in Europe, the United States and other countries have criticized the Macapagal-Arroyo government for its failure to rein in its security forces over the killings.
FULL STORY
cuba - 8/12/2006
“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
ism 2005 - 08/13/2005
The World Probes GMA: International inquiry on political killings kicks off
Exasperated by the politicking and delays caused by allies of the Arroyo administration, at the impeachment hearings at the House of Representatives, people’s organizations worldwide have taken upon themselves to unearth evidences and witnesses on rampant political killings in the country, one of the grounds for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s impeachment.
The probe will proceed as planned from August 14 to 19 with 85 foreign and local delegates representing 17 countries worldwide. The ISM 2005 delegates will visit five areas where the grossest human rights violations (HRVs) under the Arroyo administration were recorded: Mindoro Island, Hacienda Luisita (Tarlac), Samar Island, Surigao del Sur, and Jolo Island, Karapatan secretary-general Marie Hilao-Enriquez said.
The data collated during the ISM 2005 may possibly be included as evidence in the ongoing impeachment case against Pres. Arroyo. “The rising trend of killings since 2001 is alarming and unprecedented enough; these could not have possibly escaped the President’s attention without her consent,” she said.
The ISM 2005 will end with an International Peoples’ Tribunal at the University of the Philippines Film Center on August 19, where a jury composed of distinguished international delegates will issue their verdict based upon the body of evidence gathered during the ISM 2005.
FULL STORY
Selected Profiles of ISM Delegates
5th sona - 07/31/2005
As the air-conditioned chambers of the House of Representatives reverberated on the morning of July 25 with the cheers of the congressmen who had filed an amended impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – then set to deliver her fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) in that very hall – nearby Commonwealth Avenue was flooded by a long and thick crowd of ralliers calling for an end to the U.S.-Arroyo regime and the installation of a democratic people’s council in its place.
Engr. Mon Ramirez of
Agham (Science and Technology Advocates for the People) would later say the crowd was a kilometer long. But length’s not all. Rally organizers would peg the crowd size at 80,000 while police placed it at 60,000.
Along Commonwealth Avenue the flags would mingle with a giant effigy of a gecko’s body with Macapagal-Arroyo’s head. The point was that the President clung to power like a gecko, unmindful of the calls for her exit from office. The effigy would later be burned, and the President would get a multitude of thumbs-down signs.
Arkibong Bayan Photos:
Pre-SONA Oust Gloria Rally at UP Diliman, July 24, 2005
Pre-SONA Oust Gloria Rally HK, Canada and New York City, July 24, 2005
GloriaGate Community Forum in Los Angeles, July 24, 2005
SONA Oust Gloria Rally in Legaspi City, Bicol Region, July 25, 2005
SONA Oust Gloria Rally in Manila, July 25, 2005
Related Articles:
Charter Change a Diversionary Tactic, Arroyo Foes Say
Not Just in Manila
New Negros Alliance Seeks Arroyo Ouster
Ringing the World on SONA Day
Stop Aid to Arroyo, Filipinos Ask Canadian Gov't
Arroyo's Ramos Agenda
The People's SONA
anti-arroyo song - 07/27/2005
Tuparin Natin ang Banta ng Ating Panahon
Download MP3 file here.
Produced by Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria)
Lyrics: Alex Remollino (Kilometer 64)
Music: Bobby Balingit (vocalist and lead guitarist, The Wuds)
Vocals: Lourd de Veyra (vocalist, Radioactive Sago Project)
Sound mix: Southern Tagalog Exposure
(Southern Tagalog Exposure and Kilometer 64 are member organizations of the ARREST Gloria alliance, while Bobby Balingit and Lourd de Veyra are individual members)
("Tuparin Natin ang Banta ng Ating Panahon" first appeared in print as a poem in the Oust Gloria chapbook published by Kilometer 64)
July 13 rally - 07/13/2005
Huge crowd demands Gloria\\\'s ouster
various anti-gma - 07/02/2005
Ringtones, Placards and Posters The Filipinos' legendary resourcefulness is at its peak again amid the growing campaign to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is widely believed to have cheated in the 2004 election and has been under fire for economic mismanagement and political repression.
It is not just in the now almost-daily rallies that protest against the Macapagal-Arroyo regime finds expression.
Macapagal-Arroyo's now infamous conversations with a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official -- widely suspected to be Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano -- has found its way into the more sophisticated cellular phone models, in the form of ringtones. TXTPower, a broad-based cellphone users' group, has sent QC Indymedia a number of ringtones that were drawn from the taped conversations:
Hello Garci ringtones
More Hello Garci ringtones
5-second Hello Garci ringtone
Three more Hello Garci ringtones
The President's recent admission that it was indeed her voince that was on the tapes has only added fuel to the public indignation against her administration. There is now an I Am Sorry ringtone.
Former actress Susan Roces, wife of the late "defeated" presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr., who had previously chosen to remain silent on the issue, has recently come out with a statement demanding Macapagal-Arroyo's resignation. Part of her impassioned rebuke of the President has also found its way into the cellphones as a Susan vs. GMA ringtone.
The Macapagal-Arroyo camp's attempt to respond to Susan Roces' statement has given birth, meanwhile, to a GMA vs. Susan ringtone.
Also available are a number of anti-GMA placards and posters, courtesy of TXTPower.
(Photo from Bulatlat)
natl day of protest - 06/25/2005
Huge Rally Pushes GMA Ouster
WELCOME ROTONDA (QUEZON CITY/MANILA) -- About 20,000 protesters belonging to mainstream opposition parties and the biggest people's organizations marched together today to demand Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ouster from office.
Shouts of “Gloria Arroyo, pekeng pangulo (fake president) thundered across Quezon Avenue, as several remixes of the now-popular Hello Garci ringtone added humor to the otherwise militant march.
Protesters demanded that Arroyo tell the people the truth behind her Bayan alliance, in coordination with the Unity for Truth Coalition and the United Opposition, which groups all major mainstream opposition groups in the country.
These groups were mostly enemies when Arroyo's predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was booted out of office. They included supporters of the late Fernando Poe Jr. who was Arroyo's main opponent in the last elections.
The broad united front against Arroyo got a strong boost following the release by the presidential palace of tapes of a conversation between the chief executive and Virgilio Garcillano, a member of the Commission on Elections days after the May 2004 elections.
Arroyo has since refused to react on the issue and has instead allowed martial law tactics against critics: copies of the Gloriagate CDs are seized, sedition cases slapped against whistleblowers, presses printing anti-Arroyo posters raided and even users of Hello Garci ringtones threatened with sedition raps.
Organizers of yesterday's protest said that more and bigger protests are in the offing.
Bayan had called for Arroyo's ouster as early as July 2004 on account of her servility to US imperialism, unbridled corruption, economic hardships brought about by pro-imperialist economic policies, acts of brutality against activists and dissidents and her full support to US terrorism.
Related: No Way But Out of Malacañang, Bayan statement for the National Day of Protest
gma tapes - 06/10/2005
Election Fraud: GMA Caught on Tape
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose election and proclamation in 2004 as
president continues to be widely-perceived as fraudulent, has been the
subject of a new round of protests including those demanding her
resignation, impeachment and ouster from office.
The calls were issued by various political forces and personalities
soon after the release of wiretapped conversations between Mrs. Arroyo
and a certain Gary, said to be a nickname of a ranking member of the
Commission on Elections.
Caught on tape were exchanges between Mrs. Arroyo and Gary about the
results of the national elections in Mindanao, a place the political
opposition had long charged to have been the place where widespread
cheating purportedly happened.
The mainstream INQ7.net website has removed from its website the audio clips earlier provided for free and instant download following threats by Arroyo's justice secretary Raul Gonzales that those who spread copies of the conversation may be liable for violations of the anti-wiretapping law.
In the interest of truth and justice, Indymedia Quezon City
(Pilipinas) makes available for download the controversial audio
clips.
Other developments:
On June 9, Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., a ranking senator who fought
Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship and figured prominently in Joseph Estrada's removal from office, called for Mrs. Arroyo's resignation.
At the House of Representatives, activist solons led by Rep. Liza Maza
of Gabriela Women's Party and Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna (People First) said that, if proven to be true, the contents of the
conversation may form the basis for an impeachment case against
Arroyo.
Revolted by Arroyo's deception, students belonging to the League of
Filipino students have started spreading compressed audio files and transcripts of the controversial telephone conversation of the Chief Executive.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, in the group's commemoration of
the "bogus" agrarian reform law's anniversary, has called for Arroyo's
outright ouster.
The Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME, Movement for a
Nationalist Economy), which includes three anti-Arroyo bishops of the
Catholic Church, has called for a National Day of Mourning on June 11.
For its part, the Bangon Pilipinas National Renewal Movement (Arise
Philippines!) has reportedly called for a prayer rally on June 12. The
group is led by Bro. Eddie Villanueva one of Arroyo's opponents in
2004.
Big mass actions are set to be staged in the coming weeks.
rare treat - 4/23/2005
QC Indymedia received a copy of the following article from Bulatlat. We have decided to repost it for its interesting cultural content.
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the underground alliance of revolutionary organizations that include the New People’s Army (NPA) and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), will turn 32 on April 24.
In connection to this, a rare public showing of documentary films on the underground Left will be held on Monday, April 25 at the Aldaba Hall (located at the back of the Film Center), University of the Philippines, Diliman. The activity is sponsored by the group Contend-UP.
Read full text
natl id system - 02/21/2005
Broad Opposition to National ID System
The Macapagal-Arroyo administration, to date, has proven unyielding to opposition to the proposed national identification (ID) system--ranging from cause-oriented groups Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and the Migrante Sectoral Party (MSP) to administration Sens. Joker Arroyo and Francis Pangilinan.
Malacañang is confident that a national identification (ID) system, which it is now pushing for in the wake of the Valentine's Day bombings will not run into conflict with the country's laws. "We are confident that any legal barriers on the implementation of the national I.D. system can be overcome," said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in a Feb. 21 statement.
Bunye's statement echoes a view expressed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Feb. 18 in Bohol. "That’s why we’re working for a law, or at the local level an ordinance," Macapagal-Arroyo said when asked whether a national ID system would not run counter to a Supreme Court decision declaring it as unconstitutional. "For the national ID, we need a law precisely why I am pushing for this bill."
Senate Bill 833, filed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, provides for the establishment of a national reference card system that will supposedly facilitate government transactions. Under the bill, all citizens are assigned a reference number upon birth and issued a National Reference Card free of charge at age 18.
Opposition Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is a proponent of the national ID system. The national ID system is one issue in which Macapagal-Arroyo sees eye-to-eye with opponents Lacson and Enrile.
The opponents of the bill argue that a national ID system would violate human rights.
"This measure will be used to monitor citizens and groups opposing the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s anti-people policies," said Joel Maglunsod, KMU secretary-general. "Wanton violation of civil, political and human rights will take place if the ID system will be approved."
Arroyo and Pangilinan, for their part, said that the national ID system would violate civil liberties and the right to privacy.
"Today more taxes, tomorrow less liberties, what next? That is what happens when the president has an unthinking, unfeeling support staff," Arroyo said.
reyes-kahos - 01/29/2005
Facing a string of accusations from leaders of the party-list group Akbayan, Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel has written an article naming Ricardo Reyes as the brains behind Kampanyang Ahos (Campaign Garlic). Reyes is one of the leaders of Akbayan.
Kampanyang Ahos was supposedly a campaign to weed out deep penetration agents from the national-democratic movement in Mindanao during the 1980s. "This campaign involved the kidnapping, torture and murder of hundreds of CPP cadres and members, NPA commanders and fighters and mass activists who were falsely accused of being enemy deep penetration agents (DPAs)," Sison said. Reyes is said to have attempted to extend the campaign to the National Capital Region (NCR), but was prevented from doing so.
Kampanyang Ahos is just one of a number of purges that rocked the Philippine Left during the 1980s. These purges nearly brought the national-democratic movement to its death.
Sison had knowledge of these purges as early as 1988 and, in his book The Philippine Revolution: The Leaders' View (with Reiner Werning), warned against the use of torture and pushed for the exercise of due process in dealing with suspected deep penetration agents.
Among the accusations by Akbayan against Sison is one by Rep. Etta Rosales, who claimed in a Jan. 23 interview with the Sunday Inquirer Magazine that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) had attempted to recruit her into an "inner sanctum" that would decide who would next be executed.
Other personalities whose names appear in connection with Kampanyang Ahos are Dr. Nathan Quimpo, Salvador Baz, and Frank Gonzales. NDFP chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni, in a 2002 interview with journalist Juan Escandor, Jr. which was published in Bulatlat, also named Benjamin de Vera as one of the persons behind Kampanyang Ahos.
In an interview with Grace Albasin of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in January 2004, De Vera pointed to Quimpo and Baz as the ones who launched Kampanyang Ahos in 1985.
statement of conscience - 1/25/2005
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
tit for tat - 12/27/2004
An alleged “hit list” of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) hogged the news headlines on Dec. 26 - the same day the CPP itself marked its 36th anniversary. The alleged “hit list” against “counter-revolutionaries” was denounced by Walden Bello, director of the Bangkok-based and well-funded Focus on the Global South and Etta Rosales, Akbayan party-list House representative. Bello is himself “chair emeritus” of Akbayan.
Their denunciation sprang from an article that came out in the Dec. 7, 2004 issue of Ang Bayan (AB or The People), the central publication of the CPP. The article is half-page with a diagram showing the links of reformist and pseudo-revolutionary groups with international Trotskyite and social democratic formations. The term “hit list” attributed to the diagram was coined by Bello and Rosales.
Bello and Rosales used the AB article to launch an offensive on Jose Maria Sison, founding chair of the CPP, accusing him of, among others, using the CPP as a “fascist harbinger of violence, hatred and murder.” They issued an “Open Letter” – a copy of which was never sent to Prof. Sison himself – and delivered it personally to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which headlined the story, and other dailies. The letter is now circulating worldwide.
QC Indymedia is publishing the Bello-Rosales letter and replies by Sison dated Dec. 26 and 27.
CPP declares 10-day unilateral ceasefire - 12/21/2004
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.
ceasefire 2004 - 12/20/2004
NDFP Wary of GRP Ceasefire Offer 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.
military corruption - 10/27/2004
Exposed: Pro-US Filipino generals are plunderers too The fascist and rabidly pro-US Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has again been exposed to being a cesspool of corruption, with the AFP comptroller facing court-martial proceedings over ill-gotten wealth and questionable transactions involving taxpayer money.
A tense AFP has declared a “red alert” nationwide in the face of mounting reports that many soldiers and the public have become restive over bureaucratic corruption by the AFP top brass and following a call for action by the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Gen. Carlos F. Garcia, the suspended AFP comptroller, has been accused of amassing wealth grossly disproportionate to his income as a military officer. (Not even one general who authorized fascist attacks on the Filipino people under the US-backed Marcos dictatorship has ever been tried under any court in the Philippines.)
In a apperance before the House of Representatives, Garcia only kept mum and refused to answer the legislators' queries.
Garcia could become the first general to be tried before a court martial. Among the charges to be heard against him is Violation of Articles of War 96 or conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
The scandal over Garcia and other generals erupted following the apprehension by US immigration authorities of Garcia's wife for failing to declare that she has in her possession 100,000 US dollars.
Garcia's declared net worth as of 2003 is at 58,,050 US dollars. However probes have led to the discovery of 2.5 million US dollars worth of ill-gotten wealth.
Garcia's wife told the US authorities that his husband, the AFP comptroller, receives commissions and perks amounting to millions of pesos.
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who ran under the administration banner in the last elections, shocked the military establishment early this week with an expose claiming that AFP chiefs of staff were given at least P100-million each when they retire.
Santiago also alleged that AFP generals' wives also interfered in AFP processes in order to milk money from the military projects even as ordinary soldiers remain under-paid and ill-equipped.
Various groups have proposed that graft, corruption and plunder cases be filed before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan and the Ombudsman.
The partylist Bayan Muna (People First) has called for the arrest and prosecution of all erring generals but authorites have kept mum over the demand.
In a statement, CPP spokesperson Ka Roger Rosal called on Filipino soldiers, especially those of peasant origin and have long been suffering under the fascism and corruption of the AFP top brass, to raise their voices, launch protests, leave the AFP and join the New People’s Army.
The AFP was formed by the US during the latter's colonial rule over the Philippines in the early 1900s and has since been a steady recipient of US military aid.
The AFP and the US Armed Forces have ongoing joint military exercises or war games, activities that have been the subject of serious protest by people’s organizations, the CPP, the New People’s Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
See also: Bayan Muna picket at AFP headquarters
CPP diagnosis of AFP corruption scandal
Govt prosecutors ask court to seize Garcia's ill-gotten wealth
never again - 09/23/2004
Never Again! The running joke that day was none of them would be available for any form of work the next day: they would all be sick.
Indeed, the weather last Sept. 21 was the doing of a sky seemingly gone berserk. At first it was hotter than the hottest summer day. Then a little over an hour later, it was raining cats and dogs, and very few of the ralliers had brought their umbrellas and jackets.
Still they marched on. After all, they were thinking, the country had gone through far worse on that very day 32 years ago.
It was a day that had to be commemorated, the declaration of martial law. It was a day that ushered in some 14 years in which many of the best and brightest Filipinos were punished for fighting for a life fit for all.
Data from human rights groups working since the late 1970s places the number of human rights victims of the martial law period at no less than 104,000. Of these, at least 35,000 were tortured, according to military historian Alfred McCoy.
In a statement, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is becoming "more like Marcos."
Prof. Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and himself a martial law victim, is similarly convinced. In an e-mail interview, Sison said that there are many similarities between 1972 and 2004.
But he also mentioned several dissimilarities which, he said, would have implications on whether Macapagal-Arroyo would succeed in doing a Marcos.
He has called for struggle against the escalation of terrorism by the US and the puppet state.
Meanwhile, the progressive party-list group Bayan Muna is asking what happened to the Marcos escrow funds. The Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya, through the Bayan Muna representatives, has refiled the bill seeking indemnification of martial law victims.
Thirty-two years after the declaration of martial law, its victims have yet to receive justice. Sad to say, but hardly surprising since no government after Marcos has made any serious measure to prosecute its perpetrators.
Which is why many of Marcos' cronies are still here.
- Alexander Martin Remollino
jul 2004 ibon survey - 07/28/2004
one yr after oakwood - 7/28/2004
One year after the Oakwood exposé on the massive corruption in the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the command responsibility
of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Generals Angelo Reyes and Victor
Corpus in the series of terror bombings in Mindanao, innocent Muslims
remain unjustly detained.
On July 27, 2003, Lt. SG. Antonio Trillanes, et al, declared that
Reyes and Corpus, then Defense Secretary and chief of the
Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP)
respectively, were directly involved in the Davao bombings of March 4
and April 2, 2003. Their testimony was corroborated by the findings
of the Mindanao Truth Commission, an independent fact-finding body
that has been investigating the thirty- three "mystery bombings" in
Mindanao.
"The rebel junior officers claimed that the motive behind these acts
of state-terrorism was to provoke the tagging of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) as a terrorist group, and to pave the way for
additional U.S. military financial and logistical aid. Their claims
ring true as the US military has continued to have a permanent
presence in the Philippines through the Balikatan exercises that are
purportedly to train Filipinos against local and international
terrorists. We are concerned that terrorism is being used to justify
the re-establishment of a US military base in Mindanao, particularly
in the strategic airport area in General Santos City," Rev. Fr. Allan
Jose Arcebuche, OFM, PCPR National Co-Chairperson stated.
Gloria's SONA - 07/26/2004
More than 2,000 rallyists braved heat this morning and, in the afternoon, raging rain to protest President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
For the protesters, Arroyo’s fourth SONA (her first as elected president since she first assumed the presidency as the constitutional successor of an ousted president) is nothing but a big mass of recycled lies. They raised their eyebrows at the theme of this year’s SONA, which is that of putting the people first. And for good reason. [Full story]
Pictures by QC Indymedia: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Pictures by kux: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Gloria's SONA - 7/25/2004
While the country is anticipating President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 26, the Filipino masses have already made their own assessment of the real state of our nation after three years under President GMA. [ Full story]
Civil libertarians, meanwhile, have said that increasing state violence against mass actions mirrors the political and economic crisis the country is currently facing.
The country's texting community is enraged by Malacañang's resurrection of the proposal to tax text messages, based on a "recommendation" of the Bretton Woods Twins.
The text tax is just one of many new revenue measures the Arroyo administration plans to impose and which the SONA introduces. Considering that purchasing power has dropped, it is apparent the government aims to tax the people beyond their means.
As for environmentalists, they view with great doubt Arroyo’s theme on her SONA to put the people first for the next six years of her administration. The Center for Environmental Concerns and Clemente Bautista, Jr. of the Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment expect recycled lies and a bleak future for the environment under a new Arroyo term.
Gloria's oath-taking - 06/30/2004
Gloria's inaugural speech: lies and empty promises President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's inaugural speech, held in Cebu City this morning, was called a 'tall tale of lies and empty promises' while her call for reconciliation was chided as 'empty and meaningless'. Protest rallies in Manila yesterday and Cebu earlier today were violently dispersed by riot police who cracked down on the people's right to protest Gloria's oath taking and inauguration.
A progressive group of church people explained the people cannot rejoice for a president whose victory was secured through massive cheating, and whose record of governance has betrayed the interests of the poor majority. According to election watchdog Patriots, there will be no honeymoon for Gloria until justice is rendered for the victims of fraud and violence, and the truth is known as to who really is the people's choice for president.
Gloria proclaimed - 06/24/2004
US and Congress declare Gloria the winner; ignore the people's will
ridiculous polls - 06/03/2004
The May 10 election was a patently farcical affair, if only for the confusion that attended it. There were several reports of names missing from voters' lists which, surprisingly, contained names of dead people.
But one would hardly be surprised at all these, considering the manner in which the Commission on Elections, which oversees the entire conduct of polls, stores important documents.
Columnist Mong Palatino of Tinig.com could not have been more correct in saying that, if future generations should look back at the 2004 elections, the Filipinos alive today might lose all their dignity before the accusing eyes of history. According to Palatino, poll officials have assessed the elections with a brand of "reasoning" characteristic of the Medieval Period.
Meanwhile, the camp of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whom the Promotion of Church People's Response expects to win but without a real popular mandate, has been criticized by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan for floating scenarios of coup attempts and other forms of destabilization plots as its way of responding to very valid concerns regarding electoral fraud.
patriots - 05/25/2004
The broad, church-initiated advocacy group Patriots has replied to the red smear against it by Malacañang, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police. Patriots had been given the red tag in an "intelligence report" by the military, which had come out in the major newspapers last May 21.
Patriots had earned the ire of the Arroyo administration for its daring exposes against electoral fraud and violence, which it is the latter's primary responsibility to combat being the incumbent.
The group has also sent a letter to the editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in reply to the paper's May 24 editorial containing a number of baseless accusations and insinuations against it.
election watch - 05/10/2004
Election violence, intimidation and fraud exposed
election watch - 05/06/2004
Amnesty urges respect for human rights during election campaign In a statement, Amnesty International called on Philippine government forces and opposition groups to respect human rights during the election campaign. Amnesty is particularly disturbed by the recent extra-judicial killings of progressive activists and mentions the case of Isaias Drummond Manamo as an example.
According to Amnesty, violent attacks on Bayan Muna and Anakpawis party members appear to be part of a wider pattern of killings and "disappearances" of left-wing opposition activists and human rights defenders. The human rights watchdog stresses that labelling these lawful political parties as "front organizations" of armed groups renders their members vulnerable to grave human rights violations. Amnesty International urges the Government of the Philippines to take measures to ensure the protection of political activists and to conduct full and impartial investigations into cases of alleged extra-judicial executions which have occurred in the past months.
Meanwhile Bayan Muna, which has lost already 41 members in politically motivated killings since 2001, charged the Armed Forces of the Philippines before the Commission on Elections and filed a petition for the poll body to order the AFP to “cease and desist from employing threats, intimidation, terrorism, and the use of government resources against members, supporters, and sympathizers."
farcical elections - 05/02/2004
With the US plan to deploy some 100 observers to "monitor" the May 10 election, the Philippine electoral system is again exposed as nothing but a bad joke.
As it has always been, the U.S. bet is a sure winner and he or she who dares to go against the flow from within the existing framework may very well expect to be harassed in various ways. The U.S. is the real decision-maker in the present Philippine electoral process; no one has been able to ascend to Malacañang, and stay there, without its blessings.
Because of these, the choices that the people can "make" come election time are severely limited, making the polls a complete farce.
So while there is still something to be gained from the electoral process in the Philippines at present, depending upon it entirely to change the country's conditions would be a grave, even fatal, mistake.
qc-imc
(top)
| 
A Day of Rage
Ricardo Reyes Criminally Culpable for Kampanyang Ahos - Sison
A Statement of Conscience Against War and Repression
CPP declares 10-day unilateral ceasefire
IBON Survey Results for July Out
One Year after Oakwood Exposé on the Mindanao Bombings
Undaunted, SONA Protesters Drive the Point Home
The Real State of the Nation
May 10: An Infernal Comedy
Patriots Replies to Accusations
Philippine Elections: Nothing But a Farce
