John Key asked to raise concern on Philippine human rights crisis at ASEAN Summit as Helen Clark did in 2007 meeting with Arroyo

NZ group to Aquino: Clean up human rights mess in your own backyard John Key asked to raise concern on Philippine human rights crisis at ASEAN Summit as Helen Clark did in 2007 meeting with Arroyo

Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III needs to clean up human rights mess in his own backyard first if he wants to gain moral authority in urging junta-ruled Myanmar to release all political prisoners including Nobel Peace laureate and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

This was the challenge of Auckland Philippines Solidarity (APS), a New Zealand-based group supporting human rights campaigns in the Philippines, as Mr. Aquino is gearing to talk tough on human rights at the ASEAN Summit on 28-30 October in Hanoi, Vietnam.

“It's a good thing that Philippines is adding pressure for restoration of democracy in Myanmar, but it's totally outrageous that scores of political prisoners including 43 community health workers remain in unjust detention under the supposedly democratic Aquino government," Luke Coxon, APS Spokesperson stated.

From 24 October to 14 November this year, APS together with the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA) and Wellington Kiwi Pinoy are hosting Mr Luis Jalandoni and Ms Coni Ledesma, two senior international representatives of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Peace Negotiating Panel for a peace speaking tour around New Zealand.

"To build confidence for the peace process, Aquino now holds the power to stop the official state policy behind the hundreds of human rights abuses under Arroyo and now 16 victims of extra-judicial killings under his watch. Before it can be a model host for the secretariat of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the Philippine government has a lot of cleaning up to do with its messy human rights record. We reiterate calls for freedom of the two nursing mothers among the Morong 43 detainees and all political prisoners,” Coxon stressed.

In 2007, Arroyo’s visit to New Zealand was greeted with protests regarding the human rights crisis in the Philippines. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark personally raised New Zealand’s concern on such abuses. Aquino is reportedly set to have bilateral meetings with heads of state including NZ Prime Minister John Key at the ASEAN Summit in Vietnam.

“We ask Mr John Key to personally raise concern on the Philippine human rights situation with Mr Aquino as Clark did in 2007 with Arroyo. While peace advocates in the Philippines and abroad have been looking forward to the revival of peace talks, Key announced on 12th October that New Zealand included the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA) in its terror list. This is disappointing given that the US-led designation of the CPP-NPA in 2002 has become a major hurdle in the peace negotiations under Arroyo,” Coxon noted.

“We believe that obstacles to the peace process such as continuing human rights violations and the terrorist designation of the CPP-NPA which justify killings, abduction and arrests of Filipinos falsely accused of being CPP-NPA members must be overcome to build greater confidence in the peace process. As New Zealanders we add our voices to the continuing demand for immediate release of the 43 health workers and all political prisoners, and full stop to the state policy of repression behind the continuing wave of extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations under Aquino,” Coxon concluded.

Reference: Luke Coxon - 02825803203; phsolidarity@gmail.com

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JUSTICE AND LIBERATION: THE ROAD TO PEACE

FILIPINO PROGRESSIVE LEADERS TO TOUR NZ OCTOBER/NOVEMBER

Luis Jalandoni (who previously toured New Zealand in 1987) is undertaking a national speaking tour between October 24 and November 14. His tour is being collectively organised and hosted by the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa, Auckland Philippines Solidarity and Wellington Kiwi Pinoy. His topic will be: Justice And Liberation: The Road To Peace In The Philippines. He will visit: Christchurch, Blenheim, Wellington, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Hamilton, Auckland and Whangarei.

Luis is accompanied by his wife Coni Ledesma, who will also be speaking. She is a member of the NDF Negotiating Panel for peace talks; and is the International Spokesperson of MAKIBAKA, a revolutionary women’s group which belongs to the NDF.

Luis and Coni are both veteran leading figures in the Philippine revolutionary Left. He was a Catholic priest in the 1960s and she was a nun. Both were founders of Christians for National Liberation, a member group of the NDF. When Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, both went underground. They were both arrested and spent time as political prisoners. They left the clergy, and got married in 1974. They have lived in The Netherlands since 1976; they were the first Filipinos to apply for and receive political asylum there. They hold Dutch passports and travel extensively as NDF representatives.

ITINERARY

Tuesday October 26 – Christchurch
Public Meeting - 7.30 p.m. Knox Presbyterian Church Lounge, 28 Bealey
Avenue.

Wednesday October 27 – Blenheim
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m., Nativity Centre Lounge, cnr Alfred & Henry
Streets

Thursday October 28 & Friday 29 – Wellington
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m. Thursday 28, St John’s Hall, corner Willis &
Dixon Streets

Monday November 1 – Palmerston North
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m., Catholic Diocesan Centre (t Rau Aroha), 33
Amesbury Street

Tuesday November 2 & Wednesday 3 – New Plymouth
Public Meeting – 6 p.m. Wednesday 3rd, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, 42
Queen Street

Thursday November 4 – Hamilton
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m., Waikato Trade Union Centre, 34 Harwood Street.

Friday November 5 - Whangarei
Public Meeting – 7 p.m., Manaia PHO Rooms, Rust Ave, central Whangarei.

Tuesday November 9 – Auckland
Public Meeting – 7 p.m. Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn

Wednesday 10 – 9a.m. - 12 noon, Auckland University, Maori Studies,
Women’s Forum with Coni Ledesma.

Friday 12 – 7 p.m. Solidarity Dinner, Civic Building, Strata 17,
Mayoral Drive, Auckland. Tickets $30 (dinner, entertainment, cash
bar).

This tour is collectively organised by Philippines Solidarity Network of
Aotearoa (PSNA),

ENDS

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