End Philippine State of Emergency, Oust Arroyo Now

End Philippine State of Emergency, Oust Arroyo Now!

(New York City, New York) – Filipinos and solidarity friends in New York City are outraged at the political repression and blatant violation of the Filipino people's democratic rights under Presidential Proclamation 1017, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's February 24 declaration of a state of national emergency. Since February 24, the same day that commemorates the People Power I uprising, the events that have transpired lay bare the truly undemocratic, anti-people nature of the Arroyo regime.

We condemn the violent dispersals of the people’s mass actions in EDSA, and the warrantless arrests of participants and political leaders. Similar to the events that followed immediately after the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law in 1972, widespread seizure of private property, including government closure of media outlets, has been enforced after Arroyo’s declaration of Proclamation 1017. On February 25, Anakpawis Representative Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran was arrested in front of his home. On that same day, a failed attempt to arrest Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo was made. On February 27, soldiers arrested Bayan Muna Representative Joel G. Virador, and the police filed charges of rebellion against 16 people, including four other progressive lawmakers from Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Party-lists. The Arroyo administration’s long and cruel record of human rights violations suggests that further illegal arrests of progressive leaders and activists are imminent.

Arroyo’s corrupt regime violently enforces economic policies that continue to bury the Filipino people in billions of dollars of foreign debt. Migrant Filipino workers in the US flee the economic/political crisis in the Philippines, in order to escape the poverty wrought by Arroyo’s rotten administration. Filipinos, including undocumented workers, remitted a total of $10.5 billion in 2005, preventing the all-out collapse of the Philippine economy. Meanwhile, the Arroyo regime, in full support of Bush’s War of Terror, is silent and complacent with the potentially passage of the Sensenbrenner King House Resolution 4437, a highly anti-immigrant proposed legislation that would criminalize countless undocumented Filipinos and their families in the US.

We stand in solidarity with the Filipino people who are taking to the streets in the spirit of EDSA I & II to call for the immediate ouster of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We denounce Arroyo’s fraudulent presidency, and call for the establishment of the democratic and pro-people transition council. We demand the release of arrested and illegally detained progressive leaders. As direct products of forced migration resulting from a crippled economy and continuing abuse of power in Malacanang, Filipinos in New York City stand in defiance with Ocampo, Virador, Beltran, Mariano, Casino, and Maza and the Filipino people who suffer under Arroyo and who continue to fight for genuine democracy, justice, and liberation.

JOIN US for a March 5th forum on Proclamation 1017, HR 4437 & human rights! The forum will be held from 4-6pm at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (cafeteria), 95 Broadway, Jersey City, NJ.

Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign, Member Organizations: Damayan Migrant Workers Association, Ugnayan Ng Mga Anak Ng Bayan (Linking the Children to the Motherland), & Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP).

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