Filipino-Canadians and supporters rally to call for immediate ouster of Philippine President Arroyo

For immediate release: June 28, 2005

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Amidst Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's recent admission that her voice was on the tapes which implicate she cheated in the last presidential election, Filipinos in Canada renewed their call for her immediate ouster.

Around thirty Filipinos and their Canadian supporters also rallied in front of the Philippine Consul General office in downtown Vancouver last Friday, June 24, 2005 to coincide with nation-wide protests in the Philippines. "We are outraged with Arroyo's admision," said Glecy Duran of SIKLAB (/Sulong, Itaguyod ang Karapatan ng mga Manggagawa sa Labas ng Bansa/ - Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers).

"She is an illegitimate president and should immediately step down!" Duran added. "As we send more and more of our hard-earned savings to our families in the Philippines because of the worsening economic crisis, we now ask, where have our remittances gone?" asked Duran.

"As our remittances prop up Arroyo's ailing economy, she squanders billions through corruption," she added. The minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) still stands at P250 per day, only 42% of the estimated daily cost of living. An average of 3000 Filipinos leave the Philippines every day to work abroad. With many passerbys and tourists watching, members of SIKLAB in a street performance depicted a Filipina domestic worker working hard to send money to her family in the Philippines.

A costumed Arroyo with Uncle Sam alongside then snatched the money from her hands and put it into her pockets. She then was seen placing a paper with "one million fake votes" written on it into a cardboard ballot box. Participants chanted, "Oust, oust GMA! Corrupt, fascist, go away!" and "Oust, oust, GMA! Puppet of the USA!" They also broke into song with, "Gloria, Gloria /mandaraya/!" (Gloria, Gloria, cheater!) "

We call on the Canadian government to suspend its normal relations with the reactionary and fascist regime of the Philippines," said Barbara Waldern, chairperson of the BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP).

"As Filipino youth in Canada facing systemic racism, we are working to end the roots of our migration," said Charlene Sayo, member of the Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance. "We call on all Filipino youth to carry on the youth and students militant tradition of protest as they did in ousting the former dictator Marcos and the corrupt Estrada," added Sayo.

Participants were invited to a public community forum, *"Gloria-gate: Oust GMA!"* to be held tomorrow, *June 29, 2005* at 6:30 p.m. at the *Kalayaan Centre* located at *451 Powell St.* in Vancouver. - 30 - /For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Charlene Sayo or May Farrales at: 604-215-1103 or visit our website at: http://www.kalayaancentre.netVANCOUVER, B.C. - Amidst Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's recent admission that her voice was on the tapes which implicate she cheated in the last presidential election, Filipinos in Canada renewed their call for her immediate ouster. Around thirty Filipinos and their Canadian supporters also rallied in front of the Philippine Consul General office in downtown Vancouver last Friday, June 24, 2005 to coincide with nation-wide protests in the Philippines. "We are outraged with Arroyo's admision," said Glecy Duran of SIKLAB (/Sulong, Itaguyod ang Karapatan ng mga Manggagawa sa Labas ng Bansa/ - Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers). "She is an illegitimate president and should immediately step down!" Duran added. "As we send more and more of our hard-earned savings to our families in the Philippines because of the worsening economic crisis, we now ask, where have our remittances gone?" asked Duran. "As our remittances prop up Arroyo's ailing economy, she squanders billions through corruption," she added. The minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) still stands at P250 per day, only 42% of the estimated daily cost of living. An average of 3000 Filipinos leave the Philippines every day to work abroad. With many passerbys and tourists watching, members of SIKLAB in a street performance depicted a Filipina domestic worker working hard to send money to her family in the Philippines. A costumed Arroyo with Uncle Sam alongside then snatched the money from her hands and put it into her pockets. She then was seen placing a paper with "one million fake votes" written on it into a cardboard ballot box. Participants chanted, "Oust, oust GMA! Corrupt, fascist, go away!" and "Oust, oust, GMA! Puppet of the USA!" They also broke into song with, "Gloria, Gloria /mandaraya/!" (Gloria, Gloria, cheater!) "We call on the Canadian government to suspend its normal relations with the reactionary and fascist regime of the Philippines," said Barbara Waldern, chairperson of the BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP). "As Filipino youth in Canada facing systemic racism, we are working to end the roots of our migration," said Charlene Sayo, member of the Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance. "We call on all Filipino youth to carry on the youth and students militant tradition of protest as they did in ousting the former dictator Marcos and the corrupt Estrada," added Sayo. Participants were invited to a public community forum, *"Gloria-gate: Oust GMA!"* to be held tomorrow, *June 29, 2005* at 6:30 p.m. at the *Kalayaan Centre* located at *451 Powell St.* in Vancouver. - 30 - /For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Charlene Sayo or May Farrales at: 604-215-1103 or visit our website at: http://www.kalayaancentre.net