NAPWC joins protest in front of the Philippine Consulate in Vancouver on April 7, 2005

Statement of the NAPWC in protest of the political killings of activist in the Philippines

April 7, 2005

Warm and militant greetings from the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada!

As Filipino women in Canada, we stand here today to voice our outrage and protest over the recent spate of killings, abductions and harassment of leaders and members of progressive party-list and militant people's organizations and even journalists in the Philippines.

The killings of 29 people from January to March of this year alone exposes the intensification of state-sponsored terrorism under Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Last March 8, International Women's Day, 60 year-old peace advocate Angelina Bisuna Ipong was illegally arrested and held by the military for 13 days in Western Mindanao. At the time of her arrest she was having a consultation regarding the status of the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. While under detention she was physically tortured and molested in order to extract false confessions.

Last March 1, four coordinators of Gabriela Women's Party-list in Quezon province were abducted and illegally detained by elements of the military and police. They were conducting a brief consultation with two local leaders regarding the ongoing Balikatan military exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. soldiers. And fresh in our memories are the killings of Melita Carvarjal, municipal coordinator of Gabriela Women's Party in Santa Rosa, Laguna province in August lsat year.

"Tita Mely" was a staunch defender of the rights of women, workers and the urban poor. She was shot by an unidentified man three times in the face, chest and side while waiting for a jeepney ride outside of her house.

These women are victims of state terrorism under the fascist regime of Arroyo. Arroyo is desperate to crush the militant people's struggle for national democracy in the Philippines. The people's movement is growing because of the worsening economic conditions. It is her continued implementation of globalization policies according to the dictates of U.S. imperialist dominated International Monetary Fund and the World Bank which continue to wreck havoc on the lives of the Filipino women and the whole Filipino people. Under her government the prices of basic commodities have skyrocketed. It is no wonder that women bear the worst brunt of society's burdens.

According to GABRIELA - a national alliance of militant women's organizations in the Philippines, currently six out of ten Filipino families live in a hand to mouth existence. GABRIELA says women, especially mothers are the ones who give up their own share of meals in favor of their husbands and children. Because of their dire existence, peasant women in the Philippines are standing up to fight for their land rather than see their children die from hunger.

Urban poor women are facing the demolition teams in order to save their shanties from destruction. Working women are joining picket lines to fight for just wages, jobs and benefits. These are the women that President Arroyo and her military and police are trying to silence through killings, abductions, harassment, and torture.

Yet the survival of the militant women's movement in the Philippines over the last 30 years is testament to the women's determination and refusal to be silenced. For Filipino women struggling for our rights and welfare as youth, migrant and other workers here in Canada we also refuse to remain silent.

As we fight against oppression and exploitation as members of the working class, we also fight against our particular oppression and exploitation as Filipino women in Canada. That is why we have been calling on the Canadian government to scrap the racist and anti-woman Live-in Caregiver Program and for the recognition and accreditation of Philippine-trained nurses.

We call on the Arroyo regime to take action to stop the political killings of activists! We also call on the Canadian government and the Canadian people to put all forms of pressure on the Arroyo regime to stop the killings. We also encourage more Filipino women in Canada to join us in speaking out and refusing to remain silent. For it is only through our collective voice that we can hope to affect change towards our full and genuine equality, development and liberation.

Stop the political killings of activists in the Philippines!
Justice for the victims of state terror!
Stop the killings of women activists!
Down with the U.S.-Arroyo fascist regime!

Signed: National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada

Member organizations: Filipino Nurses Association of Quebec Pinay (Montreal) Pilipino Migrante sa Canada (Ottawa) Philippine Women Centre of Ontario Philippine Women Centre of Manitoba KAMPI Women's Committee (Winnipeg) Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance (Vancouver) Filipino Nurses Support Group (Vancouver) Philippine Women Centre of BC BC Committee of Human Rights in the Philippines SIKLAB, B.C. (Sulong, Itaguyod ang Karapatan ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino sa Labas ng Bansa) (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers)