Filipinos in Vancouver to Rally at Philippine Consulate: Continue to Push for Ouster of Arroyo and Set-up of Transitional Council

For immediate release: August 31, 2005

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Amidst moves by the pro-government forces to roadblock the impeachment trial against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Congress, progressive Filipinos in Vancouver are expected to rally this Friday to continue to push for the ouster of Arroyo and for the set-up of a transitional council. The rallyists will gather in front of the Philippine Consulate offices at 700 Pender St. West, this Friday, September 2, 2005 at 12:00 noon.

“Recent developments in the Philippines clearly show that the people have no hope in the impeachment process,” says Cecilia Diocson, chairperson of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC). “It is all the more important for Filipinos to take to the streets as the most democratic option for the people to voice their desires and opinions in shaping their future,” she added.

Diocson referred to the recent news of pro-Arroyo solons roadblocking the amended impeachment complaints in the Committee on Justice in the Philippine Congress.

Speakers at the rally will include recently-returned delegates from the International Solidarity Mission in the Philippines which gathered international delegates from 18 countries to investigate human rights abuses. The delegates will present the findings of the International People’s Tribunal which found Arroyo and US President George Bush guilty of “crimes against humanity.”

Since June, Filipinos in Canada have been holding protest rallies, forums and have gathered over 150 signatures on a petition letter addressed to President Arroyo to demand her resignation or ouster. In June damaging tapes were released to the media which contained Arroyo in conversation with an election official about fixing the results of last year’s presidential elections.

In a community forum last month, “What’s After Gloria: the People’s Agenda,” participants vowed to popularize the concepts of the transitional council as well as the People’s Agenda amongst Filipinos in Canada.

Filipinos make up the third largest visible minority group in B.C. and the third in Canada.

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For more information, please contact: Sheila Farrales at: 215-1103.