National Press Release of Canadians in solidarity with the Filipino people

MOMENTUM IN CANADA GROWING: CANADIANS CALL FOR A STOP TO THE POLITICAL KILLINGS IN THE PHILIPPINES

For immediate release: July 26, 2006

Canadians in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto participated in nation-wide protest actions calling for an end to the political killings in the Philippines. These protests were held in concert with similar actions organized in various cities across the United States on July 24.

Peace and freedom-loving Canadians joined the community of overseas Filipinos in pickets and rallies outside the local Philippine Consulates or embassies to support the Filipino people’s call for the ouster of the Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and demand an immediate  stop to the political killings in the Philippines

As of this writing, 705 political activists have been killed since Arroyo came to power in 2001 and close to 200 individuals have been victims of attempted political assassinations. Political activists are being arbitrarily arrested and 181 people have “disappeared.” The Philippines now ranks as the second  most dangerous country for journalists (only after Iraq) and trade unionists (only after Colombia).

The Canada-wide protest rallies and pickets coincided with Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the filing of a new impeachment complaint against her in the Philippine House of Representatives. The protest actions were also meant to be in solidarity with the tens of thousands of people, led by national democratic organizations, who took to the streets in the Philippines during Arroyo’s SONA, to demand her ouster, not only because of electoral fraud and corruption, but also because of her continuing anti-people, anti-national, and out-right fascist policies.

The July 24th Canada-wide coordinated day of action was part of a commitment made by Canadians at the “Prospects for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy: Canadians Answer the Filipino People’s Call for Support and Solidarity” conference, held in Vancouver on June 21, 2006.

At the conference, over 70 delegates resolved to respond to the worsening human rights situation in the Philippines in a “Call to Action” wherein they committed themselves to participate in North American-coordinated actions on July 24, September 21 (the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines in 1972), and to participate in a Fact-Finding Mission to the Philippines in November 2006.

Canadians who joined the protest actions explained that not since Martial Law in the 1970s have the people witnessed such brazen acts of human rights violations and attacks on civil and political liberties.

The protesters blasted Arroyo for using the pretext of her ‘all-out war’ against the revolutionary forces of the New People’s Army, Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to eliminate all legitimate opposition and dissent by the people.

 “Arroyo refuses to genuinely pursue the path of peace through peace negotiations with the NDFP and instead pursues the path of all-out war,” said Erie Maestro, Vice-Chairperson of the B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.

 “This regime is totally against all genuine social change against the forces for national industrialization, for genuine land reform, a truly democratic people’s government, an independent and sovereign foreign policy, and a just and lasting peace,” added Diwa Marcelino of the Philippine Network for Justice and Peace in Toronto.

In a national statement signed by Canadian solidarity groups for the Philippines, Canadians also criticized the Canadian government’s complacency over the killings and gross human rights violations. “As Canadians, we must ask ourselves why our government continues to deal with and give aid to the repressive Arroyo government,” the statement read.

The organizations are calling on all peace and democracy-loving Canadians to join a broad solidarity movement for the Filipino people in these troubling times and unite in the “Call to Action” forged at the “Prospects for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy” conference to help bring an end to the political killings and the repressive Arroyo regime.

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For photos of the rally:
In Vancouver, please visit www.kalayaancentre.net and go to <http://www.kalayaancentre.net/assets/images/photos/2006/STK_SONA/index.htm>
In Toronto, please visit http://johnb.smugmug.com/gallery/1702414

For more information, contact Ted at 604-215-1905 or bcchrp@kalayaancentre.net

Press Release of:
B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP)
Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP)
Philippine Network for Justice and Peace -- Toronto (PNJP)
Centre for Philippine Concerns – Montreal
Centre for Philippine Concerns -- Winnipeg