National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
SIKLAB – Canada (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers)
Press Release

Filipinos across Canada rally to demand stop to killings in the Philippines and ouster of President Arroyo

For immediate release: July 26, 2006

Progressive Filipinos and their Canadian supporters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver rallied on Monday outside the offices of local Philippine Consulates to call for a stop to the political killings in the Philippines and the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her culpability in these killings as commander in chief.

Karapatan, a human rights alliance in the Philippines, has documented 705 extra-judicial killings and 181 forced disappearances in the Philippines since 2001 when Arroyo came to power. The Philippines is now the second most dangerous place for journalists (next to Iraq) based on a report by International Federation of Journalists.  

In a dramatic theatrical symbolism, more than 50 protesters staged a 'die-in' on the sidewalk fronting the Philippine Consulate in downtown Vancouver. Carrying a large banner with the words, “Stop the killings in the Philippines!” the protesters held a ‘mock funeral’ complete with a mock coffin with the Philippine flag. Seven hundred and five candles were lit and a display of the pictures and names of the victims formed a sombre backdrop to the immensity and impunity of the killings. A street theatre added to the militant demonstration attracting the attention of passersby. 

Around 40 protesters also rallied in Toronto and Montreal. Shocked by the human rights situation, passersby in Toronto stopped at the rally to look at the pictures of those killed. Some Filipinos even joined the rally after leaving the Consulate offices. In Montreal, protesters rallied outside the offices of the Honorary Consul in the Cote de Neige neighbourhood, heavily populated by Filipinos. Many of those passing by said they did not know about the severity of the human rights situation in the Philippines. Others commented that the current human rights situation is even worse than under the former dictator Marcos years.

These nationwide protests were part of other internationally coordinated events to coincide with massive protests in the Philippines against Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the filing of a new impeachment complaint in the Philippine House of Representatives.  

The protesters denounced Arroyo’s claim in her SONA that the Philippine economy is improving. According to the protesters, the political and economic crisis in the Philippines forces over 3000 Filipinos everyday to migrate abroad. There are an estimated 500,000 Filipinos in Canada, making them the fourth largest visible minority group in the country.

In Vancouver, members of the BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and the Philippine Women Centre of BC delivered a copy of their statements to the offices of Consul General Jean Minerva Falcon. They were told by Consul Robespierre Bolivar that it was not the role of the Philippine Consulate to comment on the issue and that they would forward the information to the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines.

In Toronto and Vancouver, staff of the Philippine Consulate were sent to monitor the protests. In Vancouver, protesters confronted a Consulate staff who took pictures of the rally. He hurriedly left after the protesters began questioning him.

Protesters also slammed Arroyo’s push to change the Philippine constitution through Charter Change which they see as the US’s attempt to open up the country even more to foreign investments and military intervention. They say Arroyo is using Charter Change in a desperate attempt to cling on to power. International calls for her ouster began over a year ago after allegations Arroyo cheated in the 2004 elections.

In a statement, protesters said Arroyo’s “all-out-war” strategy to eliminate the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army also targets leaders and members of legal national democratic organizations. Among the 705 civilians killed were women and children, youth, workers, peasants, trade unionists, lawyers, journalists, priests, progressive politicians, and other civilians. According to the protesters, they have been killed by suspected military forces under the likes of General Jovito “Butcher” Palparan, commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division in Central Luzon, whom Arroyo praised in her SONA.

“Arroyo’s counter-insurgency campaign ‘Oplan Bantay Laya’ (Operation Guarding Freedom) has given license to the military forces to kill innocent civilians,” Cecilia Diocson, Chairperson of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) stated. “Aside from outright assassination of her political opponents, Arroyo also actively promotes the Labor Export Policy as a way of easing social tensions,” she said.

“Once in Canada, we often do the dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs that Canadians don’t want to do,” said Roderrick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB – Canada (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers). “We are segregated into low-income work having the highest education of all immigrants but the lowest pay.”

Carreon says while migrant workers continue to serve as the “milking cows” of the Arroyo government contributing to the $12 billion USD in remittances annually of Filipino migrant workers, they are offered little to no protection in times of crisis or need. Nearly 100,000 Filipino live-in caregivers have come to Canada since the early 80s.

“Even migrant workers’ families are being harassed and killed in the Philippines for daring to stand up and speak out against Arroyo’s repressive administration,” criticized Maita Santiago, Secretary-General of Migrante International, representing 95 member organizations in 22 countries in all global regions.

Canadian supporters also joined the rallies to show support for the Filipino people’s call to stop the killings, oust Arroyo and form a transitional council. They also called on the Canadian government to stop aid and relations with the cruel Arroyo regime. In Vancouver, solidarity messages were delivered by representatives of the Bus Riders Union, Group of Friends and Relatives of Political Prisoners in Mexico, People’s Front and the Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity.

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Please find attached pictures from the rallies in Vancouver and Montreal.

For more pictures from the rally in Vancouver, visit: www.kalayaancentre.net and click on <http://www.kalayaancentre.net/assets/images/photos/2006/STK_SONA/index.htm>

For pictures from the rally in Toronto, visit: http://johnb.smugmug.com/gallery/1702414/1/83770016

For more information, please contact:
Toronto: Joy or Marco at: 416-878-8772
Montreal: Amelie or Joanne at: 514-678-3901
Vancouver: Sheila or Hetty at: 604-215-1103