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

Filipinos across Canada outraged over Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address

July 24, 2006

Progressive Filipinos in major cities across Canada and the US will hold protest rallies and vigils today to protest President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). They will call for the ouster of Arroyo and for a stop to the killings in the Philippines. The protests are part of other internationally-coordinated events to coincide with Arroyo’s SONA and the filing of a new impeachment complaint in the Philippine House of Representatives.

In public forums held yesterday and last week in Montreal and Vancouver around 85 overseas Filipinos and their Canadian supporters expressed shock and disgust over the recent spate of political killings.
According to the human rights alliance Karapatan, since 2001 when Arroyo came to power there have been 705 extra judicial killings of political activists and other civilians. Women and children, priests, lawyers, trade unionists, peasants and progressive politicians are included in the list of those killed. The list may be viewed at the website: http://www.cp-union.org/dots/ListVictims.php 

Today, Monday, July 24, 2006 members of the progressive Filipino communities in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will hold coordinated protest rallies in front of the local Philippine Consulate offices. In Toronto, Filipinos will rally outside the Philippine Consulate office at 161 Eglington St. at 3:00 p.m. (EST) In Montreal a picket will be held at 6 p.m. (EST) in front of the local Philippine Consulate office at 6260 Victoria Avenue. In Vancouver, a mock funeral march and protest vigil will be held in front of the Philippine Consulate office at 700 West Pender (at Granville) from 3:30 – 6:00 p.m. (PST) Rallyists will display the names and some pictures of the 705 people killed, carry a mock coffin and light candles to protest what they see as the Arroyo-sanctioned killings.
The protesters slammed Arroyo’s praise for General Jovito Palparan the commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division in Central Luzon during her SONA. According to the protesters, Palparan is notorious for openly admitting to ordering the killings of armed rebels and civilian activists whom he sees as one and the same. He is known as the "butcher of Mindoro and Eastern Visayas" where he was assigned from 2001 to 2005. He is suspected to be behind the killings of 30 civilians in Oriental Mindoro, 33 in Eastern Visayas and more than 60 in Central Luzon. 

"Praising Palparan is like a slap in the faces of the families of the 500 victims of political killings, disappearances and other violations that he is accused responsible for," says Cecilia Diocson, Chairperson of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada.

In a recent interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Palparan stated, "(The killings are) being attributed to me, but I did not kill them. I just inspired (the triggermen). We are not admitting responsibility here, what I'm saying is that these are necessary incidents." 

"Arroyo’s counter-insurgency plan, ‘Oplan Bantay Laya’ and the US, EU and Canada’s terrorist listing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and Prof. Jose Maria Sison gives her military license to kill civilian progressive activists of the legal national democratic movement," says Diocson.

Protesters also denounced Arroyo’s plans to change the constitution.

"Arroyo continues to peddle Charter Change as the solution to the problems of the Filipino people," says Roderick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB – Canada (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipinos). "Yet the US is behind changes to the constitution in order to open up the economy to even more foreign investment and military intervention."

"While Arroyo continues to claim the economy is improving, the exodus of some 3000 workers daily even to war-torn Lebanon is proof of the failure of her economic plan," says Carreon.

Arroyo opened her SONA by greeting workers in Lebanon. She praised Overseas Filipino Workers as the country’s "modern heroes."

Carreon says migrant workers in Canada many of whom are live-in caregivers receive little to no protection or services from the Philippine government despite the $12 billion USD Overseas Filipino Workers remit annually.

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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