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

Filipinos across Canada join global day of action to stop killings in the Philippines

September 26, 2006

In a gesture of peace, protest and genuine solidarity, around 140 progressive Filipinos and their Canadian supporters held vigils and rallies in major cities across Canada last September 21st.

Protesters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver called to, “Stop the killings in the Philippines” and “Martial Law, Never Again!”

September 21 marks the 34th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law under the former dictator Marcos.

“Human rights are being violated with impunity then and now,” read a national statement released by the protesters.

According to Karapatan, (Rights) the Philippines human rights group, there have been 752 extra-judicial killings and 184 enforced disappearances in the Philippines since 2001. 319 of those killed and missing were members of progressive, legal people’s organizations who are opposing the anti-people economic policies of the Arroyo government.

In Toronto, around 40 protesters, including members of the local steering committee for the Stop the Killings campaign rallied in front of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Jamestown, an area heavily populated by Filipinos. They displayed mock gravestones carved with sayings like, “I was killed because I was a member of a militant people’s organization” and “I was killed because I spoke the word of God.” In a street theatre performance, they depicted the Filipino people’s plight under the former dictator Marcos until Arroyo, concluding that conditions in the country have not improved but have even worsened. They also read the stories of some of the martyrs and lit candles around a mock coffin.

In Montreal, 50 people gathered in a rally/vigil held in front of the office of the Honorary consul and marched through Cote de Neiges, a neighbourhood of many Filipinos. Organized by the Montreal Committee for the Stop the Killings in the Philippines Campaign, speakers included the Centre for Philippine Concerns, Amnesty International – Canadian Section and the Conseil Central de Montreal Metropolitan – the Montreal section of a trade union federation, the Canada Action Group, Block the Empire and Red Youth Front. As part of the funeral march, protesters carried mock coffins to symbolize those killed and an effigy of Arroyo whom they say should be held accountable for the killings.

In Vancouver, around 50 protesters rallied outside the offices of the Philippine Consulate in a busy downtown area. They lit 755 candles to commemorate the victims of extra-judicial killings. Many passersby in the busy downtown area also stopped, received copies of the national statement and talked to the group about what is happening in the Philipines. Many were also moved to help light the 755 candles in honour of the victims and signed petitions and protest letters to be sent to Defence Minister McKay, Arroyo and the United Nations.

Messages of solidarity were also delivered from individual and member organizations of the local steering committee for the Stop the Killings in the Philippines campaign such as: the Bus Riders’ Union Grassroots Women, Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity, and Migrante International. Two young women from the United Church of Canada who recently returned from a year-long exposure in the Philippines also addressed the crowd and called for genuine solidarity with the Filipino people’s call for a stop to the killings and a just and lasting peace in the Philippines. Protesters have been holding weekly vigils in front of the office of the Philippine Consulate for the last two months in Vancouver to highlight the grave human rights situation in the Philippines.

The protesters not only called on the Filipino community to unite against the abuses of human rights in the Philippines, but also on Canadians to take up the issue. They called on the Canadian government to review its current relations and stop aid to the Arroyo government while the violations continue.

Protesters also vowed to support a Canadian fact-finding mission to be held in November in the Philippines to investigate first-hand the alleged atrocities and bring their findings back to the Canadian government and the Canadian public later this year.

The protest actions were part of a global day of action to stop the killings in the Philippines. An estimated 10,000 people rallied under the banner of BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) in the Philippines. Similar actions were also held in 25 cities in 13 countries across the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific and in Australia.

-         30 –

 For more information, please contact:

Toronto: Diwa Marcelino at: 416-995-3493
Montreal: ph: 514-678-3901
Vancouver: Sheila Farrales at: 604-215-1103