Day of Action: Junk the VFA, Justice for the Abducted

**Please forward widely**

DAY OF ACTION AGAINST THE VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT

10 years of the VFA = 10 years of military occupation, abductions, and rape

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

PROTEST and Meeting with the Philippine Consulate General

3:30pm

@ the Philippine Consulate [**note location change**]

447 Sutter Street, San Francisco

Teach-In on the VFA

6pm

@ SOMCAN

1070 Howard Street (c/s: 7^th Street)

San Francisco, CA
Both events featuring special guest speaker Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and representatives of BAYAN-USA, GABRIELA USA and NAFCON-Norcal

In the wake of the abduction of Filipino American human rights advocate and health worker Melissa Roxas and her companions Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc, please join BAYAN-USA and GABRIELA USA as we condemn the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and demand justice for victims of abduction and all human rights violations with an action and educational forum on the 10th anniversary of the VFA’s ratification.

California State University system raises tuition…AGAIN!?

If you’re a CSU student, you probably heard about the CSU Board of Trustees approving a 10% increase in our tuition. Yet again, students are being forced to shoulder the burden of our underfunded education system. At the same time, classes are being cut and professors let go. So we’re paying more for less? Our tuition goes up as we give billions to Wall Street, the ones who are responsible for the current economic crisis, and millions to the Philippine military, who continue their illegal war against organizers, killing, abducting, and torturing normal, everyday people. THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!

LFS is an organization which was born out of the struggle against rising tuition fees during the Martial Law era. As we wrap up this school year (oh, and it’s not a coincidence that they raise tuition while we’re in finals), we look forward to linking up with our allies and exposing the hypocrisy we currently face. We are disturbed that higher education is no longer a right for all people, rather it is now a privilege for those who can afford it.

Below is a message from SFSU President Robert Corrigan. While his words show a level of sympathy for students, it is a similar message that he has sent us over the past few years. Sympathy can only go so far with us, we need results. We really hope top administrators (include himself) have had their salaries frozen, along with other perks the school affords them. That would help rebuild long lost trust with students. If not, then we are not surprised. Empty words with empty actions. We must remember that the power is on OUR hands, not the administrators’.

The Only “Change” We See Is the Change Being Pocketed by the Philippine Government to Rape and Terrorize the Filipino People—BAYAN-USA

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CASE GO TO: Another ‘Nicole’: Filipina Accuses US Marine of Rape; Case Heightens Junk-VFA Call – Bulatlat

(Fact Sheet on the case at the bottom of statement)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rhonda Ramiro, secgen@bayanusa.org
May 14, 2009 www.bayanusa.org

Vanessa, her back to the cameras, narrates her plight during a press conference on Thursday. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/Bulatlat.com)

Gabriela’s Emmi de Jesus (left) and lawyer Evalyn Ursua both say Vanessa’s case strengthens the argument against the Visiting Forces Agreement. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/Bulatlat.com)

The Only “Change” We See Is the Change Being Pocketed by the Philippine Government to Rape and Terrorize the Filipino People—BAYAN-USA

Appalled by the double-news of the rape of another Filipina woman by a U.S. Marine and the increase in U.S. financial aid to the corrupt Philippine government, BAYAN-USA reiterated its call to terminate the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (“VFA”), which the alliance of 14 Filipino American organizations in the U.S. sees as the red carpet used to usher in U.S. troops, supplies, and military training linked to thousands of human rights violations.

Under the auspices of the VFA, over 6,000 US troops were deployed to the Philippines this past April, to engage in so-called Balikatan (“shoulder-to-shoulder”) military exercises.  In a press conference today, the 22-year-old Filipina “Vanessa” (not her real name) told the story of how she was raped in a hotel room on April 19 by a U.S. Marine, registered in hotel records as “from Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group/Balikatan.”  According to the women’s group GABRIELA, Vanessa has decided not to file a case against her alleged rapist though there is evidence to support her claim.

“We are outraged that another Filipina has become the victim of U.S. troops, and that the VFA is blocking her from obtaining justice,” said BAYAN-USA Secretary General Rhonda Ramiro.  “Last month’s acquittal of convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith signals that U.S. military personnel can get away with the most heinous crimes on Philippine soil because they will be protected by the VFA.”

Filipino American Youth March on International Workers’ Day to Demand Education and Legalization for All

Press Statement
May 1, 2009
Reference: Melissa Reyes, Vice Chair, LFS-SFSU, email: lfs.sfsu@gmail.com

Photo: Darah Macaraeg

Photo: Darah Macaraeg

Filipino American Youth March on International Workers’ Day to Demand Education and Legalization for All

San Francisco—The League of Filipino Students-SFSU Chapter proudly recognizes this powerful day as youth and students march in heart and breath through the streets alongside the toiling immigrants and workers of the world. We march to staunchly condemn the criminalization and separation of immigrant families and demand genuine immigration reform from the new Obama administration.

This past election year, we saw the collective strength youth had in deciding the future of this country. Youth, coast to coast, demanded change from the horrid policies of the past eight years. Bush’s “War on Terror” and broken immigration policy created a climate of fear and intimidation towards this country’s immigrant community. With the new Obama administration, we are determined to turn our “hope” into action and ensure that genuine “change” comes in the form of a revamped immigration system.

As the mounting California fiscal deficit continues to make education unaffordable through tuition fee increases, undocumented youth and students face a limited if not completely inaccessible education merely because of their citizenship status. There have been attempts to pass the DREAM Act, which would ensure undocumented students access to higher education. However, various stipulations have hijacked the original intent of the bill by including military recruitment. This only supports the argument that our government desires to see poor and immigrant students holding guns overseas rather than pencils in the classroom.

We, as Filipino American students, are in a position to be vocal about social justice and demand immigrant rights. As children of or immigrants ourselves, we know immigrants are not to blame for the economic chaos we see today. The government continues to spend billions on war and Wall Street bailouts while conditions for workers worsen due to job loss and the rolling back of basic services. Day-to-day, we bare witness to the economic and social hardships that plague immigrant communities, all in the name of an “American Dream” that places blame on our families for its own inherit shortcomings.

This International Workers’ Day, we remind everyone that legality doesn’t determine one’s contribution to this country and that true change comes from mass action of the people.

PASS THE DREAM ACT WITHOUT MILITARY TIES!
EDUCATION FOR ALL!
CREATE A JUST AND HUMANE IMMIGRATION SYSTEM NOW!
NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL!
###

Photo: Darah Macaraeg

SF CHRP – May 1st Statement (by Rupert Estanislao)

(taken from http://kiwizzo.wordpress.com/, please share this with folks)

OFW = Overseas Filipina/o Worker

May 1st Press Statement
Rupert Estanislao,
SF Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines

(English)
From childhood well into adulthood the bitter truth I learned is that I would never be able to grow old in the country of my origin.

I came to America at age fourteen in 1993.

My mother went ahead of the family and took up work as a dental assistant while my father was a security guard and a part time hotel manager.

In his homeland, my father was a lawyer; here he was a security guard at the courthouse.

My mother was a dentist with a practice in Metro Manila, but here her degrees and experience were dismissed and deemed inapplicable.

They kept their dignity and worked diligently no matter how meager the pay, no matter how racist or petty the boss.

Leaving for work everyday at three am and coming home past ten at night left no time to eat and sit with one another as a family.

I know their bosses took advantage of their status and they being accustomed to the corrupt system of the Philippines silently complied and turned a blind eye to the violation of their own rights.

Legal or illegal, they are still immigrants.

FCC Workers Rights Workshop and Presentation: April 29, 2009

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY!!!

Hello everyone,

In celebrating International Worker’s Day and as a buildup activity for the upcoming May 1 mobilization. We’re inviting you, your family, friends, co-workers and members to hear testimonies/

stories of workers from different industries on their conditions, as wells as a presentation on workers’ rights as it relates to broader immigration issues, globalization and organizing.

Wednesday, April 29^th from 6-8 PM at Centro del Pueblo (third floor) in the Mission District of San Francisco. Centro del Pueblo 474 Valencia Street (see attached flyer).

Please let me know if any of your community members can attend by responding to this email or calling the Filipino Community Center at 415-333.6267.

Food and childcare will be provided FREE!- Translation into Spanish, Chinese ad Tagalog

Co-sponsored by: SFILEN, MUA, ALC and FCC/NAFCON

The Struggle Continues | BAYAN-USA Statement on May Day 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 27, 2009
Reference: Rhonda Ramiro, Secretary-General, BAYAN-USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

The Struggle Continues… Even in the Age of Obama, Filipino-Americans Must Fight for Genuine Immigration Reform

Statement of BAYAN-USA on May Day 2009

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN-USA, an alliance of 14 Filipino organizations across the United States, calls on all Filipino-Americans to commemorate May 1st, 2009 by joining the people’s continuing struggle for genuine immigration reform in the United States, and systemic change to the exploitative labor export structures in the Philippines.

On May 1st, 2006, Filipinos in the United States under the banner of BAYAN-USA were amongst the millions across the country who revived the militant spirit of May Day, an international workers holiday celebrated around the world but whose significance is suppressed and systemically erased by the US ruling elite and government. As exploitation and oppression against immigrants in the US grows worse– even in the age of the new Obama administration, which reaches its 100th day in office on May 1– it is paramount that Filipinos, coming from one of the world’s largest labor exporting countries and the poorest in Asia, express solidarity with all immigrant workers by fighting for dignity, justice, and human rights. This May 1st, BAYAN-USA remains at the forefront of the May Day rallies and street mobilizations in several US cities, and appeals to the broader Filipino-American community to join us in this righteous fight.