[News] GABNet on lifting of "state of national emergency"

[Anti-Imperialist News]

GABRIELA Network statement on lifitng of 
Philippine "state of national emergency."
please forward widely!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3 March 2006

Reference:
Dorotea Mendoza, Secretary General, GABRIELA Network
Annalisa Enrile, Chairperson, GABRIELA Network
<mailto:gabnet at gabnet.org>gabnet at gabnet.org;  (212) 592-3507

PHILIPPINE DE FACTO PRESIDENT REMAINS A THREAT TO 
NATIONAL STABILITY AND TO FILIPINO PEOPLE WITH OR 
WITHOUT "STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY"

The state of the Philippine nation remains in 
dire straits with or without the Philippine 
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's "state of 
national emergency."  Five congress 
representatives are still facing arrest for 
fabricated charges of rebellion;  Representative 
Crispin Beltran, recently rushed to the hospital 
for hypertension, is still under arrest for a 
warrant issued in 1985 during Ferdinand Marcos' 
dictatorship;  public assembly and press freedom 
are still restricted;  civil liberties are still 
curtailed.  Suppression of people's rights, 
repression and political persecution are indeed 
the mainstays of Arroyo's regime.

Arroyo's claim of stabilizing the nation is 
laughable.  Her very own government breeds 
instability, with its subservience to US 
interests and the International Monetary 
Fund/World Bank, and with her desperate attempts 
to hold on to power after evidence of election 
fraud and despite popular outcry for her 
resignation.  The presence of some 5,500 US 
troops in the archipelago, a blatant affront to 
Philippine sovereignty;  the policy of exporting 
labor which saw more than 700,000 Filipino women 
go abroad in 2005;  a poverty rate of 
80%;  Arroyo's spineless non-presence in the 
on-going legal battle against the US marines 
accused of gang-raping a 22-year old Filipina in 
November 2005;  graft and corruption—these are 
the true causes of national instability in the Philippines.

Arroyo's "state of national emergency" was never 
meant to stabilize the Philippines.  It was a 
transparent scheme to quell the voices of 
dissent.  On the 4th day of the "state of 
national emergency," a 54-year old teacher and 
labor leader Napoleon Pornasdoro was gunned down 
near the high school where he worked.  This added 
to the tally of more than 245 politically 
motivated killings under Arroyo.  During the 
week-long "state of national emergency," Arroyo's 
government filed cases of rebellion against 51 
individuals, including legitimate congressional 
representatives and officers of people's 
organizations.  Among them are Gabriela Women's 
Party Representative Liza Maza and Gabriela 
Women's Party Vice Chairperson Eliza Tita 
Lubi.  Rep. Liza Maza, along with 4 
congresspeoples of Bayan Muna Party (People 
First) and Anakpawis Party (Toiling Masses), has 
been under protective custody in the House of 
Representatives since February 27th.  Anakpawis 
Party Rep. Crispin Beltran was arrested on 
February 25th.  Charge of rebellion carries a life sentence.

Arroyo, however, was unsuccessful in quelling the 
voices of dissent.  Arroyo's tyranny will be her 
own demise as her recent scheme to hold on to 
power galvanized, not silenced, more support for 
her ouster.  With or without the "state of 
national emergency," GABRIELA Network urges the 
international community to remain vigilant and to 
continue the pressure demanding that the 
trumped-up charges of rebellion against Rep. Liza 
Maza and her 5 colleagues be immediately 
dropped.  GABRIELA Network stands by GABRIELA 
Philippine's call for a "State of Urgency" to 
evict Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the Philippine 
presidential home Malacanang.  ###

The Freedom Archives
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